Thanks to Mothertruckers, my second paint job looks great.

[seacrow]

AS you may remember, I had my truck painted back in Jan. I posted pics here since it looked good right after it was done. However, a couple of days later, out in the sun, the was some real problems. Mostly a grapefruit sized dent in the roof that my original body man never fixed. AS well as dozens of small dents and dings on the doors and bedsides. There was also a rust hole in the rear cab support that was fiberglassed over in a bad way. I had it outside of Ed's shop and he was embarrassed about it being there. The paint was not drying since my first body man mixed the enamel wrong and there were places all over were the primer showed through. I have since fired my original guy and got Ed @ Mothertruckers and his crew to strip all of the interior out and repaint the entire truck. They finished it today. I will post before and after pics. Ed and his crew did a first class job, they also used PPG base clear which looks awesome. Thanks Ed.

Here is a before pic

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another before shot, notice the run above the door handle.

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Here is an after shot, not one ding in the entire truck now. And the color looks more correct.

[seacrow]

Ed's guys do great work.

[dinnut]

wow it is beautiful now!!!!!!!!

[seacrow]

Here is the original tailgate I bought from Charlie Coleman. That was the best original GMC tailgate I've ever seen. Perfectly straight, and only three small dents to fix.

[seacrow]

The thread with all of the first paint job photos is here

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...nt+job+is+done

I was pretty excited when it was first painted but when we rolled it out in the sun I was sick. Ed and his guys fixed everything the other guy screwed up. It won't be long before I am driving this thing. Ed and crew also fixed everything the mechanic messed up. Ed knows these trucks like the back of his hand. I will have some more pics tomorrow or the next day, weather permitting.

[lukecp]

Wow....looks great! That tailgate is immaculate!

[JDYUSA]

WOW !

That looks great, I like those two shades of green. SHould look great with a nice set of "shiny" wheels.

thx, JDY

[too much stuff]

Nice to see progress in the right direction, too bad about the first job. Should look nice when done. My dad had a 72 chev with the same color combo,not too common. Keep us updated.

[Hooter]

A little bit of wet sanding on that boxside and it will be perfect! what colour is that dark green Im trying to find a good green to paint my 70 Monte and I really like that green!?

[Castiron9]

Dam...........That's nice.....................Look's like you could eat off that tailgate................ Hope my green LONGHORN comes out looking that nice............

[veedublu]

Hey, that's my old tailgate!! Sure wish I would have known it's value before I sold it to Charlie

Glad to see it has a good home!

John

[68LSS1]

It's nice to see Ed getting some of the recognation he deserves. Is that green an original color? I'm not one for green but that looks pretty good.

[Alexis]

lookin good

[seacrow]

Thanks guys.

the two tone green is the factory color combo. I have only seen a few like this.

Hooter, the color is "Dark Olive Green" I think it came on 70-72 Chevy and GMC trucks.

veedublu, that tailgate was in near perfect condition. After it was sandblasted, it looked better than some NOS gates I've seen. Even the hardware was in perfect shape. It has a good home now, it is retired forever.

68LSS, Ed has been a pleasure to deal with. I am sure you have dealt with him if you are in Tampa. He has two guys working for him that are brothers, one a mechanic, and the other a body man. they have been in their fields for over 30 years and it shows. The mechanic got my truck running perfect. Between them and Ed, there is nothing they can't do.

I had a buddy doing the first paint job, he was doing it pretty cheap. In the end it cost me more but it was worth every dime. I have learned a lot from this.

[Dean]

Looking good! Is the VW next?

[seacrow]

Dean, I am still up in the air on the VW. I drove it up I-75 going 70mph listening to the AM radio. From 10 feet away, it looks like a new VW. I'll have to see what mood I am in after the truck is done. I love that VW, thanks for selling it to me.

[Dean]

I can relate. It is a lot of work and $$$. I'll be taking a break after I finish my latest 71 K20 project.

I bet that VW runs better the more you drive it since it sat so long. What all have you done to it? I know you said you had to replace the wheel cylinders again and I'm sure you did tires and exhaust. Still just shifting slow with the transmission into 2nd? I bet that is why the guy stopped driving it way back when.....

[seacrow]

Dean, I have also been told that the VW may be worth more in 20 more years if it's kept as original as possible.

I had a new clutch, new tires, new wheel cylinders, plugs, exhaust, and cleaned it up real good. I found the original German fan belt under the rear seat. I have put about 2000 miles on it and it runs better and better. Even the choke pull off, which is a very rare part on VW's since most were taken off and trashed, works perfect now.

I have shown it three times and get tons of compliments. AS it turns out, metal sunroof beetles are very hard to find and many were Super Beetles. Most have long since rotted away since the roof panel was subject to rust. Several VW enthusiasts I know told me that I have the only 70 standard beetle sunroof they have ever seen. Most guys said that according to their books, there were only a few hundred standard beetle sunroofs made in 70 as opposed to thousands of Supers.

Another guy at a show told me that this is a Beetle deluxe, with side pop out windows, shoulder harness seat belts, and a few other goodies. He also told me that the bumper guards are original German, and that I have the only set he has ever seen. He also said that the sunroof area is the best he has seen for being rust free. Another guy told me that he has never heard an original Sapphire IX radio and speaker that worked that good and wasn't blown.

I have also been told that the water drip guard under the hood, the reflectors on the rear bumper, the original emmisions stuff, the radio, and even the horn ring on the steering wheel are very hard to find in such good condition. ONe guy told me that he hasn't seen original VW glass in such good shape with no fogging.

OF course I knew none of this when I bought it from you. I just liked it because my stepbrother has the same one minus the sunroof. His is restored and he told me he liked mine better. He didn't even know they made them with sunroofs.

It still grinds in second gear unless you double clutch it. I drive it almost every Sunday, it starts right up and takes me anywhere I want to go. Almost everyone I see says something about it. It's a fun little car. Thanks again. Keep up the good work on those K-20's they are gorgeous.

I also found original Fl. plates for the State of Florida from 1970-71 in sequential numbers. One for the bug and one for the GMC.

[Yukon Jack]

Paint looks great - glad to see some of Ed's work. He is great to deal with and very knowledgable.