Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice!

[youngrodder]

What's this paint work you speak of?? Your not leaving the body alone? The body looks great resting on the frame.

Marc

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

What's this paint work you speak of?? Your not leaving the body alone? The body looks great resting on the frame.

Marc

Body stays as-is! well, for the most part, i plan to CLR scrub it and then that patina-sauce stuff. all the suspension and brackets however still need painted black. this whole using real paint thing is labor intensive

plus the wife is pretty adamite that i fully clean and paint the whole inside too. ugh

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

Body stays as-is! well, for the most part, i plan to CLR scrub it and then that patina-sauce stuff. all the suspension and brackets however still need painted black. this whole using real paint thing is labor intensive

plus the wife is pretty adamite that i fully clean and paint the whole inside too. ugh

Fair enough...carry on. Yes, I'm adding seat belts as the wifey has suggested "several" times we need seat belts.

It is a nice driving experience to have a clean painted interior with the modern amenities like heat and AC oh and some tunes.

I like where this one is headed.

Marc

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

Fair enough...carry on. Yes, I'm adding seat belts as the wifey has suggested "several" times we need seat belts.

It is a nice driving experience to have a clean painted interior with the modern amenities like heat and AC oh and some tunes.

I like where this one is headed.

Marc

so far i think I've settled on Restomod Air for the HVAC, the Bantam S. should even fit with the crazy doghouse i have for around the 12V.

https://restomodair.com/shopproducts...ioning-system/

also agreed on tunes, but no clue how exactly yet. either something with wireless android auto and a screen that hangs down below the dash, or a RetroSound with bluetooth and a nice phone mount. either way i have a 10" slib sub kicking around from way back that i accidentally bought and will finally get used!

[dsraven]

frame looks awesome under there. you may need skis for the rockers though, haha.

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by dsraven

frame looks awesome under there. you may need skis for the rockers though, haha.

If there's snow when she's ready for a drive, then skis it is!

[6DoF]

Painting is progressing slowly ... Stupid dry times n not enough space. But the spray booth is working great! Its really good, just gota stage the crap out of everything before ya start.

[Jason 56]

Looking great! You are making quick work of it. I wish I could have mine moving at that rate.

[6DoF]

More parts in black! But these aren't done and need flipped to paint the other side. Even rattle can'd the mock-up drive shafts to look better in pictures �� though they will get driven on until I can be sure nothing major is changing.

EDIT: it's interesting looking at the pics now vs how they dried. this paint sprays and looks almost hammered finish to start, but by the time it dries it's only a mild peal look. the picture of the LCA shows it mid-leveling

[6DoF]

And One more post before the Monday morning slackers check in from work. :Lol:

Super happy about the look of the satin black paint against the gloss metallic orange! The wife was less happy to see all my newly painted parts stacked in the guest room though

[6DoF]

woke up this morning and was apparently more motivated than usual with my alarm. didn't even think about it til i woke up, but i flipped and painted all the last batch of parts. by the time i get home they'll be dry enough to move around and start the next batch!

i could actually get the front end supporting it's own weight now, but the rear still needs the trailing arms and axle painted. also need to do the transmission crossmember and mount. so getting close.

[daddyjeep]

Yep.... I'm one of those slackers in question. I also really like the black against the orange. Maybe because it my Alma Matter colors.

[6DoF]

you ever screw it up? i screwed it up ...

so Sunday i got parts flipped and fully painted, and they cured over night. Sunday morning i was anxious to start the next batch and moved all the "cured" parts into the guest room. i stacked some parts to take up less space and be ready for the next batch coming ... and that was it, fail. the stuff won't take fingerprints after a few hours, but it's 18-24h for a full cure at 70deg, and my garage/house is not. they freaking stuck together and now i have to do touchup work. uuuugghhhh.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

you ever screw it up? i screwed it up ...

so Sunday i got parts flipped and fully painted, and they cured over night. Sunday morning i was anxious to start the next batch and moved all the "cured" parts into the guest room. i stacked some parts to take up less space and be ready for the next batch coming ... and that was it, fail. the stuff won't take fingerprints after a few hours, but it's 18-24h for a full cure at 70deg, and my garage/house is not. they freaking stuck together and now i have to do touchup work. uuuugghhhh.

That is why we cant have nice things.....

Marc

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

That is why we cant have nice things.....

Marc

i know right!!

[daddyjeep]

Would that still have happened with rattle can paint? Probably

[dsraven]

is there a plan for a cross bar or stiffener at the front of the frame rails? maybe something to keep the rails at the same distance from each other would be good, other than the front bumper, just to cut down on the flex. I have seen the old front ends, like the cross member donor truck, and how much they can flex when dry steering. just a thought, don't want the bumper bolts flexing and cracking the paint or whatever.

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by dsraven

is there a plan for a cross bar or stiffener at the front of the frame rails? maybe something to keep the rails at the same distance from each other would be good, other than the front bumper, just to cut down on the flex. I have seen the old front ends, like the cross member donor truck, and how much they can flex when dry steering. just a thought, don't want the bumper bolts flexing and cracking the paint or whatever.

defined plan, no ... but i do have ideas. this chassis is significantly stiffer than the factory one to start, but better is better. i still have the factory triangulation bars from the 78 chassis, they'll most likely tie into the front of the frame where my bumper mounts weld on. my motor mount connectors are also 1000x stiffer.

[6DoF]

did get to work on the 55 a little over the holiday, i was actually able to finish all my painting! just need to let a few more things cure for a few more days and we'll be good to go on assembly of a full rolling chassis.

front end is all together and the rear axle is too, just need to let the truck-arms cure to install.

[youngrodder]

Looks great. I love the contrast.

Marc

[daddyjeep]

It's almost going to be a shame to cover all that up with fenders

[lower50's]

Oooooooooooo So fun.

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice! What are you using for the black?

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Very nice! What are you using for the black?

both the orange and black are Summit Racing Single Stage, the orange is a gloss bright metallic and the black is a from there flat hot rod line but it's a semi-gloss.