norms 55 chevy pu build

[washington blue]

Got started on my seat belts, I saw somewhere on here how to mount the upper belt mount. I had to narrow the Juliano's upper mount a little bit to slide it up the post from below. You can see the welding wire I pulled the piece up with.

[washington blue]

Made an air box.

[washington blue]

A couple more air box pics. I went to the local hardware store and got some 22 gauge for furnace ductwork to make the box and a piece of hose for a gasket around the filter neck. Hopefully when the weather is done being winter I can next get everything media blasted and start the paint process, I think I have done everything I need to do before paint. I have done blasting at home with my small hobby blaster and I don't like it, so I'm going to take it to a shop 12 miles from me. They have a pro blaster and quoted me 2 grand to media blast everything.

[washington blue]

A couple more. In this opening I cut, I bent metal back so it forms kind of angle irons all the way around. Hopefully adding stiffness, don't know if it needed it or not but can't hurt.

[dsraven]

probably needed it since the rad support by itself is pretty small actuall.
you may wanna look at some sort of rain/bug shield or baffle in front of the hole though.
make sure to ask the media blaster if he is gonna epoxy prime those parts so they don't immediately start to rust. also, if thats his plan, ask what he uses and keep track of that because some substrates don't interact well with other coatings applied on top and can create havoc when it comes time for the next coat of whatever you plan to use.

[dsraven]

nice job, by the way. looks like a bought piece.

[washington blue]

Thanks ds, I can't remember what they said they would spray on the bare metal, as I asked last summer when I planned to have it done - then I busted my leg forcing me to take a 3 month vacation and winter came and salty roads. I'm not risking getting anything road salt related on this thing so that's why I have been going so slow on this build lately. You give excellent advice, I will absolutely write down what they spray it with and take that info to the auto body supply place. I always defer to the ABS place expertise when buying paint supplies from bondo, to primer, then paint, and finally clear. This way I never have to worry about chemicals fighting. I even ask what are the newest things in sanding and buffing.

[dsraven]

primer before bondo though, right? bondo is porous and usually they say put something under that so it doesn't rust the metal. 2 schools of thought.

[dsraven]

lots of times its best to stay wit the same brand name too.

[washington blue]

After a very dry summer of farm stuff and right now just before harvest. I took sheet metal parts to a local shop and had them glass bead stuff. If we were to have an early snow and the county puts salt on the road I could not move stuff on my open trailer then, so, now's the time. I have car stuff to do all winter now, looking forward to it right after harvest is done.

[washington blue]

After blasting the shop put a product on called "Chromate Epoxy DTM primer". This will prevent any surface rust while it waits for me to work on it. I have the brand name and the part nos. of these products so when I go to my local paint supplier I can give them the primer and activator numbers for compatibility. The shop recommends that I scuff this green well where mud is needed, and then do mud, removing it all is not necessary.

[washington blue]

It cost a few bucks to do this but I could not have done anything anywhere nearly as well at home with my hobby blaster. I don't really like blasting either.
After the spots that need mud are blocked out, the shop said to go over the whole door, fender, cab, whatever, with some 180 grit for tooth and then spray on build epoxy primer to block again.

[dsraven]

Yup, filler over the epoxy, scuff it first if more than a day later for tooth. Then when the filler work is done spray the high build. Block with a long stiff board to only hit the high spots and not conform to all the low spots. Dont sand through to steel just to the epoxy as a last resort. If you have spots that didnt get touched by sand paper then they are the low spots. Lay a straight edge across those and decide if you will fill those more or keep laying coats of high build down. It's why a lot of guys lay a slim coat of filler on the whole fender or door or whatever. They sand down the highs and the lows will likely be filled already. Then the blocking process takes less time and less coats.

[dsraven]

I personally use pieces of plywood with the paper stapled on the ends( not on the surface that touches the parts getting sanded). It doesnt bend like some foam backed boards do. I find it hard to not push down too much so this way it is harder to bend the sanding board. Pieces of dowel work well for soft body lines. Different colors of high build make it easier to stop sanding when you go through the current coat. If you are sanding blue primer and start seeing the previous color then you are through that coat and need more sprayed on before you start sanding through to metal. Scuff sand the low spots before spraying to ensure they get a tooth.

