Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[Xeen]

Great progress Vic, it will be gratifying for you when you get the bed done.

[gdavis]

The worst dirty your shop is my clean. What I am saying is your shop looks real clean. and can't wait until the bed is back together and coated.

[Vic1947]

I'm down to less than a quart of 2K primer left in the whole shop. All the bed panels have two to three coats of 2K plus a couple of coats of epoxy as well as the remains of the Slick Sand polyester spray filler I didn't sand off. I'm satisfied with the floor, the front panel, the passenger bedside and the wheel tubs. The driver bedside still has a subtle "hockey stick" profile at the rear seam where I shortened it. The side where it's flat is okay, as is the top. But the area with two opposing compound curves has turned into a challenge. It's the result of "mitering" the two sections together and there's not really a good solution. I'm leaning toward using plastic filler to build a shallow wedge toward the rear that will soften the transition. However, that may only shift the problem to the very back. It will be easy to reverse out if it makes things worse.

Tomorrow I need to contact the Line-X store to get their recommendation on prepping the floor, bedsides and etc. for their product. Personally, I'd be comfortable shooting over the fresh primer, but if they want it scuffed, now's the time to do it before it's all assembled.

[gdavis]

they look good my man. can't wait until you shoot some color.

[Low Elco]

Lookin' Smoooooth!

[swamp rat]

Nice work Vic! Gotta ask, do you paint in your shop/Garage or outside? I'm wondering about over spray.

[69CST-V]

Looks really good. Nice progress

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Nice work Vic! Gotta ask, do you paint in your shop/Garage or outside? I'm wondering about over spray.

As long as you're not squirting alkyd or single stage catalyzed enamels, what overspray does come off the surface dries before it hits the ground. I mainly shoot just primer which doesn't generate a tacky overspray. That said, I generally work outside depending on the weather. When I do spray something inside, the only downside is the odor and some dust. Most modern refinish materials have low VOC's and spraying with HVLP equipment helps reduce the mess. However, when it comes time to do the overall on my truck, I'll haul it to Precision Collision for the BC/CC. A professional booth is the only place to spray clears. Otherwise, you spend forever sanding and polishing the dust nibs.

[mcbassin]

Looking good Vic

[Vic1947]

Today I worked to re-contour the body line at the back of the bedside. I spread filler from where the discontinuity was worst, increasing the layer thickness as it approached the back of the panel. Took several tries but it's pretty close now ...at least better than it was. You can see the tapered strip of filler where it raised the line in back. I shot multiple heavy coats of 2K primer over it and will let it setup overnight.

I contacted Line-X and they stated they prep the surface by sanding with 80 grit paper. They do their own prep on every job, so according to them, it would be a waste of time for me to scuff the panels because they'd just do it again. I have a hard time farming stuff out because it's ended so badly on so many occasions. I hope this is a good decision because if it's not, this isn't the sort of procedure that's easily fixed. Next step is to shoot the undercoat, then assemble the bed.

[sduckworth13]

That edge is coming along nice, it looks great!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

That edge is coming along nice, it looks great!

Thanks, Scott. Sort of a "light at the end of the tunnel" feeling.

[jeh]

Looks good Vic, just make sure the Line X guys are careful with the new paint. Ask me how I know

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jeh

Looks good Vic, just make sure the Line X guys are careful with the new paint. Ask me how I know

Thanks, Jason. I'm leaning toward trailering the assembled bed to them while it's still in primer. That way, if any product ends up somewhere it shouldn't be, I'd have a shot at sanding it off before final paint. I take it that their website testimonials regarding how careful they are can have the occasional "exception"?

[Low Elco]

A bit nerve wracking to be sure. As always, trailer's yours anytime you need it, has a big wide ramp and full width axles and bed now as well.

[jlsanborn]

I appreciate how you can isolate the problem area, analyze it and approach it with some thought. Makes it look sooo easy. Well done Vic! Its gonna be tough walk away and let someone lay into that with 80 grit!

[Xeen]

Vic I don't know anything about bodywork but 80 grit is very rough wont it cut right through the primer and tear right into the filler and screw up all your hard work?

[snipescastle2]

Vic,
would there be any advantage to having the bed floor line-x'd before assembly? I'm leaning on having this done myself......everything else will be painted body color, just the floor will be covered in bedliner..... I'll have to come visit next week sometime to get some rivets for my vent window rebuild.......things are really looking great on your build, I'm envious!!!
Have a good one!
Ben

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

A bit nerve wracking to be sure. As always, trailer's yours anytime you need it, has a big wide ramp and full width axles and bed now as well.

Thanks, Chip. I'll keep you in mind. My neighbor right across the street recently offered to loan me his trailer anytime I needed it. Pretty convenient, eh? If it doesn't work out, though, it's great to have a backup.

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

...Its gonna be tough walk away and let someone lay into that with 80 grit!

Amen to that, John.

Originally Posted by Xeen

Vic I don't know anything about bodywork but 80 grit is very rough wont it cut right through the primer and tear right into the filler and screw up all your hard work?

80 is fairly rough but probably well suited to their usual jobs. Scuffing a hard, heavy clearcoat with 80 grit makes more sense than soft primer. I think I laid down enough primer to prevent them from breaking thru if they use a light touch. However, if they put the kid that usually sweeps floors to work on it, no telling what might happen. I need to do one of two things, either scuff it myself and insist they only apply the liner, or have a serious sit down with the shop manager before any work starts. Problem with farming out stuff is that each side assumes the other is [pick one or more] deaf, congenitally stupid, incompetent, psycho or who-knows-what. When I luck into a nice shop with good people, I'm a repeat customer. But it's always a crapshoot with a new place.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by snipescastle2

Vic,
would there be any advantage to having the bed floor line-x'd before assembly? I'm leaning on having this done myself......everything else will be painted body color, just the floor will be covered in bedliner..... I'll have to come visit next week sometime to get some rivets for my vent window rebuild.......things are really looking great on your build, I'm envious!!!
Have a good one!
Ben

Thanks, Ben, drop by whenever you get the chance. I wanted to do the bed liner with it assembled so the material would cover the bolt heads. I plan to reuse the original bolts. They didn't make it to the plating company with the rest of the hardware so they're bugly.

[Low Elco]

Ben, you can get Raptor Liner custom color matched, and it ain't hard to shoot with a schutz gun. I used Al's this time, Doing Raptor next round. I say this because a lot of the line x places either won't do short jobs outright, or expect you to put their kids through college for them. Shame, if you courted the market and weren't a complete horses patoot to deal with, you could probably fill some production holes and make some coin.

If you need extra hands for assembly day, don't hesitate to call, Vic.

[Vic1947]

Okey, dokey... Kathy and I flipped over the bed floor to expose the underside and used compressed air to remove a little bit of dust. Shook up three cans of 3M No Cleanup (NASCAR approved) Body Schutz and laid out the disposable nozzles and gun. Rolled the cart outside into the 97 degree afternoon and put down some cardboard to help minimize the black speckled overspray on the concrete. Pulled the trigger and voila! Undercoating-r-us. Letting it bake awhile before moving inside.

[mcbassin]

Very nice work on the undercoating Vic. I know how fast things are baking in this heat.

[Xeen]

Wow that looks really nice and should hold up really well over the years.

[Low Elco]

Oooh, I like that new gun setup! Saves a lot of cleaning!