1969 Short Wide

[shearjs]

You just continue make awesome stuff for this project. I wish I had your creativity and skills to produce these pieces. Keep up the good work Mike.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by shearjs

You just continue make awesome stuff for this project. I wish I had your creativity and skills to produce these pieces. Keep up the good work Mike.

Thanks Jason. I really enjoy designing parts and then making them. It's pretty cool to see a raw piece of metal transform.

[mcbassin]

Been working hard on wrapping up the bed. Seems two steps forward and one back every time I turn around. Very close to having all the pieces ready to assemble.
Pretty happy with the way the bed floor turned out. This thing was hammered in every way, rust pits, and dents about every square inch.

Lined the inside of the lower bed panels with Raptor:














Next I prepped the bed floor for raptor Tinted:




ready to shoot:

[Crash_OK]

We putting it together tonight?

[Bennett68C10]

Nice job Mike, the tinted raptor on the bed floor looks awesome.

[Low Elco]

Man, that Raptor looks nice! You're makin' me want to git started! It all looks really good.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Crash_OK

We putting it together tonight?

Unfortunately, It looks like a small delay. Possibly tomorrow but doubtful. Notice how I only mocked up one tub? I have to re-clear the other tub today.
I had a small dust nib that I was removing with 1500 grit apparently the clear was thinner than I expected cause I got through and didn't notice till it was way too late.
story of my life

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Nice job Mike, the tinted raptor on the bed floor looks awesome.

Thanks Keith. I have heard about fading issues with red, if that happens, I will just paint it with single stage urethane. It looks good for now.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Man, that Raptor looks nice! You're makin' me want to git started! It all looks really good.

Thanks,
I'm always glad to motivate others, like they do me on here.

[jlsanborn]

Man that looks great! Soo cool how you can tint the stuff. Really like what you did on the lower bed sides too. Sharp!

[ksshane]

two steps forward and one back

I think this is every C10 owners motto.

Really diggin the raptor finish. I dont know anything about the raptor product. Ive seen it posted here and there, but since Im not to that point I havent researched it. How did you get the tint so close to the actual color of your paint?

[suspect]

Looking awesome! I need to make sure I coat mine with some raptor also. Sometimes I get ahead of myself and skip steps.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Man that looks great! Soo cool how you can tint the stuff. Really like what you did on the lower bed sides too. Sharp!

Thanks for the compliment.

Originally Posted by ksshane

I think this is every C10 owners motto.

Really diggin the raptor finish. I dont know anything about the raptor product. Ive seen it posted here and there, but since Im not to that point I havent researched it. How did you get the tint so close to the actual color of your paint?

Thanks. On the tint, I had my local Oreilly's mix some base coat urethane without the binders in it.(just tint). It matches pretty good now but red fades sometimes so I may end up painting it if it does. This truck won't be stored outside which will help but it will be driven.

Originally Posted by suspect

Looking awesome! I need to make sure I coat mine with some raptor also. Sometimes I get ahead of myself and skip steps.

Thanks Daniel. I'm trying to map this thing out so it all goes together smooth. At times I think I may over think things....that happens when you're going on the 4th winter working on one.

[Zoomin]

Really smart idea coating the inside with Raptor. That and a garage will keep this puppy around for years to come.

Looking great, Mike.

[screaminchevypickup]

Looks great mike.. Top notch work!

[Dieselwrencher]

Mike, great work! That's what I want to do to my Longhorn's bed floor too. I probably won't go to the extent you did with the dent removal on the floor because I still want to try to use it like a truck. I know If I make it super nice, I'll never put anything in the bed.

[swamp rat]

Why cant you be my best buddy and neighbor.... and help me do that with my truck! That is sweet!

[knomadd]

I just found your thread. So far I've only gone back a few pages, but I've got a lot of reading to do... I'll be caught up in a few days

I like the tinted raptor liner. How hard is it to spray? What sort of air pressure are you using/need? What about the gun, did you use a special gun or just a large tip hvlp?

