67 short fleet resto-mod

[Bennett68C10]

Awesome job on the bed, it looks like it came that way.
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[oldspowered67C10]

And the paint continues, painted the tailgate 2 weekends ago so cut and buffed it last weekend.

I had never used guide coat during color sanding before but after seeing it suggested by forum member "the astronaut" and seeing his incredible work I decided Id give it a try. This has to be one of the best suggestions that Ive gotten in a long time and I will never do it w/o guide coat again. I used to use a squeegee every once in a while to clear the water off the panel to look for shiny spots while color sanding. With the guide coat you completely eliminate that step. I use it between every grit during color sanding so as to know that i have completely eliminated all the sand scratches of the previous grit. Im using the 3M powdered stuff and it shows amazingly fine sanding scratches. I also went all the way to 3000 grit this time and I don't know wether or not it was the guide coat or the extra grit step but polish-wise this has to be the best panel Ive ever done, not a swirl mark on it.

Anyways, thanks for tip "the astronaut" and heres the pics.

[oldspowered67C10]

OK, got one bedside done. Took alot pics of the procedure, thought Id post on how I work and paint a panel.

First pic is the new bedside after I fixed all the shipping damage and imperfections from the factory,scuffed down the EDP with red scotchbrite and shot with 2 coats of epoxy primer followed by 2 coats of polyester primer. The bedside was a goodmark panel I bought around 8 years ago. it wasn't perfect but it wasn't bad, alot less work than if I had decided to fix the factory bedside.

Second pic is after I applied the guide coat, its the 3M dry stuff.

Third is after hitting if with 120 grit on a hard board for about 30 seconds. Kind of gives you a idea of how straight the panel is from the factory and how much of a texture polyester primer leaves "as-sprayed". All the dark is the guide coat while all the light areas are high spots, ignore the X pattern in the middle as that has more to do with the sanding method than the panel itself.

Fourth is cut down with 120. I cut down to the point where 99% of the low spots as shown by the guide coat are gone. Notice how Ive cut all the way through the polyester primer and into the epoxy primer in a effort to get a straight panel.

Finally the 5 pic is cut down to 400 grit and ready to spray. The steps were 120 to 240 to 320 up to 400 with guide coat in between each grit just to show the scratch marks from the previous grit. Notice how there are now spots where I have sanded all the way through both the polyester and epoxy primer and just barely hit the EDP.

[oldspowered67C10]

Next pic is the panel shot with epoxy primer reduced to a sealer right before shooting paint, just a bit of extra insurance and a uniform color to lay paint on.


Second is after paint was applied. Notice the absolutely terrible finish I was left with, Im not sure what happened but I think its was because of the heat, it was 100 degrees in the garage and the panel had been in the heat all day. I seriously thought about cutting it down with 400 and trying again but I figured Id give color sanding it a shot.

Third pic is the tools I use in color sanding, a aluminum block and foam backed piece of vinyl for the real curvy spots. Its also another shot at how bad the paint laid down.

Last 2 pics are of different parts of the panel with about 2 minutes of work with 1000 grit. See how well the guide coat works during color sanding, and its waterproof! You can also see how even though the panel was pretty straight before paint the aluminum block I use in color sanding shows that there is still high and low spots.

[oldspowered67C10]

First 2 are cut down to 1000 grit and second 2 are down to 3000 grit.

[oldspowered67C10]

And finally after buffing.

[VA72C10]

beautiful work! Thanks for the step by step!

[Rusbuilt]

Awesome! Looking good

[502ms]

Amazing work
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[Blitz]

I need to print this in high quality paper and make a How To. lol

[oldspowered67C10]

Thanks again for the compliments guys. Im starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on this one so Ive been pushing hard to get it done. I havent done anything else on the weekends for about 3 months and my back is killing me but I hope to get it on the road in less than a couple of months. Hopefully it will be done right around the time it starts cooling down around here.

[YBNORML]

Nice work, that bed floor is absolutely awesome! I can't wait to see the bed assembled.

[oldspowered67C10]

Got most of the bed panels done and assembled/installed bed this weekend. Still debating whether or not to install tailgate trim.

[Rusbuilt]

Wow friend! Your truck looks sick!!

[gringoloco]

Lookin good! I vote yes on the trim, but upper only with hockey stick lights...
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[oldspowered67C10]

I bought a set of 67-68 tailgate trim but the quality isnt as good as the side trim. Ill have to do the white letters first and see if it still needs something.

Thanks for the compliments guys.

[ChopperCity256]

suscribe

[Rusbuilt]

You need to make one of those pictures your avatar!!
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[Bennett68C10]

Wow, your truck looks awesome. Great job on it.

[ChopperCity256]

What size are those rims and what back spacing do they have?
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[Jimbabwe]

That is looking sweet! Love the bed floor.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by ChopperCity256

What size are those rims and what back spacing do they have?
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Originally Posted by oldspowered67C10

Ridler wheels, 20x10 rear and 20x8.5 front, 295/35-20 and 255/40-20.

Both wheels come from Ridler w/ 0mm offset.

[67cheby]

BEAUTIFUL job !! WOW

[68 Four on the Floor]

Your yard is amazing looking
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[gringoloco]

I was thinking that too. Great grass!
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