Project "What was I Thinking" 68 SWB

[jlsanborn]

^^ That's some great advice Mike!

Something else that's helped me out is an abrasive cleaner. It'll save you a ton of paper.

http://www.toolplanet.com/product/Pr...KLtRoCn1fw_wcB

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by knomadd

Now THAT ^^^ Sounds like a plan!

Thanks Duane, hopefully I can stick to this plan

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

I'm right there with you on bodywork. Expensive, tedious and often times frustrating for us amateurs. Mine will be far from perfect too and I also wish sometimes that I hadn't taken it apart. Keep plugging away man. Whatever color / finish you use will look great on that bad ass truck!

Yeah it sucks, my problem is that I'm a very impatient person so doing the same thing over and over again is very frustrating. That's why I said it won't be perfect cause I just don't have the patience for it

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Nice progress on the cab Keith. I'm glad to see you tackling this project on your own. I know you can do it.

You may already be doing this, but if not, I'll tell you something I learned quickly on my first full panel skim coat (which was the roof of my cab). Don't put any more mud on than you are comfortable blocking out that day. Preferably while it's still "green". If that stuff is allowed time to cure, you will be fighting it, but if you block while it's fresh you can get it pretty flat and pretty fast.
Use clean sharp sandpaper too, it will save you some time. If working big panels I like to knock the high spots down with 36 grit, then switch to 80.
I learned the hard way on my roof....what a pain. After that deal. I never add more mud than I can cut in that session.
Keep up the good work.

Well Mike, it looks like I'm going to have a good ole time blocking that down since I haven't touched it yet guess I have some work ahead of me this weekend. Thanks for the tip, I will definitely be doing that from now on.

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

^^ That's some great advice Mike!

Something else that's helped me out is an abrasive cleaner. It'll save you a ton of paper.

http://www.toolplanet.com/product/Pr...KLtRoCn1fw_wcB

Thanks for the link, I have been going through sandpaper at a pretty regular pace, i give it a good wack with my hand to clean it out and then just throw it out when it's to clogged.

[Bennett68C10]

Blocked out the fenders tonight cause I just didn't feel like working on the cab They are now ready for sealer and paint

[Xeen]

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Blocked out the fenders tonight cause I just didn't feel like working on the cab They are now ready for sealer and paint

Attaboy!

[mx289]

Looking good.

I like the new,old plan.

Satin black will look mean with all the trim,wheels,chrome.

[knomadd]

Fenders look pretty good!

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

... I have been going through sandpaper at a pretty regular pace, i give it a good wack with my hand to clean it out and then just throw it out when it's to clogged.

If you use a blow gun with your compressor, it will help clean off some of the clogging. I've also used my jeans to whack the paper against. My hand would hurt after a while, and so would my leg, but just keep switching it up. Just be glad you aren't doing any sanding for a pay check. It get's old fast. Come to think of it, I'm glad I never bruised from all that sandpaper cleaning...

[jeh]

Lookin good Keith!!!

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Blocked out the fenders tonight cause I just didn't feel like working on the cab They are now ready for sealer and paint

Nice work on the fenders Keith. You won't regret the feeling "I did it myself" when it's over and you're driving it.

[67ctener]

With a long weekend I hope we get to see more reddddd. Maybe??

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Attaboy!

Originally Posted by mx289

Looking good.

I like the new,old plan.

Satin black will look mean with all the trim,wheels,chrome.

Originally Posted by knomadd

Fenders look pretty good!



If you use a blow gun with your compressor, it will help clean off some of the clogging. I've also used my jeans to whack the paper against. My hand would hurt after a while, and so would my leg, but just keep switching it up. Just be glad you aren't doing any sanding for a pay check. It get's old fast. Come to think of it, I'm glad I never bruised from all that sandpaper cleaning...

Originally Posted by jeh

Lookin good Keith!!!

Thanks guys, had another setback. Sprayed some sealer on the fenders only to notice I had some very fine sanding scratches showing through. Another rookie mistake I guess, I didn't want to take a chance of throwing paint over it and seeing them showing through the paint. I wasted half the day cleaning the spray booth out and prepping the fenders to paint them only to get disgusted and have to move on to something else. Now I get to spray and reblock them again.

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Nice work on the fenders Keith. You won't regret the feeling "I did it myself" when it's over and you're driving it.

Thanks Mike, your right I will be very proud of myself when it's actually done and I can enjoy and drive it for the first time ever but right now I'm not having any fun.

Originally Posted by 67ctener

With a long weekend I hope we get to see more reddddd. Maybe??

Nope, at this pace I'll be lucky to ever get paint on this truck you're definitely making the right choice having a professional do it.

[Bennett68C10]

Well after the fender mishap I moved onto the doors. I needed to spray my slicksand on them before I ran out of the epoxy recoat window. Today turned out to be the perfect day for it as it was cool with low humidity and tomorrow is supposed to be hot and humid here.