[washington blue]

I am going to let it sit until after harvest so that will be most likely a month, barring bad weather. Your plywood idea is very good. I tried a long foam thing once and I pushed too hard and it only sanded where my hands were. I went back to my old hand hutch I'm used to. I will do my best not to sand through the Avocado. In the past I've used black lacquer for guide coat. What do people use now?

[dsraven]

different tints of high build is the cheap mans guide coat, lol.

[dsraven]

lots of guys use something called dry guide coat powder. just google it.
if the epoxy sits longer than the 24 hr time then you will need to scuff it up before putting filler on. the chemical bond between the not cured epoxy and the new filler wont be the same as it would within that 24 hrs. check with the brand of epoxy but I'm pretty sure a month later means sanding before filler. if done within the time linits it's kinda like putting another coat of paint on, it will chemically bond.
the lpywood board sanding block is my go to. a hard office eraser works for small curved areas. a wooden dowl works for bigger curves. crosshatch pattern for sanding ensures you don't make flat spots with the sander.

[washington blue]

Block sanding, been doing it for a couple weeks on and off. Going to block all the bondo before I spray primer.

[washington blue]

Finally, after hammer and dolly stuff, and applying, then sanding over and over and over I've gone over it from front bumper to rear bumper. 150 hours worth, Sanding bondo is done. Hi build primer is next.
The roof looks white but it's mostly green, the led lights are reflecting off it and the dust on it.

[washington blue]

Sprayed a little primer today. Now I'll see just how bad my body work is, lol.

[dsraven]

you know what I do, come the filler stage, is apply, sand, etc. then, before i shoot primer, i place a shop light at one end of the project and then wipe the part down with a really wet rag of wax and grease remover. then stand at the end opposite the shop light and check the reflections in the still gleaming wet surface. it's a great "tell" to see if there are low spots, wavy spots, ripples etc. then apply more filler as required or, if it's all down to the small stuff, apply the high build and use the guide coat theory.

[washington blue]

Thanks, that's a good idea. Sprayed the cab today.

[dsraven]

looking good (well, the truck anyway. lol).
I have a supplied air mask as well, along with the little compressor. works well. I have a dedicated air line from the compressor to the mask so it only gets used for the breathing air. I now some guys who just use their regular shop air line but it may contain anything that came from the shop compressor, oils, rust, moisture, mold etc etc, so i don't recommend that. I put mine outside on the up wind side of the shop and close the door against the hose so as little fumes go that way as possible. I am thinking of putting it in the attic of the shop with a drop hose to a quick connect near the work bench but that is gonna take a bit of time so will see what gets done when I get back home again. it's great to see your progress coming along so well. i wished mine were that far ahead but there is so much other "life" stuff that happens along the way. mine is a frame swap and many other body mods so it takes time to figure it all out as i go.
keep on posting and for sure keep doing stuff as safe as you can.

[washington blue]

You and I think very much alike. I use the "little compressor' as well. I have an exhaust fan you can see in the pictures below the pink insulation. That fan sucks the fumes out and the main part of my shop is fume free. Just the small paint room smells. I set the compressor outside at the other end of my shop from the little paint room and exhaust fan. I really like the fresh breeze on my face.

[dsraven]

be careful with the suction style fan set up because the paint fumes are flammable, plus the paint dries on the fan blades. as a firefighter we blew air into the building, called ventilation, to get rid of the toxic fumes and combustible gasses found in smoke. we would put the fan back from the door opening and then check around the door to ensure there was a full coverage of air blowing in. I understand, this is a paint booth so different but just a heads up.
in my last garage shop, years ago, i would build a 2x4 frame to fit the width of the gareage big door and staple the hanging style furnace filters to that for full coverage, then set it in the garage door openng and let the door down on it. spray that with water mist and then staple some more of those filters over the shop windows at the other end of the garage from the big doors. a fan set up outside blowing air in the windows seems to give an ample ventilation profile to clear the fumes.
do you have a tear away film for your mask face shield? i was having trouble sourcing one for mine last time so I used saran wrap. it actually worked pretty well if you are carfeul installing it so no wrinkles, haha