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What shade of orange are you going with, or is it going to be a surprise?
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Mar 8, 2023 03:29
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The same: Metallic orange. With a white pearlescent roof. Just finished pre-finishing the grille. I was going to get it sandblasted, but can’t find anyone local. So I sanded it with 200. Then I noticed the weird little holes in the grill vertical bar. They’re very neat and carefully placed - they were the securing points for something, a placard maybe. Could have left them but didn’t. Last body job for the mig. So welded/ground/sanded/bondo surface/sanding then primer. A fitting way to wind up: doing a little version of what I’d been doing since April ‘22. Currently painting up random body bits: the rearview mirror pipes began rusting weeks after install, so they’re now under seven coats & flat black. Four anchor points with eyes that will be bolted to the bed. Cheap HF hardware that will rust away if not coated; last three coats will be yellow. Tailgate hinges. Stuff like that. I’m going to run out of things to paint before the weekend 
PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 04:13 on Mar 8, 2023 |
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Mar 8, 2023 04:03
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Well, we’re off! (yesterday)!  Was supposed to go up Monday, but it rained…and snowed a bit. We dodged some flurries on the way, but arrived dry. After about an hour of appraisal, they agreed to fine-tune (lol) my bodywork, particularly at the wheel arches, and a couple spots that still showed up under the proper light (including daylight). Overall, no one chortled too loudly, possibly because of the sheer novelty of the thing. About $7000. Five is paint prep/paint and I may be getting a discount on the “touching up.” Just waiting for an ETA, and see if I can coordinate with the glass shop. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Mar 22, 2023 |
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Mar 16, 2023 03:09
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$7k is nothing to sneeze at, but you're essentially doing a custom paint job from scratch - two tone, with metallic and pearl, even. I'd call that "not bad". I assume the tailgate will get painted with the same batch of paint?
randomidiot fucked around with this message at 08:04 on Mar 18, 2023 |
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Mar 18, 2023 08:00
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Ja, they're doing it all. They emailed yesterday that the bodywork is done, they're prepping for paint on Monday, should be done Wednesday. Moving right along. Found a glass shop in the same town the paint shop is in (Maple Shade) that'll install for $400. Shop closer to me wanted $550 but they are working on some '50s iron that's giving them fits, & so said it'll be another couple weeks. The shop in Maple Shade may be the same one that worked on my '65 Fury when I lived there in 1987. e: it's a different shop, but literally next to the last apartment I lived in as a single dude! Ah, the fond memories of gazing out of my bunker-like half-underground studio window at the Inglesby-Givnish Funeral Home across the street... PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 17:09 on Mar 19, 2023 |
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Mar 18, 2023 13:59
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Holy poo poo, they're quick!
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Mar 19, 2023 08:00
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Well, we've had a very mild winter (zero measureable snowfall, no ice events, every sub-zero day was dry) so they're probably slow. Unlike when I had the Bonneville painted. That took seven weeks. (edit) Today, we fabricated the tailgate supports out of 5/16" steel rod and four carriage bolts, using a home-made bending jig and MAPP gas. I tried using a dodgy oxy-acetylene rig I bought at a yard sale, but did not have a proper mask, so I could see poo poo, and the cutting torch it came with lived up to its name by melting off the end of the rod. MAPP was slower, but quite fast enough, leaving plenty of time for control. Basil was very excited about participating. https://i.imgur.com/zws7Ylz.mp4 Sorry, Basil; cats & open flame are a recipe for woe. As noted many moons ago up-thread, these gate supports are NLA, no one has fabricated them after-market in a couple decades, and nothing else will work in the gap between the body and the gate. So, working from pictures and a brief description with the general measurements: Made a loop & Z-bend (no photo of the jig. My bad. It was a pair of long 3/8" Grade-8 bolts set vertically in my bench vise, slightly over 5/16" apart, wired together at the top to avoid spread. Worked well to make the loops & Z-bends) https://i.imgur.com/ndJhdks.mp4  They need ends welded on. One pair has to be cut flat on two edges as it fits through a slot in the gate opening & is rotated to lock it in place. The closest match to what showed in the photos I found online were the heads of carriage bolts. So I bought a few, put them in my drill press and ran the hacksaw across the shank to cut them. Then, drilled them out with a 5/16 bit.  These will be welded on & ground down. The loops will be welded shut also.  PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 04:28 on Mar 22, 2023 |
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Mar 19, 2023 17:10
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Had to take the headlight doors & FORD letters up to Maaco for a test fit. Bodywork is not quite done... Should be in the booth tomorrow. Roof first, then the orange. Then it's a race to see if I can get it from there to the glass shop a couple miles away. It's supposed to rain for most of the next week, 50% on Saturday...both the paint shop & the glass shop know it can't be outside. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Mar 22, 2023 |
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Mar 22, 2023 04:16
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PainterofCrap posted:Had to take the headlight doors & FORD letters up to Maaco for a test fit. Bodywork is not quite done... Please write the dialogue that happened when you took the photo of the bodyperson with your pickup.