[Xeen]

The doors look great all the body lines are nice and sharp.

[mcbassin]

Doors look great Keith. What was your final grit on the fenders? Did you wet sand them ?

[jeh]

Won't be long and we will be seeing some final coat!!!!! Looks good Keith

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by Xeen

The doors look great all the body lines are nice and sharp.

Thanks Brian, they need a little bit of work but they're close.

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Doors look great Keith. What was your final grit on the fenders? Did you wet sand them ?

Final grit was 400 dry, according to SPI the sealer should cover 320 but I think my problem was I got some scratches from clogged sand paper. I have to do a better job of making sure I'm using fresh paper. My father stopped by today and told me just to finish sand it with 600 wet, so that's what I'll do for now on.

Originally Posted by jeh

Won't be long and we will be seeing some final coat!!!!! Looks good Keith

Thanks Jason, the fenders are close and the doors need some rounds of blocking. I'm going to wait until the cab is painted before I paint the fenders and doors.

[Bennett68C10]

Didn't have a lot of time to work on the truck today but I did manage to sand down the filler on the cab. It's ready for round two of filler.

[Bennett68C10]

My father came over yesterday for a little bit and we talked about the truck and the direction I'm going with it as well as the bodywork and paint. He imposed some wisdom on me and basically told me that I'm being way to hard on myself and he thinks I'm doing a great job at the bodywork especially for someone that has never did it before. He gave me some pointers and help straighten some areas out on the back of the cab that I didn't even realize where out if whack. I think he just likes hitting things with hammers We discussed my paint options and my constant flipping back and forth between Matte Black and Red. He thinks I should paint it Red for a few reasons. First it is my favorite color and as he put it, you will always want it Red. He also stated that since I'm painting in less then perfect conditions, you can't buff out imperfections in Satin Black like you can BC/CC Red. I don't have access to a professional paint booth or professional equipment or even a professional painter. He stated that on his truck he had problems with Bugs getting in the wet paint and it would have ruined a Satin Black paint job but with his he just buffed it out. The last thing he said was "you have 2 gallons of Torch Red, what are you going to do waste it" after we spoke and he left I got to thinking about it and he is right. No more flip flopping on color, it always come back to Red for me. The reasons why I keep changing to Satin Black is because I keep telling myself the bodywork will never look good enough for Red. This is the part of me being to hard on myself. I've also decided to take the timeline off when it needs to be finished by and just go back to working on it with the mindset of it will be finished when it's finished. So if the cab isn't painted before the winter oh well, I don't want to rush it. My father is going to start coming over on Sundays to help me with it and give guidance, right now that means more to me then finishing the truck by a certain time.

[Xeen]

Recently I had to come to terms with the fact that I may not get my truck back on the road this year due to my new short fleet bed taking up 95% of my truck money and there is none left for anything else at the moment but there is still time yet and who knows what will happen I may find that I have enough money to get it back on the road with time to spare.
It was weighing heavily on my mind and causing undue stress so I know exactly how you felt but it sounds like you got it all figured out so now you can put it out of your mind and enjoy the build again.
I'm looking forward to future updates.

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Recently I had to come to terms with the fact that I may not get my truck back on the road this year due to my new short fleet bed taking up 95% of my truck money and there is none left for anything else at the moment but there is still time yet and who knows what will happen I may find that I have enough money to get it back on the road with time to spare.
It was weighing heavily on my mind and causing undue stress so I know exactly how you felt but it sounds like you got it all figured out so now you can put it out of your mind and enjoy the build again.
I'm looking forward to future updates.

Stressing over this build has been eating me up and was getting to the point of being to much at times. I have to remind myself that it's just a truck, no reason to stress over it. It will get finished and I'll be proud of my accomplishment but the most important thing right now is being able to work on it with my father again.

[tune_1]

There are times that we need to listen to our fathers. It is great that he is able to come by and give guidance and help. With his help you will be surprised what the two of you can do in one day a week, especially if you are prepared for it. Keep up the good work and don't get discouraged by the seemingly slow progress. The turtle won the race.

Looks good
Dwight

[67ctener]

To share a little wisdom of my own... I'm extremely picky and when I comes to someone doing work for me there is always something I find flawed. It may not be the finished product that's imperfect but the fact it took three weeks longer and hundreds of dollars more. The fact that I put every extra penny into this truck has made it become a love and a lifestyle. In a painters eyes it's just another paycheck. When you work countless hours on the truck not one other person can have the compassion for it as you do. The work you do is the best to your abilities and in your eyes perfect. If you paint something three times you only learned from the mistake before but you learned each time. No one was born with these skills they were all learned and taught by others. The appreciation for this truck will be much greater knowing you put your heart into it.

