1968 GMC - Ol' Blue

[MDPotter]

Got quite a bit done Saturday.

Mirrors - I have now bought two new mirrors and both were a fail. The smaller one is from Brothers and was advertised for GMC, but it should look like the longer one. I was okay with it, but where it attaches to the mirror bracket it's not quite thick enough so the screw through it will not tighten up and it just falls. Even with the weird washer in it. So I ordered one from LMC (long one) that actually matches my factory mirror pretty close, but the knob for daytime/nighttime was busted. You would think this wouldn't matter, but apparently that knob puts tension on the mirror because with it broken off it just shakes all over the place. So I put the original mirror on and moved on.



Bed Floor - Done. Raptor Liner has cured out nice and hard and very even. I installed the fuel filler door too. It's a little small, but it will work. I might weld on a little tab on the cap someday to make it easier to loosen and tighten. But it came out pretty clean.




Painting - Tailgate, front panel, inner door panels, bedside braces, tailgate handle, and tubs are painted and came out pretty slick.

EDP/Epoxy:


Sealer:

[MDPotter]

Base:



Clear:

[Camaroguy]

Killing it!

[cornerstone]

Looks incredible!

[MDPotter]

Last night I sanded all the filler on my bedsides and reapplied epoxy over those spots. There were a bunch of ugly spot welds on the inner bed rails, I shaved the stake pockets, and fixing the shipping damage.

Painting the bedsides this weekend!

[Putzer]

I had the same issue with my rear view mirror from GMCPauls but really cranked down on the screw and it seemed to tighten up and doesn’t fall down anymore.

[1971Stepside]

Great work as always! You are getting yours done fast.

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

Great work as always! You are getting yours done fast.

I'm very self-motivated. I want it done so I can drive it!

[cornerstone]

You may have mentioned this earlier and I didn’t notice, but I gotta ask the question... how is it that you have so much time in a legit spray booth?

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

You may have mentioned this earlier and I didn’t notice, but I gotta ask the question... how is it that you have so much time in a legit spray booth?

Well I appreciate the compliment on the spray booth! Haha but it is by no means legit. It's just a wood framed room with lots of light, intake filters, and exhaust to the exterior. But it is nice to have a room dedicated to spraying. I probably spent about $1500 on it. But we had lights, ceiling joists, and an old swamp cooler from a building we dismantled. So I bought the 2x material, OSB, paint, and furnace filters and it works pretty well. I need more CFM though, it gets cloudy quick if you're spraying much clear.

[TA_C10]

Nice work Potter! Been a while since I checked in. I have same extra LMC mirror I'm not using if you want it.

When you shaved your bed stakes did you also remove the boxes underneath as well?

.

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Nice work Potter! Been a while since I checked in. I have same extra LMC mirror I'm not using if you want it.

When you shaved your bed stakes did you also remove the boxes underneath as well?

.

Appreciate the offer, I'll let you know if I get tired of staring at my stock mirror.

And no, I didn't go that far. Just filled the hole in the bedrail.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

Well I appreciate the compliment on the spray booth! Haha but it is by no means legit. It's just a wood framed room with lots of light, intake filters, and exhaust to the exterior. But it is nice to have a room dedicated to spraying. I probably spent about $1500 on it. But we had lights, ceiling joists, and an old swamp cooler from a building we dismantled. So I bought the 2x material, OSB, paint, and furnace filters and it works pretty well. I need more CFM though, it gets cloudy quick if you're spraying much clear.

Wow. in some of the pics it looks quite large, what are the dimensions inside the spray room? What all can you fit in there to spray at once? I'm working on building a 40x40 right now and would like to incorporate the same thing, maybe a couple of retractable walls?

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Wow. in some of the pics it looks quite large, what are the dimensions inside the spray room? What all can you fit in there to spray at once? I'm working on building a 40x40 right now and would like to incorporate the same thing, maybe a couple of retractable walls?

I think it's 15Wx25Lx12H. I can fit a full size truck put together or 4 big panels spread out. Actually sprayed two good size tractors in it (with just an inch to spare on top of the cab).

The ceiling joists are just big enough to support some storage on top which is nice.

[MDPotter]

The bed is now 100% painted. Looking forward to putting it together next weekend!

[Camaroguy]

Bed looks really good. Good job!

[1971Stepside]

Looks like you had a more productive weekend than I did. Can't wait to see the bed on it.

[MDPotter]

This thing is really coming down the home stretch. We had such a fun day yesterday putting the bed together, installing the lighting, and the bumper. Also got a few small interior parts done. This has been a lot of fun, but I'm looking forward to having it done so I can drive it and also work on a couple home projects before starting on the next vehicle.

At this point, it needs a hood, Vintage Air, alignment, and a few small items and it'll be done.

[1971Stepside]

Looks absolutely amazing! Has to feel good. I'm laughing that you mentioned your next project. I'm starting to wonder what mine will be. After doing this for 2-3 years I don't know what I am going to do with my free time when it is done. I need to start looking for another project, but I'm afraid I'll find one I've always wanted a 69 Camaro or a 66-67 Nova....hmmmmm

[MDPotter]

Thanks. It felt good knowing that all the time we spent mocking things up, test fitting, cutting, welding, etc. paid off. All of a sudden, a complete bed.

I'd like to have a 71 or so Camaro, I really like that body style before the taillights changed. But I think a car would cost even more than a truck so we'll just stick to C10's for now. The next one definitely won't be as fast. Working hard on it every Saturday for over a year can be pretty exhausting. I need to build a bed frame for our bedroom, redo the lawn, get my dad's Vintage Air fixed, and then we can start on the next one.

[1971Stepside]

Understand. I could be talked into a square body short bed 4x4 with a 4 speed. My dad had several growing up and I would love to have about a 79 or so.

[clay68c10]

It’s looking sweet! I can’t wait to be at that stage.
The stance is nice, what are your wheel/tire sizes?

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by clay68c10

It’s looking sweet! I can’t wait to be at that stage.
The stance is nice, what are your wheel/tire sizes?

Thanks, it's awesome seeing a big change in a day.
Tires are 245/50/17's. They're smaller than I would like, so I'll be getting new wheels and tires later this year. I'd like to have 18's or 20's with taller/wider tires in the back and slightly taller in the front.

[cornerstone]

Hard work paying off in huge smiles. Beautiful job well done!

What are your plans for trim? Tailgate lettering?

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Hard work paying off in huge smiles. Beautiful job well done!

What are your plans for trim? Tailgate lettering?

Thanks!

The only trim I have for it is the leading edge of the hood and fenders. I'm going for the smooth, "dipped" look. Maybe someday I'll put stickers over the tailgate letters, but I wasn't wild about the idea of painting the recessed around the letters black. If it were the GMC tailgate with the smaller recessed area and letters, then maybe. But this one has the big letters and recess and I thought it would be too much black. I want the focus to be on the blue.