1996 Silverado "exterior refresher"

[Texsbluethunder]

Okay so heres some quick pictures and a brief update. My brother preped the roof and the door for primer, which at the time of writing this is on the truck. Unfortunatly I found some rust on the bottom of each door where the skin wraps around the "carcas". after an hour or so with my little handheld sandblaster I had them both clean, I will paint them with some por15 when the other paint is done.

The roof (incase you didnt know!...) There were some stone chips with surface rust also, so they are getting feathered out and painted too.

Drivers door, not too bad...

...I spoke too soon!!!

Passenger door

Since the wipers were off I decided to paint them also, sanded them down with some 150grit to bare metal, then I primed them with zinc primer, hope this works better then the last time I painted them, it all chipped off.

If there are any questions on how, what, and why please ask...

[ilmudrunner]

what kind of paint are you using? are you going to be spraying and clearing the entire roof? how are you going to go about blending to the rest of the paint? i'm curious because i have some trouble areas on my truck that need to be repainted and I'd like to learn how to do that myself because I'm young and have no money to have someone else do it lol.

[MC]

Very nice. Do you ever get hassled about those headlight covers? How are they at night?

[Texsbluethunder]

Originally Posted by ilmudrunner

what kind of paint are you using? are you going to be spraying and clearing the entire roof? how are you going to go about blending to the rest of the paint? i'm curious because i have some trouble areas on my truck that need to be repainted and I'd like to learn how to do that myself because I'm young and have no money to have someone else do it lol.

Im using Base coat/clear coat because it allows the repair to blend easier and its easy to polich should I get a scratch. My brothers doing the repair and yes he is clearing the whole roof, but only painting what needs it (the front 10" and the bottom of the door). After its all done im going to polish and wax the whole truck to make it look the same, but even then you wont be able to tell the difference because the paint is the same color code and all the reapirs end at a solid line which breaks up the paint. As for doing it yourself that was myfirst plan, but I've forgoten everything I learned in highschool about painting, so lucky enough I have a brother who is a licensed autobdy man.

[Texsbluethunder]

Originally Posted by MC

Very nice. Do you ever get hassled about those headlight covers? How are they at night?

Thanks! I've only been hasseled once and that was about 250km away from where I live, I went through a ride check and dusk and the officer told me if he saw my runnin' around with them on after dark he'd have to ticket me, so I pulled them off at the next stop. I never drive at night with them, If you can imagine looking through sunglasses at nite, thats what you headlights are doin, so they come off at dusk (normally). I even notice people having to take a second look at my signals because they are dark too, but im more concerned with keeping the rear visable.

[MC]

Where did you get them at and how much where they?

[Texsbluethunder]

Got them at Canadian Tire, kinda like a walmart only canadian and a bit more auto stuff, they should be hard to find, made by Auto Vent Shade a.k.a. AVS. They are wraparound tho, so check the boxes.

[MC]

Are Chevy and GMC ones the same? Cause only the corner lenses are different on the grille.

[Texsbluethunder]

Pretty sure the chevy's are the wrap around, but its been so long since I bought them. Ill see if I can find the box and give you the part #.

[Texsbluethunder]

Alright!, she's geting closer to being done. It's drivable now but theres always the little stuff.


Heres the roof painted (with a teaser of the roof lights and ugly wiring hanging down..., compared too...



The door painted, compared too...


They came out awesome, a big thanks to my brother! Notice the the new windsheild? $200cdn cash installed in my shop! thought that was pretty sweet, although at it leaks a bit, but everybody makes mistakes (hes one of the best around here and I got a sweet deal so I can't complain)and it'll get fixed this week.

Ill post pics and comments about the clearance light install adn overhead console later, time to DRIVE!!!

[racer 2]

looks good

[FarmerSid]

I see your an IH collector. Got any pics? I'm in Ontario too. About 2 hrs east ot Toronto. Do any pulling?

[Texsbluethunder]

Originally Posted by FarmerSid

I see your an IH collector. Got any pics? I'm in Ontario too. About 2 hrs east ot Toronto. Do any pulling?

Ya I got a few, ill post some pics later. I personally have a 53 super H, my dads got about 40 more lol. I live about 1hr north of toronto, near Alliston. I do pull, not as often as I wish tho, hopefully goin to oro worlds fair on the 12th, then to coldwater on the week of the 20th i think, how bout you?

[FarmerSid]

I have a 51 H and a 52 Super M. They are strictly pullers. Putting out just a little over factory HP LOL! There's about 10 of us (uncles, cousins etc) that travel and pull together. Two H's, 3 Super M's, a 300G, a 400G, 656G, 460D and a W400.
We pull mostly west of Ottawa about 1-1.5 hrs west. We have tried east of Toronto but some funny rules. Like no suitcase weights, 30" min draw bar and have to have a draw bar. We all pull off of the factory hoop. I would never be able to keep my front end down with a 30" draw bar and not be able to use suitcase weights. Can only pull one class. Not interested in travelling that far from home for only one hook

[ilmudrunner]

looks like the paint turned out really good. do you have any pics of the whole truck to compare to how it was?

[Texsbluethunder]

Yup I do, I've got the truck done, just need to update the page...hopefully soon....

[Texsbluethunder]

Alrighty, I've finally updated...

The truck is done, although there was a run around with the windshield...went in good but leaked, turned out glue went bad (after 2 injections to the leak, it leaked elsewhere.) so the guy pulled it out, put it back in then the next day it cracked!!! Then I got a new windshield that is perfect.

So heres some more pics

Wipers painted

Heres the wiring that came with the kit for the lights...not my quality

This is the way I did it, soldered and shrink wrapped, only regret is i used a 14guage wire, where a 16 or 18 woulda worked...a bit tight to connect all 5 lights.

Here a little holder that works great for soldering.

The lights and wires

Heres the lights comming into the ceiling, I put some old door trim on the openings to protect the wires. When they were all through I had a total of 12 wires for the lights, 2 for the overhead console, and 5 more for the other 2 switches (off road lights and bushguard lights). it got a little tight but I used a common ground for everything and common power for the lights in the switches.

FYI-I wired the clearance lights into the park lights on the truck, but also through a switch so I can flick them at people.


Overhead console finished, I had a little gap with the fit on the curve, but I fixed it a bit by cutting away the headliner where the "sunglass" holder is.

Heres the roof with the lights on while it was still in primer.

DONE!!!

The door looks good too.

I cant say enough about the paint job, it is awesome. The truck looks sweet with the lights IMO. The wiring took alot longer than I thought, but it will be better in the long run.



BTW a freind of mine made up an OBS preservation society sticker for me, so I stuck it on the new windshield

[daved931]

Looks great. Those clearance lights really set it off at dusk.

[Texsbluethunder]

Thanks, just wish I could take a better picture lol

[skidmarx15]

Those antennas hooked up to a CB or anything? They look good, I'm thinking about getting a pair.

I'd also like to put cab lights on in the future, they look good on your truck.