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Mar 22, 2023 23:30
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Basically, his boss 2-cars over (off to the right) yelled at him not to get a swelled head. :3 This is the guy fixing my sins, and his work is impeccable. He said it wasn't that bad, but having worked on the last mile, I know that that is where the real talent lies. After we fitted the headlight doors & he saw that his lines were good, he took the FORD nose letters to make sure the surface rode snug under them. I thanked him for his time & skill & asked for a photo. The truth is (internet) boring. Going to get interesting as the next six days are rain, rain, rain. I would love to pull the Pontiac out of storage by the end of the month & cut the charges clean, but I need the truck back to get the door window felts & channels installed so I won't care if it gets rained on. (edit) Talked to the shop manager earlier this afternoon. Paint was to have been completed today. He has no problem keeping it in until Tuesday, the first clear day, and will whistle up a flatbed to get it to the glass shop. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Mar 25, 2023 |
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Mar 23, 2023 00:52
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Boring or not it's still funny to me, I mostly was curious if you sincerely wanted a photo with him or if it just kinda happened like "hey can I take a photo" and he poses awkwardly while you take it even though it was a misunderstanding.
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Mar 23, 2023 06:51
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i got a sneak preview! It looks amazing!
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Mar 27, 2023 22:27
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Beat me to it! Awoke this morning to a sunny, dry day. Supposed to be raining all day. Huh. Phone app says it'll be clear until 4PM, so hell yeah, let's do this. A flurry of calls, and by 10AM it was all set up. Took the glass and the gaskets to Ed & Sons Glass in Maple Shade, and the flatbed showed up at Maaco while I was paying for the paint. Which looks great.     There are a lot of defects that popped out with that paint! I'm OK with them - they're mine. None on the nose, though. That rippling under the back glass is really there - I went over that area with an oblique light a number of times. Looked absolutely, perfectly flat...in primer. I care not. It does explain the trend of primering as the final finish: it hides a ton of blems.  Brian, who painted the truck, grumbled about the rough condition of the tailgate. it is pretty ugly, but hey, it's a tailgate on a work truck, it's all steel with a tiny amount of bondo skim. Looks great in this light, though.  So, it rolled into the glass shop as the clouds rolled in. https://i.imgur.com/1X6e1Wa.mp4 Yesterday, I went to the storage facility and roused the Bonneville from its 4-month slumber. I was prepared to pull the battery & bench - charge it, but after a dozen or two cranks (filling the carburetor, probably) she started right up. Getting the Econoline done today buys me a day to get it weather-tight by Friday, so I can bring the Pontiac home. Looking forward to putting it back together.
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Mar 27, 2023 22:57
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Awesome! I had to go back to page one to remember where you started. So much time and effort but it looks great!
