Steelsoldiers’ BIG M1152A1 HMMWV Project!!

[TOBASH]

Ok. Let me know what you think. I will be considering using sound AND heat.

 

[steelsoldiers]

Got some more work done last weekend, but didn’t have a chance to share until now!

I masked all of the door sills, battery box, rear fenders, and tailgate in preparation for spraying the Raptor Liner. Once that was done, I sprayed two coats on the entire interior, bed area, and tailgate. It took 10 1-liter bottles to do it! After it dried for about an hour, I unmasked everything to leave some clean lines.

It turned out great, and now I have to reverse mask everything in preparation for priming the entire exterior this weekend!

By the way, wads of aluminum foil are a great way to protect bolt holes from liner. I used them in all of the lower seatbelt mounting holes.

 

[steelsoldiers]

Primer goes on today! I had planned to spray it over the weekend, but the shop I bought my epoxy primer from recommended sanding the truck to 400 grit instead of 320. All of the sanding was done by Saturday night and Sunday was spent wiping the body down and masking. Did some more masking last night and will finish it up this afternoon. Then, it will be time for one final blow down, wiping with a tack cloth, and then epoxy primer! You’re supposed to top coat within 3 days, so that means 911 flat black is going on Saturday!

 

[steelsoldiers]

After masking for about 6 more hours (it’s amazing how long it takes to do it right) I was finally ready to start spraying primer. I was a bit rusty with the spray gun since this is the first vehicle I have painted since my 1009 about 17 years ago. Thankfully, I got my gun settings and technique down spraying primer instead of color. Speaking of color, the black primer looks really good and gives me a taste of the real thing. The other nice thing is scratches (and there will be plenty) won’t show nearly as bad as they would have with red or gray primer.

My “paint booth” worked pretty well. I had a high velocity fan blowing out under the door with some 14x14 air filters picking up the particulate. They were completely black by the end of the night. My only complaint was not having enough light! That and not finishing until after midnight… sheesh.

I have a few runs to sand out, but other than that, I am ready to shoot some GCI 911 on Saturday!

 

[Jbulach]

Looking great! All that time spent doing it correctly will really pay off. Also make sure you get your lighting worked out, black is hard enough already. Plus it’s very tough getting a solid covering over color matching primer, especially if you can’t see the wet edge on all those irregular shapes. Are you going to do more than one coat? This makes it a lot easier if battling coverage issues…

 

[steelsoldiers]

Looking great! All that time spent doing it correctly will really pay off. Also make sure you get your lighting worked out, black is hard enough already. Plus it’s very tough getting a solid covering over color matching primer, especially if you can’t see the wet edge on all those irregular shapes. Are you going to do more than one coat? This makes it a lot easier if battling coverage issues…

I’m going to set up some more lights before I paint this weekend. It was hard to see the wet edge over the green too. I had to hold my cell phone with one hand and paint with the other lol. Planning on two coats of color.

 

[steelsoldiers]

AC/DC is playing tonight because this HMMWV is Back in Black!

Today, I reinstalled the footwell armor, A-pillar reinforcements, rear seatbelt mounts, and AC grille/block-off. I also put a bolt in all of the troop seat mounting holes. Can’t stand empty bolt holes lol. After that, I gave it one final tack cloth wipe down and blow down. Then, it was time for two coats of GCI 911.

It laid down really well! Can’t wait to get it un-masked tomorrow and start the reassembly process!

 

[Mogman]

AC/DC is playing tonight because this HMMWV is Back in Black!

Today, I reinstalled the footwell armor, A-pillar reinforcements, rear seatbelt mounts, and AC grille/block-off. I also put a bolt in all of the troop seat mounting holes. Can’t stand empty bolt holes lol. After that, I gave it one final tack cloth wipe down and blow down. Then, it was time for two coats of GCI 911.

It laid down really well! Can’t wait to get it in-masked tomorrow and start the reassembly process!

All that attention to detail is really paying off!!!

