So I know I said I was going to wait but... the paint was dry enough after one day to put the bed back on, so last night I packed up the family and headed over to my dad's house to reclaim the truck. My kids were thrilled to get the truck back. So much so that we had to settle a heated dispute over who would get to ride home with me (my daughter won, can't you tell?).
We made quick work of throwing the bed back on, and in no time we were headed back home. Pictured here is everyone who helped in some way with getting this shortbed conversion done. From left to right, my dad, my wife, my son, my dad's wife, and my daughter.
After getting home, it was my son's turn to take a ride. We also stopped to snap a few new photos.
Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone and my impatience got the best of me after getting the truck back, so I started testing out my fauxtina process. I started by knocking the shine off with red scotch-brite, and then slowly worked the paint with wet 400 and random sanding patterns in common wear areas. It takes a fair amount of elbow grease to finally cut through to the primer. My front fenders only have a small amount of fade through, so I'm not going too crazy on the bed. After I'm satisfied with the fade pattern, I hit it with wet #000 steel wool to bring back a little shine, wipe it down with mineral spirits, and it's done.
The color is just about spot on. I got lucky with that because I just used the 505 code to get the paint mixed, instead of having it matched. The original paint has darkened ever so slightly over the years, but after the faux patina process you can't tell. With the same sheen on the new paint, it's virtually indistinguishable from the original paint, which is exactly what I wanted.
I'm off to the beach for the rest of the week, but I hope to finish off the fauxtina process once I get back. Then it's time to hit up a few local cruise-ins and actually enjoy just driving the truck a bit.