'66 Longbed 327 w/AC project

[1963c-10]

Nice job on the paint and I like the 2nd and 3rd stained woods best.

[cortcomp]

Got that quarter done, other one hanging ready for primer. Played with wet sanding and buffing/polishing (3m trizact/perfect-it system). So far, it's come out pretty amazing. In the one shot of the center of the hood, you can see where i didn't wetsand or buff yet, and how much more orange peel there is vs the rest of the hood.

[TJ's Chevy]

AW MAN THAT'S LOOKING BEAUTIFUL!!!! I'm sooooo jealous!!!!! Great work!

[azdude1964]

WOW , I'm impressed by the work you have done... you sir are a true craftsman . the quality is top notch. keep up the outsanding work and thank you for posting on here.

[cortcomp]

Thanks for the kind words guys but i really can't take credit. My father in law has done all the skilled work, and I've just taken the advice and knowledge here and applied it. Without this site and him, i really could never have accomplished near anything on the truck.

Wife has been out of town all week which keeps me from getting to the garage (little one terrorizing the house and dogs, gotta keep a close eye on her or she'll turn out like me). Hopefully this weekend i'll get the primer on the second quarter and the white stripe done, and maybe even block it to be ready for the green.

If i can get both bed sides detailed, the hood finished (gonna sand it again, i can still see blocking scratches in the clear) and maybe the front bed panel and tailgate/wheel tubs all done by end of next week, i'd be a very happy camper and can focus on doing the bedwood next.

Then it's time to bring the truck in and start building! Figured i'd sand/polish the doors and cab last at once, no need to do all as separate panels. Can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!

[cortcomp]

Could still see some scratches in the hood so i DA'd it 1000, then 1500,3000, 5000 and polished again. My father in law says if i don't like it tough, he quits if i want the hood done again. I think this is the third time he's quit on this project....

It looks every but as good as the quarter panel now. Think i'll get on this last bed side, and then i'm done painting except the clear on the bedwood! It will be fun to work on the bedwood vs all the body work lately.

And, after having both bedsides painted, cleared, and sanded+polished, that's like 60% of the surface of the truck already wetsanded and polished and ready to go!

[1963c-10]

Nice job on the paint.....looks great!!!

Also...who did you get the decals from? Were you happy with the size & fit of the letters?

[cortcomp]

Thanks! I'm 99% sure i got those from classicparts.com. The fit ok, i wish they were a little larger (like maybe 1/32" on each side), because they'd be easier to center in the indents on the tailgate if they were a little larger. They look good though. I would recommend spritzing the area with water and sliding them around for perfect alignment vs freehanding them like we did.

I do also recommend clearing over them, as you get the sharp edge of a decal but the smooth feel and durability of paint. And if they ever look bad or yellow or something, it wouldn't be a ton of work or cost to take to a lettering/striping guy and have him paint over them. I don't think they'll be an issue in the long run anyways.

That tailgate is under plastic right now, i have to get it out later to prep it for buffing. I'll have a chance to see if they stayed laid down and if there were any problems.

[1963c-10]

I used a set of their 63 grill letters and they were way off. Found another guy on ebay who makes them and they were 100% spot on and available in like 30 different colors. Just wondering if their tailgate letters were any better...thanks for the input.

[cortcomp]

just painted white stripe and clear on second bedside and getting more parts sanded to polish. Here is hood after second round of sanding/buffing since i could still see blocking scratches after the first time.

[clemdaddy]

looks very good... smooth. and i really love the color.

[Jeff La]

Ya'll put some time in that shine and it shows, great job

[cortcomp]

And tonight the green and clear went on the last panel, the other bedside. See tomorrow how it laid down, and then sand/buff/polish that. That'd be a good half the truck done all the way to polish!

[TJ's Chevy]

OOH I look forward to pictures!

[NEWFISHER]

You will be amazed how the panels look outside. Those flouresence in the garage bring out every imperfection , which is good when you are trying to get the best finish.

[cortcomp]

That's what everyone has been telling me, saying i'm being too much of a perfectionist. But to me, if you see a problem and take another day to fix it with the panel off the truck, then it's done and you won't need three days to fix it on the truck later. Plus if i fix everything i can find inside under the lights, outside it should just pop. The polished panels look great when they're done, i can't wait to roll it outside. I'm going to do bedwood next (still haven't picked the color! Ugh!), then bring the chassis back to start assembling the bed on the truck.

[TJ's Chevy]

Looking forward to watching that!

[cortcomp]

Well, the patina bug has hit me...started sanding down the panels we have out to convert it to a fauxtina paint job:

[jhrusk]

Does April fools day last the whole month??? Surely not that pretty paint??

[cortcomp]

Just kidding, i was wet-sanding the hood and found some thin spots on the clear, a couple chips and then rubbed through on the corners. At the same time, my father in law was DAing the last bedside and and pointed out some spots where there was dirt under the clear, and it looked like grey splashes of faint mud...hard to explain. So we masked with tape and 3m foam tape and scuffed 600 and 800, whatever was handy, and resprayed 2 coats of color and TONS of clear to give us sanding insurance. The 3m foam tape did a great job on the hood of hiding the paint seam, it is amazing stuff. There is a line of material in one spot where it was heavy, but it should sand right out, then back to block 1500/DA 1000/1500/3000/5000, which seems to knock the clear down quickly but not leave any scratches like block 1000/da 3000/da 5000 did.

We've have do-over days before, and it's frustrating but easier to handle now than when the truck is together, so when in doubt, i usually opt for scuff and recoat. The hood gave us lots of trouble painting the underbite part of the exterior, so i'm honestly glad to have it redone. It was by far probably the biggest PITA panel, especially dealing with the black underside.

[cortcomp]

JH, I can't believe you got a comment in before i even got the second pics posted! Rest assured, those panels are dripping in clear (literally in one spot), so they'll sand and polish up as nice as the other i hope. Definitely some dirt specs in it, but they usually sand out when i'm blocking.

I don't have the heart to fauxtina this paint job after all this work, and my father in law really wouldn't talk to me after making him redo so much over such little problems. My wife would be selling the truck to pay for my funeral :-P

[jhrusk]

10-4 I have been following this build for a while, I am currently trying to get mine painted as well. Looking foward to more progress. Seeing what you guys are doing(paint) in a regular shop gives me hope.

[cortcomp]

If you keep things clean (water the floor, use tack rags, wipe down panels well, etc), you can do great work no problem. Remember, this is my first time!

Panel prep and post paint work is the hardest and makes the most difference. You can fix a lot of problems after clearing with sanding and buffing. Of course, spending more makes it easier...if you don't mind buying the 3000 and 5000 discs and all three pads/compounds of 3m or something similar, you can really get a finish that's hard to lay that nice using just a gun alone.

If i can do it, anyone can if they have the room and patience. I mean, i can't lay down paint like my father in law, but i guess i could get close if i practiced some first before doing the truck. Doing an all over paint job would be easier too, but it's nice to get some of the hard to reach places.

[TJ's Chevy]

For a first time you are doing some seriously sweet paint work. When I do mine I'm finding more an more ways to keep the dust down..do the sanding outside..wash everything..wet the ground down..then do the painting in the shop after a good clean up with pain thinner on the panels to get the tiny debris off. Lotta work involved, but if sure pays off when finished...and yer wallet ain't drained from having it done. lol

[cortcomp]

I don't think you could get the level of detail and perfection we're going for without laying out some serious money, but if you did lay out that serious money, they'd have it done a lot quicker. Time, money, skill. The more you have of one, the less you need of the other two!