Rebuilding a Salvage Crew Cab Dmax 4by

[94383Z71]

Originally Posted by LOWZ71

Lack of talent, I'm not so sure about that. So far it is looking great if you've never done anything like this before. Keep your head up and it will look awesome when it is done.

Last overall I did was a V8 S-10, 10 years ago. It came out sooo bad that I gave up. I always knew what went wrong on the S-10. It was getting close to the time of the Woodward Dream Cruise, all my buddies were going, and I wasn't because mine wasn't painted. So the solution? Get some beer, loud music and cram a two week job into three days. And thats what it looked like when it was done. It was shiney, and all one color, but dimpled like a golf ball.

Never had any formal training or classes, just helped other guys when I could. And whenever I can, I read about what other people have done. It's something I always wanted to be able to do.

Thanks for the positive replies.

[shakey]

Look like its coming out great!! Keep up the good work!

[ollieman15]

Looks great nice body work.

[94383Z71]

Originally Posted by Beyond Static©

what kind of primer are you using? I'd dry block the primer initally with 180, then work up to 320, and then 800 grit wet.

Followed this advise, it worked out alot better. I was too afraid of cutting through and havig to reprime.

Box sides are done, need to finsh shaving the tailgate, and bed will be ready for color.

[White_Stealth]

Your project has come along nicely since the last time I looked. I wish I would've looked sooner when you were having your hvlp gun issues as I have some advice to give you. What size airline and fittings are you using? On hvlp's to get the best atomization it's recommended to use 3/8" fittings instead of the standard 1/4". You get a lot more airflow this way because the gun isn't starving for air. You'd be surprised how much your sprayout will improve if you switch the fittings.

[94383Z71]

Originally Posted by White_Stealth

Your project has come along nicely since the last time I looked. I wish I would've looked sooner when you were having your hvlp gun issues as I have some advice to give you. What size airline and fittings are you using? On hvlp's to get the best atomization it's recommended to use 3/8" fittings instead of the standard 1/4". You get a lot more airflow this way because the gun isn't starving for air. You'd be surprised how much your sprayout will improve if you switch the fittings.

Please don't hesitate to give advise, I'm new to HVLP. And was never real good with a siphon(sp?) feed gun. I went with the HVLP because I thougth that it would minimize excess overspray. I'm not shooting in a booth, so there will be alot of material in the air.

I am using the larger fittings already though. I was never a big fan of 1/4" fittings. I spent extra to have a compressor that will run alot of air (CFM) at a low rpm. And couldn't see choking it with small fittings.

I read the paperwork that came with the guns, and it made a big deal about not running too much pressure at the gun. So initially, I had the wall regulator set @ 30psi, and the gun regulator turned down to 10. With those settings, it was a globbed up mess.

I asked the supply house guy about it, and he said to have the wall regulator set to 80+psi, turn the gun reg down to 30(while the trigger is pulled), and this would result in 10psi@ the tip. With those settings, I had a hard time with the primer being dry. Lots of sanding.

But only the primer surfacer, the ecthing primer lays out pretty good. I even had a small sag in it. But please, advise. My concern is the the topcoat will be extremely dry also.

I have a hard time with the adjustment of the gun, it has three knobs, I know (1) is the size of the fan, (1) is the amount of material and the (1) on the bottom of the handle is the amount of air.
But if its the amount of air, then is it any different than the in-line regulator?

[White_Stealth]

I always use a regulator on the end of the gun, and set it to 35psi (a little high but that's how I like to spray) My base/clear guns don't have an air adjustment so they are wide open, I always keep the material flow wide open also. With the fan adjustment I spray with about a 6" fan (that hits the car) and spray some material in the air untl I can see 2 distinct lines, one on top and one on bottom. Then I bring the air back down to where it's all even (which results in the 35 or so psi) and proceed to spray. Since you're already using the 3/8" fittings, all the more advice I can give you is do a couple spray out panels, like do the tailgate first and see how it turns out. You just gotta get a feel for the gun first and then you can test it's limits and see how far you can take it.

[94383Z71]

Originally Posted by White_Stealth

I always use a regulator on the end of the gun, and set it to 35psi (a little high but that's how I like to spray)

Thats 35psi with the trigger pulled, right? I'll give that a try.

Didn't make much progress tonite, cheap ass eBay tailgate handle relocating kit. Metal is so thin, it's pathetic.

Pitched it in the trash, and found a Bell tech unit @ Summit. Should be here in a couple of days.

[White_Stealth]

Yeah, 35 with the trigger pulled and no fluid coming out.

[94383Z71]

Hi everyone, Just a qiuck note to let you know that we're done snowmobiling, and are back to work on the project. Most all of the bumping and filling is done, and we are down to, priming, spot putty and block sanding. I'll post some pics of the progress at some point.

[LOWZ71]

Done riding for the year already? Its just the beginning of t-shirt weather.

[wizkid102]

im liking your truck im new to this forum thing but i also rebuilt an 06 duramax ext cab i put a stepside bed on and a ss bumper cover on that truck i had to do a cab swap all your body work looks great so far

[kev2809]

any updates? coming along very good btw

[94383Z71]

It's almost ready for color, I sprayed the driver's side door jams and the door frame of the truck, this past Sunday. Re-hung the doors last night. Rear door refuses to close correctly, I had pulled the striker plates, prior to painting the jams.

I scribed thier locations before pulling them off, but should have tapped over the scribed areas. I used some high build primer in that area, and lost the scribed line. I'll have to fiddle with it some more.

I took some pics before reinstalling the doors, I'll post them up later tonight.

Drivers side rocker gave me fits, I bet I ground the filler out and redid it no lesss than (4) times. Thats one of the reasons I haven't been updating this post, feel pretty dumb not being able to sort that one out. The frustrating part is it's in an area that 99% of the people will never see.

Oh well its straight now, moving on to chasing the small little details, here and there.

Thanks for asking for updates, getting kind of lonely out here in cyber-space.

[badger79]

hey thats awesome man good job but what r the miles on it?

[94383Z71]

Originally Posted by badger79

hey thats awesome man good job but what r the miles on it?

Its a high milage truck, 219,000. Milage doesn't scare me too much, my 94 had 175,000 on it, when I put the stroker motor in it. My wife's Escalade has 180,000, on the original drive train.

[94383Z71]

Here's a few pics of the jams, not perfect, but it'll do.

[94383Z71]

"B" Pillar before


After


Rest of door frame


Doors back on, the rear one won't close correctly,

[Justin_Inc]

looks good so far! now git-r-dun!

[kiddcarbuff]

looks good man, what amterial you shooting with?