have i lost my mind????

[Richard8971]

Originally Posted by BB70c10

i still cant tell how good the body lines match up with the welds and two tone paint.im pretty sure i'll have to work them a little more before any paint is laid on it.im just excited that they're back in one piece kinda.

I think you are going to find that once you "float" the body lines out with filler, they are going to be just fine. Your bedsides have prolly sunk in some due to the heat of welding (sheet metal always shrinks when you weld it, just a matter of a lot or a little, depending on how much heat you used). That of course is not a bad thing, esp when you are trying to line up the bedsides and cover the welds. It looks like they didn't shrink too badly, your filler thickness should be down to a mininum. I know the bed curves a little, but a straightedge will help you see how far the seams are and how the filler thickness is going. Also guide coat your filler before you sand with some cheap flat black lacquer paint, it will help you see where it is still low.

Use 36-40 grit until it is perfect. Anything smoother grit-wise is a waste of time and you will really fight getting it straight. Once you are happy with the way it feels, spread on a coat of some polyester glazing putty (a finish product for filler, very, very smooth and runny) over the whole area (of sanded filler and beyond a little bit, making sure its sanded underneith) and then switch to 80 (get it close) and finish with 150. You will level it faster and straighter and actually save time.

Originally Posted by BB70c10

you know how those body shop guys can be:lol

I seem to resemble that remark! But, (cough, cough) I KNOW how we can be...

D

[BB70c10]

Originally Posted by Richard8971

I seem to resemble that remark! But, (cough, cough) I KNOW how we can be...

D

that reminds me.matt,the tech from johnsons body shop in durham,did an awesome job on the frame.that machine blew my mind.i didnt get any pics of it on there but it looked wild sitting on that machine with all those sensors hanging off and that laser spinning around.that thing is way more state of the art than the strings and tape measure i was expecting.the frame was out pretty good(i had the print out but it got wet and smeared) but it was about 9mm out of square,and one side was higher than the other.i was just expecting him to square it up real quick for and be done but he ended up spending about five hours tweaking it until it was square,level,and all the numbers matched all most perfectly.he went way above and beyond what i was expecting,and when i tried to pay him he refused to take it.i actually chased him around the frame machine trying to give him the money,but couldnt catch him-body shop guys are pretty darn fast!!!! Id never met him before that day and within 30min of getting there(after talking to him about my project and how interesting what he did was) he was taking me step by step through replacing a door skin,repairing a dent,filling,sanding,and priming on a volvo he was working on when i got there.he even let me do some hands on here and there.i ended up spending the entire day there and actually got a crash course on pretty much everything i was going to have to do to my truck.i cant say enough about matt and johnsons body shop for what they did for me

[BigSky71]

Originally Posted by BB70c10

that reminds me.matt,the tech from johnsons body shop in durham,did an awesome job on the frame.that machine blew my mind.........i cant say enough about matt and johnsons body shop for what they did for me

That is so cool. I had a similiar experience myself. The guy I buy my paint from told me to go see his friend a body shop owner. Once the body shop owner realized I was genuinely in search of help he was very helpful to me, and from that we have become friends. He was really pumped when I brought my painted truck over to see him, and he could tell I did what he told me to do and didn't second guess him. I guess its just a mutual enjoyment of the old autos that can bring people together, ahhhh, .

[BB70c10]

progress is going very slow right now.im trying my hand at body work right now,and im learning that its a slow process when you've never done it before.i dont let the truck come before my family so on the weekends i can work on it,i only work on it for one of those days(sat. or sun.),and the body work eats up the time fast.

so far i've welded up some "cracks" around the stake pockets from the weight of the tool boxes that were on the bedsides,i guess.im planning on filling them in completely
but i thought it would be better if they were repaired first(actually i just wanted to play with the welder).i still have some grinding to do on the bedsides and a few patch panels that need to be installed before i can start any filler work.im going to try work the welded areas on the bed where it sunk in just as richard8971 stated,in hopes to keep the body filler down to a minimum.not sure if its worth the effort,but the less filler i have to use,the better i'll feel about it.

heres a few pictures from today of my first real attempt at body panel repair using a hammer and dolly.i was pretty happy with the results,but i still have a ways to go before i call it done.i worked on it for a while from behind to get some of the major low spots up before i sprayed and sanded it to find the high spots.not sure if i went about it the right way,but i decided to work the high spots first.i basically just covered the area with black paint,block sanded it,and tapped down the high spots.heres the results after repeating the process a few times,tapping each spot a little bit at a time so i didnt create any new low spots:

[BigSky71]

I am impressed! You have studied and are following good advice, keep up the hard work, looks great.

[ChevyDude]

Great job...looks very familiar as to what Glock and I did with my OverKill project frame!

[BB70c10]

Originally Posted by ChevyDude

Great job...looks very familiar as to what Glock and I did with my OverKill project frame!

thanks man.i actually followed glocks how to on frame shortening in faqs section.printed it out and tried to follow it exactly.just looses something in translation when seeing me do it-he's a pro a far as im concerned.the how-to's on this site are second to none!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I am impressed! You have studied and are following good advice, keep up the hard work, looks great."

thanks bigsky71.i've studied more for building this truck than i did my entire high school career.its amazing what you can learn and do when you're actually interested in what you're trying to learn about.i just hope im making my teachers and anybody else checking out my progress proud.

[BB70c10]

Man,i have'nt posted or worked on my truck in about a year and 1/2 now.that sucks.I guess having a new baby and moving can make time fly.Im actually living in the house with the garage where the truck is now,and have'nt touched it since i've been here.
I've actually turned the garage into a make-shift body shop.I met a guy that actually does custom paint and body work at a local rod and custom shop,and we have been working on an el camino in the garage.He's a really cool dude,and is actually teaching me how to do paint and body work.Im hoping to learn alot b/c this paint job is going to be pretty radical.We,and by we i mean he,are spraying a two tone paint job with glow in the dark paint on top and chameleon(?) on bottom seperated by tribal flames.He's also doing some true fire/skull airbrushing on the hood.This was all his buddies idea,but im pretty excited to learn,and see how it turns out.
After the el camino's done were starting on my truck,so hopefully i can start posting some progress again.With his help,the truck is probably going to turn out alot nicer than i would ever be capable of,and its going to take alot more beer too!

[BB70c10]

Here's a "design" i came up with on the program Blaz-air was awesome enough to let me try out,which i would HIGHLY recommend to anyone wanting to play around with paint ideas,called HOK digital paint booth.I'm thinking ford orange on the flames and the newer ford graphite on the body, because their colors a way better.Just kidding.I'm really thinking hugger orange flames(metallic) and newer chevy graphite on the rest of the truck.Just wanted to get your guys opinion on how those colors will look when it's actually sprayed on the truck.The only thing i've ever painted is the walls in my house,and i know know sometimes the paint looks alot different in the store then it does on the wall.