 

[TOBASH]

Howard Hughes shaved all the bolt heads in his airplane to set an air speed record. The point being that all those extra bolts will affect the aerodynamics of your HMMWV and slow you down.

Beautiful work!

 

[thoner7]

Great looking truck. I painted/lined mine in the fall and yes it’s a crazy amount of work to tape.

can I ask how many gallons of the lizard skin it took to do your interior? Did you do the inside of your doors?

 

[steelsoldiers]

Great looking truck. I painted/lined mine in the fall and yes it’s a crazy amount of work to tape.

can I ask how many gallons of the lizard skin it took to do your interior? Did you do the inside of your doors?

Thanks! I used the 2 gallon pail and covered the floors and drivetrain tunnel. I probably could have used an extra gallon to make it a little thicker in spots, but knew I was covering it in Raptor Liner, so stuck with 2 gallons. I did not do the doors. The manufacturer already coated the insides in a smooth bed liner coating.

 

[steelsoldiers]

No big updates since we were out of town for the last two weekends. This week, I am starting the reassembly process. I also have to mask and string up the last of the parts to get ready to spray them black this weekend.

My Rhino tire carrier showed up at Blue Lane freight last week and I picked it up on Monday. Just needs a replacement stud and a coat of paint. Anyone know if they take standard HMMWV studs? I looked it up in the parts manual, but the Rhino part number didn’t cross over to anything else.

 

[steelsoldiers]

I’ve been making some good headway with reassembly over the last few weekends. I got the last of the parts hung up and sprayed, the tire carrier installed, light and signal switches installed, fuel filler surround installed, reflectors installed, taillights gutted and reassembled with Trucklite LED modules, ground adapters made for the taillights, splash guards rebuilt, tranny controller installed, new taillight and side marker buckets installed, and new taillights and marker lights installed. It’s really coming together now!

 

[steelsoldiers]

More progress over the weekend! I started out by installing the front marker lights, turn signals, headlights, and blackout driving lights. After that, I moved on to installing the left and right splash guards and a new hood prop rod. I need to install the new airlift hook gaskets on the hood and then the front end should be done! Then, it’ll be time for seat brackets, seats, the cargo divider, and the soft top. Woohoo!

 

[TOBASH]

More progress over the weekend! I started out by installing the front marker lights, turn signals, headlights, and blackout driving lights. After that, I moved on to installing the left and right splash guards and a new hood prop rod. I need to install the new airlift hook gaskets on the hood and then the front end should be done! Then, it’ll be time for seat brackets, seats, the cargo divider, and the soft top. Woohoo!

Great work!

 

[steelsoldiers]

Great work!

Thank you!

 

[steelsoldiers]

More accomplished on the M152A1 this weekend! I started out by installing the new airlift seals in the hood. Then, I replaced a broken stud in the Rhino tire carrier and installed the tire. After that, I bolted on the tach, wiper motor, and visors. Next, I repaired the broken doghouse cover by riveting some thin aluminum strips under the top and side. Finally, I installed the new driver’s seat bracket and Corbeau sport seat. That thing is super comfy! Going to get the rest of the seats and seatbelts installed this week and hopefully get the top on next weekend!

 

[steelsoldiers]

Finished the rest of the seatbelts and seats today! The seat bases from Midwest made the job very straightforward. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a pain to get everything lined up just right, but it was straightforward. I really like the heavy steel battery box cover/seat mount for the commander’s seat. It’s much more rigid and stable compared to the original fiberglass one.

Tomorrow, it will be time to install the soft top and the cargo partition!

I am hoping to have it on the road by next weekend!

 

[steelsoldiers]

Finally finished the soft top install this evening, and It was just as big of a PITA as you might imagine! I will NOT be removing it anytime soon LOL. My hands will probably hurt for two or three days after all of the grabbing and stretching trying to get it locked into place. Oh well, it’s done!

 

[TOBASH]

You’ve done a fine job restoring that vehicle!