"Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion

[N2TRUX]

So, what do you do when your frustrated and need a distraction? I look for a task that I can complete in the allotted time available.

I decided to work on the back wall of the cab. I plan to paint it with Tamco epoxy sealer.
I wanted to prep the surface and have it ready to spray. It wasn't planned for tonight, but I did get another task accomplished

[N2TRUX]

Chris came over this morning and we pulled the battery out of his truck. Either the battery in Jake died or my charger is flaking out.

We bled the brakes and loaded the crewcab on the trailer. I sent Aaron a text and let him know we were headed his way. After an obligatory stop at Buccees for gas and a breakfast burrito we were on our way.

[N2TRUX]

After unloading the truck and parts, we loaded the bed on the trailer. While Aaron props the cab and hangs the sheetmetal Chris and I are going to focus on the bottom of the bed.

[N2TRUX]

This afternoon I went by the car wash to pressure wash the bottom of the bed. After removing several layers of dirt and grease I headed back to my shop.

[N2TRUX]

I used a cut off wheel to cut the bolts that protrude in the tub. I cleaned the ends with with my Benchmark flapper disc, followed by a nylon bristle cup to clean the surface.

[N2TRUX]

With both sides cleaned up I backed the trailer in my shop and masked the exterior surface. I loaded up the shutz gun with undercoating. I played with the line pressure to get a good pattern and laid down a couple of coats.

Once I got the edges cut in I let it set a bit. I worked to fill in the middle and build a thick layer in the impact areas.

[cwcarpenter98]

That is some NICE texture on the undercoating. I always enjoy seeing your work!

[pbeguy]

It is inspiring to see the hard work that is going in to your build. While boring and meticulous, it pays off in the finished product.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

That is some NICE texture on the undercoating. I always enjoy seeing your work!

Thanks. It takes some playing with line pressure and distance from the surface to get a good texture. I have found that increasing the distance improves the splatter.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by pbeguy

It is inspiring to see the hard work that is going in to your build. While boring and meticulous, it pays off in the finished product.

I try to break it down in to small tasks that can be accomplished in an evening. This allow s me to feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of a work session.

[68Timber]

You have the gift of making something look like it was fully blown apart. Excellent detail work.

[N2TRUX]

With the wheel tubs finished it was time to tackle the bed floor. The good news is the bed is completely rust free. The bad news is it once lived down a dirt road. It was going to take more than pressure washing to get beyond the sandy residue.

I considered my options and decided the most effective way to prep the surface without exposing raw metal was my Benchmark Abrasives nylon bristle cup. I fired up the DeWalt and spent a couple of hours of quality time with the bed floor.

[N2TRUX]

It's a bit tedious but the effort paid off. I stripped all of the loose dirt, old undercoat, and surface rust down to clean metal.

[N2TRUX]

With the bed floor clean I gave it a thorough wipe down with brake cleaner and blew it dry. I got a fresh Scotch Brite pad and worked the inner bed sides. I went as far up the side of the bed as possible then wiped it clean as well

[N2TRUX]

I masked the exterior so I could spray from the outside as well as the inside

[N2TRUX]

It was time to start laying on the undercoating. For these surfaces I use Duplicolor UC102. Its thin enough to get in the tight spots, but thick enough to cover well and offer great protection.

I sprayed the bedsides first, inside and out. I really like the satin sheen and mild texture the UC102 gives.

[N2TRUX]

Unfortunately it took more material to do the bedsides than I anticipated. Consequently my night ended rather quickly.
I used my last two cans of UC102 to do the bed floor. That took me about a 1/3 of the way before I ran dry. Time to clean up and pick up my tools.

[N2TRUX]

Friday night I took my wife to dinner before heading home. Chris beat me to the shop and started working on the tail light harness. It had been hacked with a trailer harness more than once,

Fortunately it was repairable and Chris was up for the task. He cut out all the bad spots and soldered the splices. Once everything was cleaned up he wrapped it with new mesh loom.

[N2TRUX]

While Chris worked on the harness I finished spraying the bed floor with undercoating. I layed down a couple of good coats and double checked for this spots. Once I was confident I had adequate coverage I called it done.

[N2TRUX]

While the bed floor cured I moved on to my next project. I went through my collection of headlight bezels and found the best pair. These aren't perfect, but they will do till I can locate a better set. Until then I decided to restore these as best as possible.

I used a mildly abrasive compound to get as much tarnish off as possible. I followed that with chrome polish to bring back the shine.

The original paint was pretty bad so it was removed with Scotch Brite and brake cleaner.

[N2TRUX]

With the surface prepped I masked the chrome off. I use Duplicolor GM argent to spray the headlight surround. It's very close to the GM Restoration parts grill I had picked up for this build.

[SCOTI]

Looks like a very close match on the color.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Looks like a very close match on the color.

Scot the irony is I already had the color on the shelf. It was a color I found that came close to matching the Ramjet 350 in Elwood.

[N2TRUX]

Aaron is making great progress on the cab over at Homegrown Hotrods. He focused on cleaning up the spot welds in the door jambs, then blocked everything flat. They masked it up and got it ready for sealer.

[N2TRUX]

One final blocking and they laid on the Tamco sealer. This will be a stopping point for now. They start hanging doors and fenders so it looks like a truck again.