For what its worth, you just made me order filler and 80 grit for the truck.
Thanks for the motivation to make it less hideous!
For what its worth, you just made me order filler and 80 grit for the truck.
Thanks for the motivation to make it less hideous!
In reply to stylngle2003 :
Top side creeper was suggested, may work well!
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :
Nice! Get to it!
Texture still on the pass side.
so, java, i feel like i owe you an apology. I didn't realize how mentally daunting that much sheetmetal is until this truck. The square feet of panels to make flat and blemish free does something to your head. And mine is far straighter than yours! I apologize for coming off wrong. If i have, due to not understanding the scope. I do now. And commiserate with you.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :
HA! I never thought you came off wrong. Welcome to the big vehicle club.... And that reminds me, I should sand this thing.... I seem to go thru little work flurries and then not touch it for awhile....
Course makes flat! Couldn't resist hitting it with some panel prep. Not perfect, but damn!
Really glad to see an update. That is looking good.
Pete
In reply to java230 :
I'm with Pete
Thank you both. It's been way too long. Breaks are good, but it's nice to sand again. Not sure when my next weekend home will be, but I want to paint this thing for spring. That panel wipe down made me happy today.
That panel wipe should make you happy! Looks fantastic!
but it's nice to sand again
Said nobody ever. Maybe someone should market cocaine laced bodywork products to keep people motivated.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :
Definitely made me smile and want to get back at it.
In reply to NOHOME :
Very true, but it's a means to an end. Has to be done if I want to drive it this summer.
But after not doing it for a few months, throwing the tunes on and going to town was good. Keep the sandpaper fresh 
. I'll put some more pics up with questions when I'm on a computer.
I'll just chime in to congratulate you as well. I've painted scores of small cars (mainly LBCs and VWs) and just a few big cars/trucks. The big ones, while less than twice as big, seem to take ten times longer. Your patience and perseverance is inspiring.
In reply to java230 :
I love checking in and seeing your progress. As others have said, it's inspiring to see your patience. It seems to give me a little, lol!
Most of us have to do a car or two to learn a lot of the tricks to this game ( like the value of fresh sandpaper), you on the other hand, have a big enough job that you have found most of the tricks with your first project!
Well let me say HUGE thank you to all the ones who have given me help here. I was texting a buddy last night, and we discussed life before forums when I mentioned how much pointers I had been getting. I may have been a bit optimistic with my first body work project, but I have gotten so much help on here that it has really made me think I can make it acceptable ish.
Now Questions:
I was sanding the door frames etc, and got to thinking.... Should I just spray the door jambs? It seems kinda silly not too at this point. The overspray into the jamb area is gonna look dumb.
Next: Roof has some dents. Its gonna be white, leave them alone at this point? the whole roof is pretty floppy and not very flat to start with. I am leaning towards leave it.
I have lots of pinholes. Spot putty and a razor blade? What is the best way to clean the holes out? Will the putty flash under epoxy?
These door frame stampings are a bitch. So curvy and fot at all flat. I am just going at it with a soft sander. The block just hits the edges.
Overall shot of the side I am working. All the curvy spots need some touch up with the soft sander, but the majority of the flat blocking is done. Still need to do window frames.....
And a couple more :) There is a little wave above the wheel well it looks like, but I am ok with that.
Chances ae you are ahead of where the factory sent this thing out the door originally.
I have a box of funny shaped sanding blocks that I made out of pool noodles and foam pipe insulation. No idea why I am hanging on to them.
In reply to NOHOME :
Yeah I am feeling I am ahead already! It was so wavy to start (well my welding probably didn't help either....)
I bought a "soft sander" kit and it is totally pool noodle foam. they do have bits of plastic in them to stiffen up a little. They are getting a workout.
Well it all looks the same in pictures, but I got the pass rear window frame done (well 98% until it gets a good wipe down, then it will need a final sand)
Since I had the soft sander out, I moved around the corner and worked the curves.
You might have crossed that Rubicon from diligent to obsessive
In reply to NOHOME :
I am trying to just do a bit every day now (when I am home...) and man the eye boogers from the dust are awful! Sharp and hard... Looking at lace patterns 
Coworker had the genius idea to do the door cards the same if I can get them decent enough.
Heater and drywall ladder. This is clutch for the roof! I can reach the middle!
Now on the roof, its floppy. I am having a hard time putting pressure on the block, the edges of the ribs (which are actually indents) are hitting metal fast, and the middle section still needs a lot of help. Ideas? I did notice the inside ribs are not glued to the skin anymore.... I was thinking of grabbing some 3M panel bond, I need to reattach a door window track also.
And for giggles I measured.... Roof is 10'6" x 5'4"
I would keep going until a few more hight spots stuck their head up. Those ribs are there partly so that they break up the surface and you dont see any imperfections from the side, so you might be overthinking the roof panel.
So what is the plan of action when you finish off the 50 gallons drum of hig fill?
What I did was finish off the last coat of high fill with a 230 -320 grit to get rid of some sanding marks. Then I used a Urethane sealer over the high fill. The sealer was such that if mixed in one ratio it was a "High build" but nothing like the polyester high build you are using now. The high build sealer not only fills in sanding scratches in the poly high build, but it also serves as a guide coat to do a final panel check. Sand it until you see metal to about 400 grit don't worry if you see high fill poly, just keep going until metal starts to show up.
This is after sanding the high build sealer coat. Note that even after doing my best, I found a few spots that did not want to blend in. Right in front of the rear wheel well at the bottom, in particular, that was an area that wanted more blending. Don't ask me how I missed it before, but I did and at this point everything is easy to fix. So I blended that out until I hit metal. If there had been a metal high spot, it still would have been trivial to do a whack and fill for the area.
The final coat before paint would be a sealer that you can then shoot paint right over or let dry and scuff to 600 just before topcoat..
This is the final coat of urethane sealer sanded to 600. I am happy to see few if any white in this after sanding. From here it went to the booth and got painted.
If you are still on track to wrap this up in epoxy, then just shoot your first coat and let it dry and scuff it to 400 ( fixing anything really bad) and then shoot the final coat of epoxy and call it done.
In reply to NOHOME :
On the roof, its more the panel is so floppy I cant hardly block it. I was thinking maybe DA? Since it takes less pressure if that makes sense. Roof will be white, and laced, so it will beak up imperfections.
For now I am planning to just do epoxy, I am using 150 and I "think" the sanding marks will hide fine (I called SPI and they seemed to think it would be fine). I don't really want to go over it all with 320 or whatever. Its a lot of car. I have 2 quarts sprayable for the lower body areas, I think that should be just enough for two coats. Roof will get a mid coat clear with pearl, and a final clear. And if I am spraying clear I may just do the whole thing so it has even shine.
I am thinking I may just get some black pigment and darken the gray epoxy just a smidge.
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