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by tune_1

There are times that we need to listen to our fathers. It is great that he is able to come by and give guidance and help. With his help you will be surprised what the two of you can do in one day a week, especially if you are prepared for it. Keep up the good work and don't get discouraged by the seemingly slow progress. The turtle won the race.

Looks good
Dwight

Thanks Dwight, you are right I was trying to rush the bodywork and trying to get things finished by a certain time. This has given me a tremendous amount of stress, I need to back off a little and just remember that it will get done and take my time, which is as slow as a snail but atleast it should be right when done.

Originally Posted by 67ctener

To share a little wisdom of my own... I'm extremely picky and when I comes to someone doing work for me there is always something I find flawed. It may not be the finished product that's imperfect but the fact it took three weeks longer and hundreds of dollars more. The fact that I put every extra penny into this truck has made it become a love and a lifestyle. In a painters eyes it's just another paycheck. When you work countless hours on the truck not one other person can have the compassion for it as you do. The work you do is the best to your abilities and in your eyes perfect. If you paint something three times you only learned from the mistake before but you learned each time. No one was born with these skills they were all learned and taught by others. The appreciation for this truck will be much greater knowing you put your heart into it.

Thanks Scott, I hear what your saying. I'm proud of what I already accomplished with this truck and will be even more proud when it is done and I did all the bodywork and paint myself with some help from my father. I was looking at my dad's 40 Chevy Pickup on Sunday and realized if mine turns out as nice as his and I know it will, then I will be extremely happy. Is it perfect, no but it is nicer then 95% of all the vehicles I see at the local cruise nights and shows.

[mcbassin]

My father stopped by today and told me just to finish sand it with 600 wet, so that's what I'll do for now on.

Your father knows what he is talking about. He has some great advice.

As far as changing your mind, don't sweat it. I KNEW I wanted red and white at one point in my build. Turns out I really just thought I wanted two tone. I wouldn't change anything about my final choice.

I only wish you were closer so I could help you hammer that bodywork out.....mine only took like a year or two.

[knomadd]

Your father is a wise man. He's given you some very valid and important information to think about. I immediately thought about the "no buffing" limitation of a satin (really, anything that isn't gloss) when you said you were going black. I didn't want to deter you from your goals, so I kept my mouth (keyboard) shut. I'm glad he talked to you about all of that. I'm sure you'll be happy with it either way, but ultimately I think your father is right. You've always come back to red, you'll probably want it red at some point if you don't do it now.

One other thing to consider when choosing a color, if you haven't heard it already... The darker the color, the more flaws it will show (and harder to keep looking clean). White will hide a lot, and black hides nothing. Red is somewhere in the middle, but torch red in the sun is closer to white than black.

Keep at it. You'll get there. Your father is right, you've done a great job so far, especially for a first timer.

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Your father knows what he is talking about. He has some great advice.

As far as changing your mind, don't sweat it. I KNEW I wanted red and white at one point in my build. Turns out I really just thought I wanted two tone. I wouldn't change anything about my final choice.

I only wish you were closer so I could help you hammer that bodywork out.....mine only took like a year or two.

Thanks Mike, I wouldn't change anything about your final choice either. Your truck looks amazing. I wish you lived closer too but I wouldn't want to put that burden of helping with bodywork on you I'm not worried about changing my mind back and forth. It's a hard decision to make and I have a tendency to second guess myself a lot because I stress out over things. My wife always tells me, you know what you want so just do it. I know she and everybody else is right but somehow I get stressed over things and change up what I'm doing instead of staying the course.

Originally Posted by knomadd

Your father is a wise man. He's given you some very valid and important information to think about. I immediately thought about the "no buffing" limitation of a satin (really, anything that isn't gloss) when you said you were going black. I didn't want to deter you from your goals, so I kept my mouth (keyboard) shut. I'm glad he talked to you about all of that. I'm sure you'll be happy with it either way, but ultimately I think your father is right. You've always come back to red, you'll probably want it red at some point if you don't do it now.

One other thing to consider when choosing a color, if you haven't heard it already... The darker the color, the more flaws it will show (and harder to keep looking clean). White will hide a lot, and black hides nothing. Red is somewhere in the middle, but torch red in the sun is closer to white than black.

Keep at it. You'll get there. Your father is right, you've done a great job so far, especially for a first timer.

Thanks Duane l definitely appreciate your insight. I thought about the no buffing as well when it came to the Satin Black but I was in the depressed, I don't care attitude then I was basically overwhelmed with the bodywork on the cab. Nothing else needs a lot of work but the cab. I kept telling myself I couldn't do it or it would never be good enough for shiney paint. So I said screw it, I'll just paint it satin black and move on.

Sometimes you have to hear it from somebody else before you realize what your doing. All my father had to say to me the other day is what are you going to do if you get a run, or a bug or dirt in the paint. How are you going to fix it. It's stuff I thought about before but I kept saying who cares. The problem is I do care and like you said at some point I would have the itch to paint it Red, so why not just get it right the first time.