I like what I'm seeing on the last few pages. Keep up the good work.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Zoomin

Really smart idea coating the inside with Raptor. That and a garage will keep this puppy around for years to come.
Looking great, Mike.

Thanks Steve. I'm liking the Raptor. Not a fan of the original undercoating tar goop that these trucks had on them. I really don't plan on having too many issues with the elements in this one Besides it covers up all those bumps and bruises of 30 years of service. I would love to have put a nice wood bed in it. It would have taken about 1/10th or less time.

Originally Posted by screaminchevypickup

Looks great mike.. Top notch work!

Thanks Kyle. You know how pictures can make everything look better.

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Mike, great work! That's what I want to do to my Longhorn's bed floor too. I probably won't go to the extent you did with the dent removal on the floor because I still want to try to use it like a truck. I know If I make it super nice, I'll never put anything in the bed.

Thanks Ryan. You would like this stuff. The dent removal wasn't too bad except where the braces are welded in. Metal is a little too thick for the stud puller.

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Why cant you be my best buddy and neighbor.... and help me do that with my truck! That is sweet!

Thanks for the kind words. Anytime, I'm always willing to help a fellow board member.

Originally Posted by knomadd

I just found your thread. So far I've only gone back a few pages, but I've got a lot of reading to do... I'll be caught up in a few days

I like the tinted raptor liner. How hard is it to spray? What sort of air pressure are you using/need? What about the gun, did you use a special gun or just a large tip hvlp?

I like what I'm seeing on the last few pages. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for checking out my build. I'm sorry it's so long, just started as a quicky and things tend to change as I go. I'm pretty slow which doesn't help.

On the Raptor liner, I bought my kits on eBay for around $120 shipped, You can buy it at TCP or Amazon or even your local Oreilly's can order it. Kit comes with the Shutz type spray gun and 4 liters of urethane. I have been spraying at around 60psi. I also reduce mine a little which seems to make lay a little less lumpy.

LINK

[twotrucks]

Looking awesome! Are you going to weld the bedside to the floor at the tailgate end like the factory did?

[litew8]

That Raptor looks great! Very uniform job Mike! For the Raptor tint, I've read some actually mix it up a little darker, since it shoots a little lighter. I still have some I never used after purchasing a while back, now, after seeing your work, I think I'm going to copy you and your bedside coating. Nice. Are you shooting the underside of the tubs with Raptor?

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by twotrucks

Looking awesome! Are you going to weld the bedside to the floor at the tailgate end like the factory did?

Thanks for the nice words.

Yes, I will be sanding the paint off in the areas that are to be welded. Just like the factory did. I taped that area off to avoid the raptor there too. Once I get the bed assembled squared up and tailgate fitted, I will weld her up and repaint that area. Hope it goes as planned.

Originally Posted by litew8

That Raptor looks great! Very uniform job Mike! For the Raptor tint, I've read some actually mix it up a little darker, since it shoots a little lighter. I still have some I never used after purchasing a while back, now, after seeing your work, I think I'm going to copy you and your bedside coating. Nice. Are you shooting the underside of the tubs with Raptor?

Thanks for the compliment. I'm happy with the final results. I didn't realize the tinted is white and not clear as I thought..On the under side of the bed and tubs check THIS out.

edit:
BTW, In hindsight it would have been far easier to replace the front panel, cross braces and install a nice wood floor like you did. I don't know how much money I spent salvaging these rough metal panels? but I would have been done with the bed long time ago. These are the things we learn as we go. I'm pretty dang tight with the budget but as you can tell from the length of the build, I have plenty of time.

Would I do it over? Probably

[mcbassin]

I got the sand through fixed. Sanded the whole tub with 1000 then had to re-apply base coat in the bad spot. I let it set up over night then wet sanded that area to level it out. Next I re-shot two more coats of clear.

It looks orangy in the strange light but we all know it's RED

[litew8]

Very cool

[nasqar]

OK, fine....I thought I was doing good with getting the bed painted....but dang bro, this is bed is incredible!!! Great job Mike, keep it up man.

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice spray work!!! I'm jealous you have like no dirt or specs in there at all.