General Mcgregor's Partial Restoration

[General Mcgregor]

Hey Fellas!

Well it's finally time, I start my 'partial restoration' today. My truck is really showing her age and is in dire need of a paint job. I have been researching the Behr paint jobs for the past two years and decided to give it a go. I already picked up my Wagner airless sprayer and will be picking up my paint next weekend.

The preparation will be the longest phase, the dropside is really crusty in a few spots but I plan on removing both sides and the tailgate to get into all the nooks and crannies. I have two angle grinders with wire wheel attachments that I'll use to knock the rust off, everything else will be scuffed up really good.

It's a 'partial' restoration because I probably won't paint much of the undercarriage and I'm still on the fence about the cab and the engine compartment. I am also trying to stay within a strict budget on this project so expensive surface prep probably won't be an option. I will also have limited time on the weekends to make this happen.

My fenders are pretty rough too and I elected to buy replacements instead of trying to patch them back up. Bought a set of NOS fenders from kubotaman yesterday and my new fender welts are on the way.

I'm sure I'll need lots of tips and advice along the way so anyone who has done this before feel free to chime in with your experiences.

Couple of questions.

1. What is the general consensus on thinning the Behr? I have seen some who will run it straight while others will thin with water.
2. When it comes to prepping rusty metal, it it okay to use rusty metal primer or should I strip it down to bare metal? I ask because the inside of my bed is almost all rust covered and I think it will take me forever to take it down to nothing.

Thanks in advance guys! Updates to follow...

 

[General Mcgregor]

Started the day by taking her to the car wash, after about six sessions with the pressure washer she was as clean as I could get her.
I'll be using an angle grinder with a wire wheel attachment to knock down the rust and chipped paint.

Here are some before shots of the rusty areas.

 

[General Mcgregor]

Supplies:
Check!

 

[dmetalmiki]

Keep up the good (hard) work, the end result should be very rewarding. Following your progress with interest. Your making me stir myself into action to do something! (anything)...it's just where and what to start on.

 

[General Mcgregor]

Made a lot of progress this weekend. Prepped the bed, sides and tailgate.
Primer is on, eight cans later.
Also replaced my fuel pump today, hopefully will change out the fenders next week.

 

[Ray70]

Looking good... I'd try testing your sprayer with the Behr unthinned. If it doesn't spray good, you can try a small amount of water, but not much. Water does funny things besides reducing the viscosity. It can cause problems if you go too heavy with the water. It can also cause runs and spotting depending on temp and humidity. You can also check in the paint dept. where you got your paint, they make other paint additives that might be better suited than water. When you're ready to go, pick a warm dry day. High temps, low temps and high humidity are all the enemy.
Good Luck with it!

 

[turnkey]

Great project and pics so far....lots of extra things always get in the way....Glad to see you have the stuff to take on this project.....I had the same thing happen to my truck...Drove it to the paint and body shop got it back 4 weeks later...Just a great job they did...Lots of extra cash also...But that's the game with this MV Green machine thing ...please keep the pics going.

 

[Karl kostman]

General your post takes me back a few years when I got my Deuce ready for paint I did not have much rust to deal with but even though its not a big truck there is sure a lot of area to cover, and like you said THIS what your doing right now is going to dictate how the truck looks in the end! When it gets tedious take a break, dont be in a big hurry and you will have your truck looking beautiful again in no time! Thanks for the pics your progress looks great!
Karl

 

[General Mcgregor]

General your post takes me back a few years when I got my Deuce ready for paint I did not have much rust to deal with but even though its not a big truck there is sure a lot of area to cover, and like you said THIS what your doing right now is going to dictate how the truck looks in the end! When it gets tedious take a break, dont be in a big hurry and you will have your truck looking beautiful again in no time! Thanks for the pics your progress looks great!
Karl

Thanks! Hope I have the patience, I can only work on her on weekends so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for sunny dry weather.

 

[General Mcgregor]

Made lots of progress today!
Started early by taking apart the left fender and everything attached to it, I decided to do the left side first because the hardware looked cleaner and it looked like it would come apart easier. I also wanted to have a good handle on the job before I had to wrestle with the exhaust pipe on the right side.

For the most part everything came apart pretty clean with the exception of a couple broken 7/16" bolts that hold the headlight support to the fender. No problem since I wanted to replace most of the hardware anyway.

I cleaned the frame up in the wheel well and hit it with some primer.

The installation went very smooth, everything bolted up except the heater mount which required the drilling of two new holes.

The right fender was in much worse condition and every bit of hardware was seized and rusted. It took me a while but I was able to get everything apart, repeated the frame touch up and primer.

Looking at the underside of these fenders you can really tell why this job had to be done.

Here are the pics of the day, there are some old vs new pictures.

 

[General Mcgregor]

Question, the picture of the right fenders (old and new) can anyone tell me why they are different? Particularly the exhaust clearance cut, the rear mounting tab ant the oval vs circular hole. I'm assuming it's just a different vintage but just curious.

 

[General Mcgregor]

Prepped the wheels and some more of the frame / bed frame.

 

[4x4 Forever]

Looks Good!

Subbed

 

[AZDeuce]

On the fenders....one pair are from a early gasser M35 that was upgraded to a multi-fuel, and the others are standard A2 fenders it looks like from the pictures.

 

[General Mcgregor]

Can you tell which ones the new ones are? I am starting to think I'll need to cut the rear mounting tab for exhaust clearance.

 

[General Mcgregor]

Finished the prep today, first topcoat next weekend!
Got the exhaust back on but I will need to modify that rear mounting tab.
Many layers of paint on the front bumper, I would say at least six. Truck looks like it was originally painted all OD with white stars on the hood and doors. I found two sets of unit markings both upside down and right side up, must have been before the winch was installed.
Also found a driver name on the door, is this common on National Guard trucks?

 

[General Mcgregor]

Well gentlemen, topcoat weekend is here! We're looking at 3 days of sunshine, low humidity and temps in the low 80's. Progress will resume tomorrow morning at 0900.
-GM

 

[General Mcgregor]

First two coats went very well. Gun is working much better than expected, no runs whatsoever and I am really loving the texture.
Now I need to figure out how best to do my camo pattern, I don't want sharp lines but I also don't want everything to look blurry.

 

[General Mcgregor]

So a 10% chance of a light passing shower ended up being 4 hours of steady rainfall, just after I finished my last coat of green.
Call me crazy, but I think the forecast was altered for the fourth as not to deter people from spending money on the holiday. I can't see how you get that wrong, I never would have painted yesterday if I knew this was coming. But then again, it is New England.

So my progress thus far may be fubar. I don't know yet, and things were going so good.
Maybe too good...
I'll need to check everything out tomorrow when it dries up.

 

[General Mcgregor]

Looks like I lucked out, minor runs that were easily concealed. Hopefully they stay hidden, time will tell.
Prepped most of my loose parts today.
Also painted the wheels and sideboards.