71 K20 Idaho Edition

[landarts]

Got some of the high build on the back of the bed and lower section of cab. Went with the UPOL 2253 high build primer. Shot it with a turbine setup and literally had no over spray on the ground. Going to let it cure out over night in the heated garage and start blocking it out on Saturday.

Will probably go ahead and shot the rest of the back of the cab and roof section after I get it seam sealer laid down in the morning. While items where drying I forged forward with getting the drivers door ready for primer and paint. Stripped all of the felts and rubbers out of the door and working toward getting all of the door stripped down to bare metal. This door had several coats of paint, like three different colors. Had a hole in the lower door panel where speaker was installed, a few dings and one small spot in the bottom rear corner where rust was present. Cut out that section and replaced with new metal. Overall the down was in great shape with no filler areas or no major whamo's. Hinges where in excellent shape and the internal working parts all in good shape.

In getting the truck ready for primer I used a trick with the back window rubber I thought was posted by Joe's Junk at some point. By using a curved pick style tool and some rope/cord that I had available I worked the rope/cord under the rubber keeping it off of the metal so that primer could go under and making really easy to tape off.

[landarts]

Well I had a few set backs on the truck. Over a week ago when I was on vacation I had a goal to get the back of the truck and front bed panel painted. As it was winding down to the end of the vacation and the work on the truck I was able to sand down the first spray of high build primer on both areas. When I sprayed it either I had the settings wrong on my gun or I just did not thin the primer enough and it caused textured finish. As it was coming out of the gun I could see that it was a little textured but I thought it would flatten out. Well it did not and I basically had to sand it down which took another full day.

After that was wrapped up I thought I would take a break from the truck for a day or two and then attack it again. The mishap with the primer would not allow me to reach my goal on finishing before the end of my vacation. So I have always found when I get set backs or things don't go as planned like the roof skin replacement that I did not plan on, I take a day or so to let things simmer. Come back with another plan and forge on.

So last Friday I went a head and sprayed another coat of primer and this time I actually added some reducer to thin it out a little bit and it went on better but still not great. I let it set on the truck for 48 hours to let in cure in the heated garage so it would not gum up the paper like last time. Spent all day Sunday knocking down the primer with wet/dry 400 grit paper. After I was done with that I drove the truck out of the garage so I could do a really good job of cleaning up the shop and mopping the floor to get it ready for the paint.

Next up will be to start taping areas off and getting my plastic put down on floor and setting up my temporary plastic drapes to contain the area I am painting in as my make shift paint both. Once I get that done I will let it cure a couple days then get the bed back on the truck like I wanted to do over a week ago. Hopefully in the next few days I will be posting pictures of the paint on those areas.

Here are a few pictures of round two with the primer and a picture I stubbled across of a book written about the largest mule deer shot in Idaho. The picture has three or four mule deers strapped to the top of GMC truck in the snow.

[57taskforce]

Awesome progress!

[Ol Blue K20]

You may not have gotten to where you wanted but you still made progress. Cool pic of the GMC with California plates..

[landarts]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

Awesome progress!

Thanks I really appreciate the mention.

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

You may not have gotten to where you wanted but you still made progress. Cool pic of the GMC with California plates..

Thanks again, I did not catch the California plates until after posting it.

So yes I am making some progress but there always seems to be a degree of project creep happening and another issue I call the "Fight". What the Fight means to me is that these old trucks seem to fight back as you are trying to bring them back to life. Little things along the way will pop up and send you down another path or journey. Like this truck I have been trying to get the back of the cab and front bed panel painted so I can put the bed back on and use truck since it is a running functional truck. Every time I think I am ready to go something develops as a set back. Went through issues with having to replace the roof skin, then having to sand down the primer two separate times because of the texture. Went out this morning at 5 A.M. to tape, wipe down and get ready to shot paint this morning on cab and bed panel and found a newly added ding on the back of the cab side that was not there two days ago. Looks like somebody might have carried something into the garage and banged into it.

This left me with that Fight feeling again and started to really get me wondering why the truck was fighting me back. So I decided to just spray the bed panel a make a little progress and fix the ding and shot the cab another day. Also tried placing the largest order I have ever placed for parts for this truck and right in the middle of trying to do the check out the site crashed. Tried again for the next two days and site was down. Finally a week later I was able to place my order over the phone and the customer service rep honored the 40% discount that was available on Thanksgiving day. Tried to make a metal repair on the drivers door I have off the truck and the grinder's bearings went out. Grabbed the spare grinder I use as a backup and that one also gave up to the Fight.

Pict 1 - This is the Single stage paint I am using on this project ( UTech 500 )
Pict 2 - A pile of broken grinders
Pict 3 - Shows the dent and scratch in the cab side
Pict 4 - Bed panel right before shooting
Pict 5 - After a couple coats of paint, about 10 oz of paint used

[57taskforce]

Funny, I’ve noticed the same thing. It’s almost like sometimes the truck is just saying, “just let me die in peace damn it!”

[Ol Blue K20]

Wow! 2 grinders in a day. The scratch and ding sure add to the GRRRRR factor. But the bed front looks good!

[landarts]

Been busy the last week or so trying to get to the cab painting. Pulled off the front fenders and hood since they will need some additional work done on all of them to get them ready for paint. It will also give me access to paint the cab properly.

