tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
6/19/24 9:31 a.m.

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
6/19/24 9:42 a.m.

Also no tire/wheel sizes are making me happy. Currently I would like to add to the diameter, maybe as much as 30" total. I am running 225/75 R15, so 27.4" OD. I think the best proportional size which is reasonably available is 235/45 R17 but I'm actually losing quite a bit of diameter there. Going to 245/50 R18 looks good, and is just a touch bigger in diameter, but that means I have to spend more on wheels.

NOHOME
NOHOME MegaDork
6/19/24 11:33 a.m.

In reply to tuna55 :

Nah...I meant next PROJECT! After 13 years you cant just wrap this up and leave us Jonesing for updates from the Tuna factory.

Dusterbd13-michael
Dusterbd13-michael MegaDork
6/19/24 11:45 a.m.

245/65/17

 

Mid 2000s trailblazer size i run on my gmt400 should be the Droid your looking for 

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
6/19/24 11:51 a.m.
NOHOME said:

In reply to tuna55 :

Nah...I meant next PROJECT! After 13 years you cant just wrap this up and leave us Jonesing for updates from the Tuna factory.

There is a solid year left at least on this beast. No worries. 

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
6/19/24 3:51 p.m.
Dusterbd13-michael said:

245/65/17

 

Mid 2000s trailblazer size i run on my gmt400 should be the Droid your looking for 

That's got a heap of sidewall, even more sidewall height than what I have now.

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
6/19/24 3:56 p.m.
tuna55 said:
NOHOME said:

In reply to tuna55 :

Nah...I meant next PROJECT! After 13 years you cant just wrap this up and leave us Jonesing for updates from the Tuna factory.

There is a solid year left at least on this beast. No worries. 

To expand: I have been rushing like crazy because of all of this maybe-critical-maybe-doesn't-matter timing on the paint. The basecoat can only be uncovered for 24 hours. The basecoat can only be uncovered for 48 hours. The basecoat can only be uncovered unless it's exposed to UV, the basecoat.....dfdjksfghbsdhjkbdfjklbnf. Then the cutting and buffing. Something something ten days, maybe it doesn't matter, maybe it's absolutely critical. I am starting to think nobody has any data and they are just saying what they did in the past.

 

Anyway last night I went inside at 11:20, then showered and was pretty hyped up before bed. Then I woke up at 5. I'm pushing things pretty hard and pushing other things away. I have a lot left to do, and it's not going to all be at the pace I have set this past few weeks. Also two $530 vet bills, two $600 OT bills, a broken refrigerator, a "vacation" I'd rather not take, and we just bought a whole cow from the butcher, so I'm not broke but close.

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
6/19/24 4:05 p.m.

RE: tires, this truck

is 255/50-17's on the front and 275/50-17's on the rear and it's pretty close

 

This truck:

is 255/50/17 front 275/55/17 rear 

Here's what I think, the 18" looks -better-

 

 

285/40/18

 

255/50/18 front and 275/55/18 rear

 

275/55/18 Rear 255/55/18 Fronts

 

 

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
6/20/24 2:46 p.m.

This truck, it turns out, is weird the exact wheels I think I want, in 315/30 R18, so overall diameter of 25.4. It's a bit lower than mine, so perhaps I can relax a bit and go with 235 45 R17 to save like $500

 

DarkMonohue
DarkMonohue SuperDork
6/23/24 11:03 p.m.

Story time: my dad bought a '72 K20 in 1977 and still has it.  It's the first vehicle, dirt bikes and go-karts aside, I ever drove.  Naturally, when I decided I needed a pickup, I defaulted to '67-'72 GM pickups and took a look at a cute little GMC stepside, two wheel drive, factory air.  Straight little truck in grey primer with an apparently new 350.  The old guy was selling it on behalf of a son who wasn't in a position to continue with the project.  It needed bed wood, interior work, etc, and had one little rust hole  the size of your thumb up near each top corner of the firewall.  He was asking $1500.  The rust scared me off, and I've regretted walking away from that one ever since.

Anyway.  I should have been following this one a long time ago.  It's encouraging to see it coming together.

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
6/25/24 8:19 a.m.

In reply to DarkMonohue :

Thanks dude!

 

Vacation coming up next week, and a job change shortly after that, so progress has been slowed. Sad. 

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
7/8/24 8:58 p.m.

It's only wet sanding at 1500, but it marks the first time since I bought the truck in 2007 that I put water on the truck on purpose. 

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
7/8/24 9:43 p.m.

Looking at that picture I'm really rethinking the horizontal white stripe...

Dusterbd13-michael
Dusterbd13-michael MegaDork
7/9/24 6:06 a.m.

Thats HOT. i was really on the fence about the color. Not anymore. 

 

Skip the stripe. 

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
7/9/24 8:21 a.m.
Dusterbd13-michael said:

Thats HOT. i was really on the fence about the color. Not anymore. 

 

Skip the stripe. 

I think you're right, and I was also very on the fence on color too. I think the stripe works better on a shortbed. I also really wanted to avoid the black/yellow, but those black wheels make me think otherwise.

Dusterbd13-michael
Dusterbd13-michael MegaDork
7/9/24 8:57 a.m.

I think gunmetal would be a better choice than black for the wheels. Or nickel or something and tie it into the trim. Not white or Chrome.

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
7/9/24 8:31 p.m.

Another dose of 1500 tonight with tunakid 4 helping, making sure I didn't miss any spots, then a dose of 2500 wet. Wow it looks nice wet. Hopefully it will dry well. 

johndej
johndej UltraDork
7/9/24 9:30 p.m.

Damn, my attention has been occupied elsewhere but saw this thread and while pics were loading I thought it's been a hot minute since I've seem a tuna project. Turns out he was here all along. 

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
7/10/24 8:24 p.m.

Our Deacon meeting was canceled for tonight so I was able to do the second dose of sanding 2500 grit. I even did the inside which I had been really putting off. The next installment will be the polishing, should go a lot faster too.

wawazat
wawazat SuperDork
7/10/24 8:27 p.m.

I really like the monotone.  

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
7/10/24 8:45 p.m.

Hey, The truck made it into the magazine again!

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
7/11/24 9:01 p.m.

Shiny! 

 

This is the first compound. I did the hood, drivers fender, drivers door, and the roof. There are worse spots than this, but I think it's good. 

 

Dusterbd13-michael
Dusterbd13-michael MegaDork
7/11/24 9:31 p.m.

In reply to tuna55 :

You're making me either want to paint or polish a car again. 

NOHOME
NOHOME MegaDork
7/11/24 10:29 p.m.

I love the results y'all get with the cut and buff post-paint. I see no universe, parallel or otherwise, where I would have the patience for that game.

IF I ever had a car that nice, I would have to care about the paint, and that would go against my lifelong goal. 

 

Pete

 

tuna55
tuna55 MegaDork
7/12/24 5:17 a.m.

In reply to NOHOME :

I promise there are lots of mistakes on this one. I have a few chips already, I have a few spots where dirt got in under the clear, and I'm still worried about the panel alignment. 

 

It's not too nice to drive. I'm not skilled enough to create such a paint job. 

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
NCfv8bsSAovt8bo7QL1pvV46U8k95S6hNGNwWuuJ4qOESZ54eyr2lhYR6mmchvOP