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Mar 27, 2023 23:52
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That paint does look awesome but my worry would forever be "how well does it stick". The "cheap" paintjob on my C10 20+ years ago flakes if you even look at it funny, but the shop that did it did an absolutely terrible job of doing any further prep after we delivered the truck as an already-stripped roller. As in I have my doubts that they even washed it.
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Mar 28, 2023 00:32
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It looks awesome. I love that color.
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Mar 28, 2023 00:43
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IOwnCalculus posted:That paint does look awesome but my worry would forever be "how well does it stick". The "cheap" paintjob on my C10 20+ years ago flakes if you even look at it funny, but the shop that did it did an absolutely terrible job of doing any further prep after we delivered the truck as an already-stripped roller. As in I have my doubts that they even washed it. This is the third vehicle I've had painted by local Maaco franchises since 2009. The only issue I've ever had with paint peeling (well, it was actually body filler...) was where my son & I had brazed in holes on the roof of his VW (some PO had installed a unibrow over the windshield) and I did a poor job of prepping before during & after applying some Bondo. And that was the cheapass $400 (at the time) single-stage paint job. The paint otherwise held up perfectly, No issues with the Bonneville paint from 2021...though that car is babied. Easiest way to check is pinch around where the finish ends: inside edges of things like the wheel arches, inside door edges, etc). That's where the surface prep tends to be a bit spotty.
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Mar 28, 2023 01:27
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My god I thought this had terrible tiger striping until I zoomed in on it and saw it was a reflection of the fence. Also it looks great and I'm obviously a huge fan of the color combo.
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Mar 28, 2023 05:59
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Got the truck back last Thursday. They did an excellent job on the glass. Spent a mostly relaxing week putting the various bits back on. The window assembly in the driver's door took an entire day – I had to rebuild the divider channel between the window and the vent assembly, my old work was installed wrong and also falling apart. The wiper assembly, which has a reinforcing frame with the motor & armatures assembled to it, was a three-hour wrestling match to get back in. Took about two minutes to remove back in November. Go figure. Went smoother after those two: bumpers, wipers, headlights, airboxes with heavy mesh screens to keep l'il flying critters out; and the headlamp doors.  Mirrors and scripts/lettering  And all the lights.  Currently am working on the tailgate. Got decals for the lettering on  The bed rods are giving me grief  which wasn’t really that surprising. A perfect fit on the first round was unlikely for a custom-fabricated part made from a couple sentences and photos. While it looks OK up there, it’s too long, and the bed hangs a couple inches below level…which wasn’t the problem: – the one over-long rod binds so the gate can’t be closed. Surprisingly, the folded unit will fit just fine in the gap between the gate & the body – once I shorten them tomorrow…one at a time, measuring all the way. https://i.imgur.com/jkgjJVs.mp4 Looking forward to bring the Bonneville home. Storage ends 4/5. Hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday. Then it's the remaining mechanical list: Brakes, springs, steering alignment. And eventually, a new clutch. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 06:05 on Apr 3, 2023 |
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Apr 3, 2023 05:59
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drat dude, that's slick as hell. good work. are those blue dot tail light lenses original? i like the tailgate rod idea. the chains are comparatively very primitive.
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Apr 3, 2023 07:20
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PainterofCrap posted:Got the truck back last Thursday. They did an excellent job on the glass. Hey man, not sure if you know it but that thing FUCKIN RULES. Great job. That's going to be a real head turner in any neighborhood. It's such a fun shape, unique and there's not a modern equivalent at all (closest I can think of is the Ford Transit Chassis Cabs with flatbeds that they rent at Home Depot) so it's just completely foreign and delightful to see.
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Apr 3, 2023 16:26
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Fly. As. Hell. Was all the lettering blue from the factory or was that a personal touch? Either way, whole drat thing looks great.
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Apr 3, 2023 16:42
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This owns
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Apr 3, 2023 16:50
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Nice! Just in time for the end of salt season.
