I painted my truck one piece at a time

[12pilgrim]

The pinstripe.. rough. Hard to get the curve right even with 3M striping tape. I'd never done that before. It turned out about an 8 out of 10. Had to mask and spray one color then flip the masking to spray the other color then clear the panel. I learned a lesson though.. on the other side I just used the original pinstripe and saved myself a ton of time.

 

[12pilgrim]

Bedside. Typical little dents. I didn't remove the moulding or trim, too scared it would break. I was able to pop it out enough to spray under it though so it looks like I did. Just lots of masking.

 

[12pilgrim]

Other bedside. Same story. The smallest amount of filler/bondo as necessary to smooth things out. I wasn't trying to eliminate the waves in the metal, just the ugly little dents here and there.

 

[12pilgrim]

Tailgate was mighty rough up top. Smacked the high spots in and used more bondo than I'd like but I'd rather not buy a Chinese replacement. It looks pretty good, wavy.. but not ugly.
Starting on the pinstripe here (lots of research to find the right one and color, ford part #E5TZ-1520000-FU, maybe $140?)

 

[12pilgrim]

I think shes about done now!
The rims looked awful, plasticote type rubbery spray can job done by previous owner. I had them sandblasted/powdercoated to more of an original type color ($400) and found original hub caps on ebay ($200?). Problem being, they weren't 4 wheel drive. So I Dremel tooled the front ones to increase the diameter to fit around the hub. They work!

I wet sanded the entire truck with 1500 then again with 2000. Then buffed using Transtar Cutting Compound 5364 with a wool pad, then Machine Polish 5374 with medium foam pad, then swirl remover 5384 with soft foam pad. Lots of work and time in wet sanding and buffing, alot more than if a guy had a spray booth to keep contaminants out of the finish. But end result is the same!

 

[Jesus Freak]

That's pretty dog gone inspiring, pilgrim!

 

[12pilgrim]

That's pretty dog gone inspiring, pilgrim!

Thanks so much! And thanks for all the love. It was a fun project, but a lot more fun now that it's done!

 

[DaveBen]

Masking is the No. 1 job in painting. Buddy owned a body shop and he would remove all masking tape and paper just after he had painted it. He would re-mask it if needed. he said to never let the paint dry on the masking. This made removing it difficult as it can rip the top layer of paint.

 

[Clb]

Nice work.
Lotza work.
Ever try feather fill?

 

[12pilgrim]

Nice work.
Lotza work.
Ever try feather fill?

I actually was using Feather Fill but I must have gotten a bad gallon, or it had been sitting on the shelf too long at the distributor.. it wouldn't stick. I had to redo the hood because of that actually!

 

[ROCK HARVEY]

Fantastic work, that looks incredible! Thanks for listing out the products you used. I plan/hope to someday paint my truck, so I pay attention to what other people use when they do their own work.

 

[hacked89]

The factory metallic brown is a cool color when you see it up close. Nice work.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Masking is the No. 1 job in painting. Buddy owned a body shop and he would remove all masking tape and paper just after he had painted it. He would re-mask it if needed. he said to never let the paint dry on the masking. This made removing it difficult as it can rip the top layer of paint.

Or you can mask up close to the paint edge. Then go back with a final piece of masking tape over the other paper and tape, right at where you want the paint to stop. After you're done painting, remove just the last piece of tape. Then remove the rest of the masking after the paint's dry.

 

[Weldingman]

What a beauty!! Well done.

 

[Clb]

Dayum that sux.
My old school shop was a high volume local distributor to the dozen body shops in town.
Love that ****.
B.S. it failed and of all places on a hood.