This past weekend I was hanging with my 5 year old and was noticing how the primer-ed areas of the truck's body was starting to surface rust. So seeing that my truck was wearing a "Coat of Many Colors" and the weather was nice enough to wear only T-shirts, I decided to take that coat off and just give it one color. So off to the store we went, and came back with 5 or so cans of Rustoleum primer rust-neutralizer/paint in flat black. My little guy kept going for a nice shiny blue, but I had to keep talking to him about blending in to the woods when we went hunting. That convinced him, but he was determined to get this camo shade of flat gray primer/paint for somewhere on the truck. I conceded when I realized I could always paint the rear bumper after fixing the dents and rust spots on it, and maybe clean up the white steel wheels that could use a painting. They are a little rusty, and I think the flat colored theme will work well while I am working through the mechanical and electrical gremlins that pop up after I fix one. Besides, I feel badly that I got rid of the CUCV M1009 Blazer because it was all rusted out and he liked that Blazer so much. And this dull paint job actually looks ok from a distance (I had all my nieces and nephews help my boy paint the body black, and there were a fair amount of runs and nothing covered up so there is some overspray).
But at least the body is all covered up, and no more faded blue body with brown primer-ed areas and replaced panels/repaired panels. And most of all, there is no more rust poking through the primer. And when the sun isn't shining extremely brightly, the afternoon paint job looks ok. Oh, I'll get some turpentine and clean off the glass and chrome, and I will even make sure I get some of that wide tape and go over the edges to make sure the truck is covered, may even get the rust removal wheels off and grind the rims clean before I paint the wheels and possibly the bumper. And maybe, just maybe, I will be thinking of touching up the aluminum cap or even painting it a dull color since it is bright white right now. I think that a flat gray may look decent once I cover all the screws with silicone.
Oh, and I argued and fought a nasty fight with the rear most u-joint. The problem was that someone kinda messed up the vise which made finding parallel planes difficult to shim up to press out and in the caps on the U-Joints. And I went with a Precision one from O'Reillys, which could be greased. For me it's always worth the extra to get the best I can. When it's not financially possible, I find nothing wrong with going a little cheaper, but I'd rather get the best possible. Anyway... That was last week, and this weekend.
Today I did away with some dash issues. The lights for the bright headlight indicator, and for the turn signals weren't and haven't been working for quite a while. What I found were some bulbs and holders needed cleaning and greasing. I have yet to grease, but they are cleaned and working.
Next stop - a set of mirrors that not only match but also provide some good vision around the truck. Eventually I want to go with highway mirrors, but I can't swing the cost right now, so I have a set from an old truck which are better than those swing aways. I also want to mount a receiver hitch, complete the transition to manual switches on the dash to bypass the switch and confuse anyone who wants to borrow the truck without asking, among other things like replacing the rear fuel tank and repairing the TSV.
Plus I really need to add my build thread to this forum.
But at least the body is all covered up, and no more faded blue body with brown primer-ed areas and replaced panels/repaired panels. And most of all, there is no more rust poking through the primer. And when the sun isn't shining extremely brightly, the afternoon paint job looks ok. Oh, I'll get some turpentine and clean off the glass and chrome, and I will even make sure I get some of that wide tape and go over the edges to make sure the truck is covered, may even get the rust removal wheels off and grind the rims clean before I paint the wheels and possibly the bumper. And maybe, just maybe, I will be thinking of touching up the aluminum cap or even painting it a dull color since it is bright white right now. I think that a flat gray may look decent once I cover all the screws with silicone.
Oh, and I argued and fought a nasty fight with the rear most u-joint. The problem was that someone kinda messed up the vise which made finding parallel planes difficult to shim up to press out and in the caps on the U-Joints. And I went with a Precision one from O'Reillys, which could be greased. For me it's always worth the extra to get the best I can. When it's not financially possible, I find nothing wrong with going a little cheaper, but I'd rather get the best possible. Anyway... That was last week, and this weekend.
Today I did away with some dash issues. The lights for the bright headlight indicator, and for the turn signals weren't and haven't been working for quite a while. What I found were some bulbs and holders needed cleaning and greasing. I have yet to grease, but they are cleaned and working.
Next stop - a set of mirrors that not only match but also provide some good vision around the truck. Eventually I want to go with highway mirrors, but I can't swing the cost right now, so I have a set from an old truck which are better than those swing aways. I also want to mount a receiver hitch, complete the transition to manual switches on the dash to bypass the switch and confuse anyone who wants to borrow the truck without asking, among other things like replacing the rear fuel tank and repairing the TSV.
Plus I really need to add my build thread to this forum.
