Retired M925 Finds Home In Seattle Area

[Recon Charlie Alpha]

Prep pics

 

[Recon Charlie Alpha]

and after first coat.....hoping it doesnt rain.........

 

[Bighurt]

Can you walk us through your process? I'm always curious how people do things.

Looks good, I plan to do mine all green soon to stop cancer but 3 color is the end goal.

 

[wsucougarx]

Looking good!

 

[Riftweaver]

Amazing what a little paint and some elbow grease will do. She is coming along well! Grats on your purchase!

 

[Recon Charlie Alpha]

Can you walk us through your process? I'm always curious how people do things.

Looks good, I plan to do mine all green soon to stop cancer but 3 color is the end goal.

It was obvious this unit had rust issues beyond other units I have seen, but it was an M925, which is what I wanted.

The way the unit was rusting looked to be classic salt water environment rust, but who really knows. This was top of mind for me as a the priority maintenance item to address.

My weather window for painting here in the Seattle area is fairly short, I live in the cascade foothills so even shorter, as all the rain stacks up, I believe, right over my house J

I took a circular wire brush that attaches to my small hand grinder and went after the rust, starting at the bow end and working back.

I wore protective gear, eye, ear and a filter mask.

My initial goal was rust prevention and I knew I wouldn’t be able to do a restoration quality paint job, so I didn’t worry too much on smooth sanding out the rough patches.

I soon realized that some disassembly was going to be needed (and I wanted to make the rally)so I stopped just forward of the rear of the cab and started applying rust preventative primer ( Rustoleum) to the cab and front bumper.

I allowed the needed 72 hours before applying paint to the primer.

Then had to wait for a reasonable string of dry days.

The bumper came first and I thought it would be good to throw in a sort of paint test between two brands, Rodda and Behr. So I painted the bumper with Rodda.
I had some touch up to do on the primer on the top of the cab and one of the mirror supports, so had to wait again.

I had what I thought was a dry 2 day weekend ( per weather forecast) and put on the first coat Sat. mid-morning. ( by the way, as Mike ( WSUCOUGARX) commented previously, it goes on a light green and drys much darker).
Sunday morning about 0300 it rained………hard….…..
I let the rain stop and waited for it to dry a bit before I touched it. Water was pooled on the fender tops. I used towels and gentle sopped up the pooled water without rubbing into the paint. So far so good. I then tarped the cab, which of course, guaranteed it wouldn’t rain any more the rest of the weekend………….Monday I took some pics.

Next up, the back of the cab and then the bed.

In late Sept, weather permitting, Ill apply a second and third coat.

Ill probably hold off on the under carriage until next summer and address the trailer rust mid Sept. Then Ill do the interior, (which is badly needed in some spots where the hardtop meets the cab) over the fall, when I can tarp the cab and work on the interior.

In Sept ( I fabbed up my foldable 55 foot ham antenna tower this last winter and will be erecting it in August) Ill plan to do the fluid change outs ( hasn’t been done since 2008 and see if I want to tackle putting on new belts (they look ok at this point). Also, make sure the winch is serviceable.

Over the winter I plan to start adding mods, like 12 volt system, radios and antennas, cab lighting, intercom, a small 1 ton bed crane & winch, finish the Navy Seabee livery, etc. Im also contemplating converting the bed so it will dump.

So, a not a hard firm detailed plan, but that is my general direction and thought process to this point.

 

[Recon Charlie Alpha]

Do you guys think I need to move this conversation over the the 5 ton forum?

 

[Bighurt]

Nice write up!

What was the formula on paint?

Thanks

 

[Recon Charlie Alpha]

Here is the one for Behr:

 

[jrod66]

looks pretty good man, kinda the same color I painted mine, except I went with krylon! keep up the good work

 

[Amer-team]

RCA, what did you use for your paint application tool? Nice looking job.

 

[Recon Charlie Alpha]

Hey Amer-Team, nice to see you at the rally.

Thanks for the compliment.

Well, would you believe a brush?

I wouldnt get away with that if the paint had any more sheen than it has.

But it worked and I didnt need to burn any time prepping for spray, masking, etc.

 

[Amer-team]

The 4 color paint job on the M54 was done with a brush over the original solid green paint of the Vietnam era. After looking at Cougs, it really makes me want to spray it, so now I am torn between leaving it as original as I can and doing a fairly decent job on it.

If I could get a fairly good match on some of the colors, I might try to just touch it up. But they seem to be so faded, that a match would be difficult.

 

[juanprado]

Looking good..........

Great Job!

It has been raining so much down here that for a while I thought New Orleans was in the Pacific Northwest and no one told me about the change....

 

[Recon Charlie Alpha]

The 4 color paint job on the M54 was done with a brush over the original solid green paint of the Vietnam era. After looking at Cougs, it really makes me want to spray it, so now I am torn between leaving it as original as I can and doing a fairly decent job on it.

If I could get a fairly good match on some of the colors, I might try to just touch it up. But they seem to be so faded, that a match would be difficult.

Yes, agreed, it is impossible to get a good match. Maybe try sectioning it out? Re-paint a large section so it isnt as obvious.

Ill most likely spray the bed. I can get more coats on in less time spraying. Final finish, surprisngly, isnt too different from a brush as long as you have to brush out the strokes, which takes a lot more time than spraying,.

My next project will be the bed, which has mondo rust going on, and finish the back of the cab, but that will be late August or early Sept.

 

[rronning84]

That is a grand looking truck.