Worked on the passenger door wet sanding down some of the nicks and small scratches. Before I removed it from the cab I drilled two 1/8" holes in each hinge for reference locators. I have used this method and it really helps when you are putting them back on as a one man job. Spent a couple of days just getting all of the old glue off of the door jambs and stripping down the rocker to clean them up a little better than the previous owner who replaced the rockers at some point. Once I got them stripped and a few rounds of filler to dress them up i put on a coat of Rustoleum rusty metal primer. I like to use this sometimes for filling sand marks and getting it ready for primmer.

Last thing I did on the cab where the hinges were I brushed a coat Ospho to treat the metal.

[landarts]

After getting the door removed on the passenger side and laying on a saw horse so I could address the bottom half of the door. There was a few rust spots that needed attention. I took a large hooked screwdriver type tool and poked along the bottom section to force holes so I can identify and make the repairs needed. There was one section that needed to be cut out with a grinder and proceeded to replace with some new metal.

Once I got the rust areas addressed I worked the area with a flap disc and a small air grinder. Then added some filler to smooth out a few areas where the bottom of the door had a few dings. After a few rounds of filler and skim coats i put to layers of SEM high build primer from a spray can that I had left over from another project.

[landarts]

Set up the passenger and the drivers fender to finish off a few areas that needed attention before getting paint. Also need to address the other areas that need paint that goes under the hood. Fenders take sometime to get them right on both sides. After it is all said in done I will spray both sides of the fender and spray the underside of the fender with the 3M undercoating. Again when I got the fender areas where I needed them I brushed on a thick coat of red primer to fill the sand marks and get them closer for primer.

While those items were drying I worked on wet sanding the roof skin I replaced a few weeks ago with 400 wet and dry paper. Roof is in real good shape now and ready for seam sealer and primer.

[landarts]

Spent half a day just doing seam sealer in the jambs and roof area. Used a different product than I normally use and it was a real fight to get it looking right. the product name was Fisor seam sealer, I usually use one of the 3M seam sealers. Went to use the what I had left from the last time but it was toast. then tried to get some ordered but it was going to take to long to get it so I bought the Fisor product from paint supplier I use.

Got the areas primed that needed it and got the truck masked off for paint. Started shooting paint this afternoon and was able to get three coats of color on the cab. It feels great to get some color on the cab after all of the work it takes to get to this point. There where a few areas that will need to be addressed once the paint cures for a couple of days. I saw two places where I got something small in the paint and I found a few spots that have a run or two. Both of these items can be taken care of without having to repaint.

[Ol Blue K20]

It's looking good. COLOR!! YEAH!!

[Greg58]

You have been busy, no wonder we have not heard anything for a bit!
Keep it up.

Greg

[landarts]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

It's looking good. COLOR!! YEAH!!

Originally Posted by Greg58

You have been busy, no wonder we have not heard anything for a bit!
Keep it up.

Greg

Thanks guys I appreciate the follow. It is exciting to get some color on the cab and getting close to painting the fenders and hood soon.
Also have a large order of parts coming in the next few days so that is always an exciting part of the build. Stay tuned more to come.

[landarts]

Was able to get the truck bed out of the driveway and onto the truck this morning after a complete shop cleanup. Went out this morning and removed all the masking, paper and plastic from the truck then took down the temporary plastic sheeting I use for a make shift paint booth. Then cleaned up the shop and got the truck ready for the bed to be put back on.

I used the tool I made a few months back to remove the bed in conjunction with my engine hoist. This makes it a one man job and the bed is totally level for installation. I put a large sheet of 2" pink foam against the cab as a precautionary measure so take away the chance of scratching the new paint. Went on with out any issues, will still need to push the bed up closer for a full install and bolt it down. Will not be doing that until I fix a few small runs along the back.

Next up will be the fenders and then the doors, hood, cowl. Remainder of the bed will be the last thing painted and the inside of bed will be done with Upol Raptor liner in black.

[Rickysnickers]

Very nice job!!!

[57taskforce]

Great work, that cab came out awesome!

[Ol Blue K20]

Looking good!

[best view]

Looks like you’ve had some good weather

[landarts]

Originally Posted by best view

Looks like you’ve had some good weather

Kenny, not really. I install a 50k btu gas heater in garage about five years ago. I crank up the heat to about 75 degrees the day before I am going to paint. Turn it off then spray, when done I wait a few hours for the paint to flash then open up garage doors at both ends to flush out any smell. Then turn the heat back on and let it cook. All painting done in garage with a temporary paint booth setup.

[landarts]

By the way forgot to say "Merry Christmas".

[landarts]

Had to put the fenders, doors and hood back on. Need the garage for a couple of days. Took about 1.5 hours to get things temporarily bolted back on so it is drivable.

[best view]

Had to look twice said to myself didn’t he paint the cab lol

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by best view

Had to look twice said to myself didn’t he paint the cab lol

X2....

[landarts]

Originally Posted by best view

Had to look twice said to myself didn’t he paint the cab lol

Cab is painted and back of bed front has paint. Had to put doors, fenders and hood on. Need the garage for a couple of days to work on a LS motor in my Silverado. Have to use a heated garge or the work will not get done on my Silverado. Need to replace the cam bearings and a few other items.