1957 Chevy truck re-rebuild

[ChuckDriver]

Yep, very nice!

[michaelt55]

great detail, awesome build!!

[neatm]

I just went through your thread from the beginning..... You have done some very quality work.. Looking great!

[Kim57]

It's turning out great.
Kim

[Stepside Jim]

Just checking in, and thanks everybody. Since the truck and parts sat in the sun all day and I even turned everything around about 1:00PM so the cooking would be even an everything.

I'm starting the wet sanding, it's gonna take hours but it will be the icing on the cake once fully buffed.

Ok, back to work.....

[RockinKees]

Fantastic!!!

[G&R's57GMC]

That is one fast paint job ! Looks great !

[apache200]

Paint job looks really professional!

[Stepside Jim]

Wow, for the last year I have looked and looked for a picture or image of this paint scheme and colors to see what this will look like when done.

I found similar but not any that were close enough to really get a good view.

By the responses I feel I chose well and thank all of you for your support, it is very uplifting.

I'm working very hard right now on the cut and buff stage, I have one fender completely finished and wow, absolutely beautiful. I hope by end of today I can get enough done to get an assortment of pictures to post.

Once again, thanks for all your kind words, Jim

[Stepside Jim]

I've been working and working on the cut and buff stage. It is a a choice that you either commit and go all the way or you don't do any of it. The finished surface is quite different so if you do one panel and not the next panel, the difference will show.

I figure I'll do a run through of some of the cut and buff procedure.

The hood sprayed with clear coat. perhaps a bit dusty.


I started with 1500 grit paper and sanded by hand, all the time using water with a small bit of soap to keep the area being sanded wet.

Attention....... When wet sanding a panel never use your finder tips to apply the pressure. Your finger tips will leave impressions that will show after buffing. I do use my fingers but I use the flats of my fingers and always sand in different directions.

Half way through the 1500 grit hood sanding.


I'm gonna keep working the surface til I get rid of all the small shiny specks.


I'm very close to buffing time. I still have some shiny specks and edges to finalize. About this time I'm gonna switch to a sponge rubber block and use 2000 grit paper. The rubber block will help level the surface and the finer paper will reduce some of the buffing time.



I'm probably not the fastest cut and buffer but the sanding took around 4 hours on the hood. Next up buffing.

I use 3M foam buffing pads with 3M fast cutting compound then clean the surface for a second round of fast cutting compound. By now all the scratches should be gone. Next another cleaning and a fresh clean buffing pad and fine compound.




That pretty well does the hood, the doors and fenders have been through the same procedure.



It seems the silver doesn't get it's credit.


With any luck I can assemble some of the truck this next week, time will tell.

Going back a year or so I mentioned block sanding, then more block sanding, well, then perhaps even more block sanding. Seeing how the panels reflect everything now, I'm glad I took the time to try to get all the panels as straight as I could.

[RockinKees]

Man, that's a lot of commitment to get it that shiny!!!
But you can tell the difference!

Beautifull!

[Kim57]

Looks fantastic.
Kim

[Baldeagle SR]

That is really nice. You are raising the bar. Rich

[ChuckDriver]

Outstanding!

[tune_1]

Looking great.

[_Ogre]

looking good stepside...
i was so tired of bodywork/sanding when i painted my truk, i didn't cut or buff

[Stepside Jim]

Well it's been a little over week and hours of sanding and buffing. Every time I finished an area it looked so good I kept going and going and going, I felt like banging a drum and symbol. (enerygizer bunny)

If it wasn't for the black it wouldn't make such a difference and I knew the black was gonna be my time taker but I also knew black was the only color that was gonna get the look I was going for.

Hopefully I will have the radiator support finished this next week, then I can assemble the rest of the front end. For now the doors are on, I did install the 3 rubber stops in the jams and want to thank the forum. I did a search and found one of our fine members, Russel Ashley (spelling) had a fine writing on where they all went.

I ordered a rear slider from Classic parts, nice looking window and I like the dark shading.


Doors fit well and although I assembled and disassembled the truck for the pinstripes I was nervous that they would line up, thankfully they did.


I wanted to get a new windshield the old one had the slight bubble thing going inside and I didn't want to watch it grow over the next years. Fortunately there is a window place and the guy is familiar with these old trucks. I bought the front glass from him and he installed it. I also paid for the rear window install, I just didn't want to deal with the front and rear glass, yuck.


When I mentioned I couldn't stop cutting and buffing, how about an inside door step.


I did cut and buff the actual step but I haven't stepped on it yet. I may cover it with the 3M plastic... or cut some stainless inserts, I have all winter, hmmmmm.

How about the inner lower doors with the formed factory pattern. I took the time to fix any dents and also primed and block sanded them. Now after painting and cut and buff what an image they produce in the reflection.


Here's the psychological part of a build. If the weather stayed nice for another couple of months I'd probably push to finish it and perhaps skip a few odds and ends of detail.

But, since winter is lurking around the corner, I can move froward at a steady pace without a feeling of urgency, I knew winter was good for something.

[Kim57]

It's sure looking great.
Kim

[ChuckDriver]

Incredible!

[RockinKees]

Man that looks Amazing!!!

[greystoke]

that's beautiful Jim, have you talked about where you do your spraying and any special setup you use.

[Rods57]

Really Nice, excellent job.

[Stepside Jim]

Thanks everybody, I suppose the toughest part of these projects is having the patience to keep going at times when you see no progress for weeks at a time.

As for any special place to paint, I do it all right in the shop. One main reason for painting the inside walls of the shop was to help keep dust down.

As for exhaust fans which is about the most important part of painting I pull air from an opening up into the attic space. I made a triangular filter support that once the attic door is opened it fits into the opening.


Attic has a benefit and a fault. Benefit because it creates a down draft, fault because if the sun is shining the temp in the shop can fluctuate due to pulling the warmed air in. I try to figure for the temperature changes by painting in the morning or cloudy days. I have considered making some duct work to pull outside air vs warmed attic air. I just don't paint enough to want to spend the time on duct work.

As for exhaust fans I do have a built into the wall system but I don't want to pull the paint contaminated air through it. So I use the garage door furthest from the attic opening and use two box fans. Then seal the door opening so the air has to be filtered air.


One thing I lack is enough lighting, I have to see how the paint is flowing as it hits the panel otherwise I'll have runs all over the place. May sound strange but I carry a drop light with a round florescent flood light bulb as I paint, I can hold it so I can see everything when I spray in shadowed areas. A pain in the butt to carry and hold along with holding the air hose at the same time, but I can see exactly how the paint is flowing immediately.

To have a paint booth with temp control, great lighting and exhaust fans would be great, but most of us have to get by the best we can.

[iowaboynca]

Love the paint scheme! Has a Hurst-Olds look to it from the early 80's. Loved those cars back in school.

[FarmerSid]

Nice setup Jim. I hear ya on using what you got and getting great results knowing how to use what you got.