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Apr 3, 2023 16:50
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Holy poo poo that looks fantastic. Color combo is awesome.
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Apr 3, 2023 16:55
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Looks great!!
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Apr 3, 2023 17:14
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That looks amazing! well done!
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Apr 3, 2023 17:57
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This is such a satisfying thread. Looks great.
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Apr 4, 2023 00:31
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Holy poo poo. They knocked it out of the park with that one!
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Apr 4, 2023 00:41
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Raluek posted:drat dude, that's slick as hell. good work. Myself, and a few other folks, thank you! Raluek posted:are those blue dot tail light lenses original? Nah, I bought the dots and a couple of aftermarket lenses. The best method to create the hole cleanly and without cracks was to heat up a piece of 3/4" copper pipe and run it through the lens. Then a bead of clear silicone & push through; there are twist tabs to lock them in. Raluek posted:i like the tailgate rod idea. the chains are comparatively very primitive. The chains are only there for holding the lock pins so they don't get lost. I use a couple of threaded links, as the pins were long gone. The 5/16" rods are the OEM design. SOBs are still giving me fits. The right side's fine, but I have to make a new lower section for the left side...I shortened the upper section, but now the lower section is too short, so it binds up & prevents the gate from closing cleanly. I started out by making both left and right sets the same exact length. Turns out that the left side is shorter than the right by a good half-inch, probably due to the old left rear corner hit. Like the window divider, there are no adjustments, so I have to keep screwing with them until they're loving Goldilocks. I'm not mad. Don't put in the paper that I was mad. Boaz MacPhereson posted:Fly. As. Hell. I painted then metalflake blue. I was prepared to change the color if it didn't sit well with the orange. They are chromed, but sending them off to have the pitting filled in & then triple-dipped was hella expensive. The nose letters are rare; even a really hammered set goes for a couple hundred bucks. I bought a cheap aftermarket set of nicely chromed Mustang door handles - the outside shell is identical - however, the actuator assembly (the button & pushrod) on the Econoline is completely different (and is, of course hen's teeth if not outright NLA) and I would have to pull apart an Econoline set for the guts (or try to fabricate it)...so my next trip to the yard will include pulling another set of handles for the cause. The door handles are shot to hell on every van, so I won't feel too bad. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Apr 4, 2023 |
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Apr 4, 2023 02:09
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Blue and orange work very well together. Excellent work all around.
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Apr 4, 2023 14:07
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Fabulous and also inspiring.
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Apr 4, 2023 17:50
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Beautiful. Congratulations!
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Apr 5, 2023 19:18
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That is fabulous. The color is perfect and it looks so good! Congrats on finishing the project (almost)!
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Apr 8, 2023 15:14
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Am likely to paint the bumpers, either black or white, flat or satin. Thoughts? Carpet going in this weekend.  With cheap seatbelts, no airbags, tissue-paper bumper (probably set too low for this day & age anyway) and only 22-GA, I'll take Ganesha the Protector any day. He will clear my path.
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Apr 8, 2023 17:40
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Satin black, let the orange/white have center stage. Let me be the nth to tell you how badass this project is.
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Apr 8, 2023 18:07
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I'm gonna vote for satin white.
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Apr 8, 2023 18:50
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id say satin black to match the bedliner, or gloss white to match the roof. leaning towards black to match the blacked out doorhandles, and so that the tailgate lettering stands out more, but it would be a little strange to have the roof be the only white on it. also, you still have the chrome grilles, with the other stuff black/blue?
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Apr 8, 2023 21:43
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Goddamn, it looks absolutely stunning!
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Apr 9, 2023 08:48
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gently caress all yall I say they ride eternal shiny and chrome. If they're not to your satisfaction as is, get them reworked so they are. Just one stupid opinion. In the end no matter what you choose it'll be awesome because this project is awesome.
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Apr 9, 2023 09:49
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