Starting my B2C restoration.

[Bdblazer1978]

While waiting for the oil pump, my wife decided she didn't like the way original paint was coming out.  As we were slowly wet sanding, we realized the previous owner had already removed too much and we were going to end up with a lot of bare metal. So we decided to strip and paint the entire truck. Sent the cab out for sandblasting and I'm pretty happy that there wasn't much rust. 

[Bdblazer1978]

Received my oil pump and after letting it soak in oil for a couple days, I put everything together. Ran through the same startup procedure to make sure I had oil pressure and then crossed my fingers. 

 

SUCCESS!!!!

 

It started a little rough, but once I got everything dialed in its purring. 

[Bdblazer1978]

Took it for the first drive today. Transmission sounds good. Still need to do some work on the brakes and getting engine dialed in. 

[wallytoo]

1 hour ago, Bdblazer1978 said:

Took it for the first drive today. Transmission sounds good. Still need to do some work on the brakes and getting engine dialed in. 

 

maybe some body work, too? 

[ggdad1951]

14 hours ago, Bdblazer1978 said:

Took it for the first drive today. Transmission sounds good. Still need to do some work on the brakes and getting engine dialed in. 

 

makes you feel like a kid again right? 

[Lingle]

keep up the good work!  I love the inverted bucket seat!

[bkahler]

18 hours ago, Bdblazer1978 said:

Took it for the first drive today. Transmission sounds good. Still need to do some work on the brakes and getting engine dialed in. 

 

Hmm.....I don't see a seat belt ?

 

[billrigsby]

2 hours ago, bkahler said:

 

Hmm.....I don't see a seat belt ?

 

 

I don't think a 1950 came with seatbelts, 48 did not ?

[bkahler]

1 hour ago, billrigsby said:

 

I don't think a 1950 came with seatbelts, 48 did not ?

 

Good point!

[Starman]

I think that seat belts became mandatory in the mid-60's. But hey, a good hemp rope will do the tick.  ?

I think some out of period add-ons are worth deviating from the original - especially if it's something you want to drive.  A friend who's a collector and restorer mentioned a guy he knew had a head on with a 1 ton bale of alfalfa on the freeway. Creamed his nicely done resto and impaled himself on the driving column.

 

Love the pics and the journey. Nice work.

[Merle Coggins]

Same type of ‘bucket seat’ I used on my first drive. ?

Fun, ain’t it? 

[Bdblazer1978]

So the first drive was a blast. We live on a military base, so I was trying to figure out how I was going to explain what I was doing if I got pulled over. 

 

Started on the body work for the cab. Want to get that done and back on before we have to move this summer.  First time doing any real body work, so my grinding skills are getting a workout. 

[Bdblazer1978]

I've been a little slow working on the truck this past month. Reupholstered the seat, turned out pretty well for not having a clue what I was doing. Removed a mouse's nest while I was at it. Also started stripping the hood, hopefully will try my hand at spraying primer next weekend. Another first, fingers crossed. And for Christmas I got my wiring harness from Rhode Island Wiring, it looks really good. 

[Jim Roach]

Looks like you’re going to be very busy. Good luck and take your time.

[ggdad1951]

you will love RIWire's stuff.  Simple plug and play and correct.

[Bdblazer1978]

Set up a cheap spray tent in my garage to try and cut down on getting dust everywhere. Worked pretty well except for the fresh air fan being on the floor and pulling in cooler air. 

 

I was able to finish priming the cab, really happy with the results for this being my first time. There are a few spots on the roof that I'm going to have to do some additional body work before I put color on, but good enough for now. I plan on temporarily mounting the cab back on the frame this week to free up some garage space. Once I have a few smaller pieces ready, I'll try my hand at base/clear and then work the cab. 

[Starman]

Love the play by play. Thanks for sharing.

After doing some price checking with a local Auto body/resto paint shop, I can see why you're going to great lengths to set up your own paint booth. The minimum price he gave was like $20K.

What did you use to prep for the first coat? Wire wheel, sand/wet blasting?

BTW, what was the approximate total on the wiring? All of mine just disintegrates whenever I touch it, so it's a complete re-wire job on my '52 B3B.

[billrigsby]

22 hours ago, Bdblazer1978 said:

Set up a cheap spray tent in my garage to try and cut down on getting dust everywhere. Worked pretty well except for the fresh air fan being on the floor and pulling in cooler air. 

 

I was able to finish priming the cab, really happy with the results for this being my first time. There are a few spots on the roof that I'm going to have to do some additional body work before I put color on, but good enough for now. I plan on temporarily mounting the cab back on the frame this week to free up some garage space. Once I have a few smaller pieces ready, I'll try my hand at base/clear and then work the cab. 

 

Looking very good, what kind of primer are you shooting?

I did that once back in the seventies it did not go that well, was spraying 65 Mini Cooper,

I guess I had too big of an exhaust fan, one side of the plastic came loose from the staples I had in the rafters

Needless to say it just laid down right on the top and side of the car.

@#$%^**

One step forward two steps back.

[Bdblazer1978]

2 hours ago, Starman said:

Love the play by play. Thanks for sharing.

After doing some price checking with a local Auto body/resto paint shop, I can see why you're going to great lengths to set up your own paint booth. The minimum price he gave was like $20K.

What did you use to prep for the first coat? Wire wheel, sand/wet blasting?

BTW, what was the approximate total on the wiring? All of mine just disintegrates whenever I touch it, so it's a complete re-wire job on my '52 B3B.

For the cab I had it sandblasted. I decided that with the size and all the angles and small spaces it was easier to have it blasted. I dropped it off on a Sat and got it back on Tues. For the rest of the truck I'm planning on prepping myself with stripping disks and wire wheels. 

 

The wiring was $1,039. That included wires for some extra lights and fuel pump, a chrome turn signal switch/relay, and a few other odds/ends. 

[Bdblazer1978]

2 hours ago, billrigsby said:

 

Looking very good, what kind of primer are you shooting?

I did that once back in the seventies it did not go that well, was spraying 65 Mini Cooper,

I guess I had too big of an exhaust fan, one side of the plastic came loose from the staples I had in the rafters

Needless to say it just laid down right on the top and side of the car.

@#$%^**

One step forward two steps back.

On the cab, because the sandblaster used an etch coat, I'm using PPG Shopline 2K Primer Surfacer (JP202).  For the rest of the truck since it will be going on bare metal I'm using PPG Shopline Epoxy Primer (JP375).  These were the recommendations from the paint shop, I have no experience with either or any idea how they compare to others. 

 

To hold my plastic up, I wrapped it around a piece of pvc and screwed that to the ceiling. Seems to be holding up pretty well. 

 

Sorry to hear about you experience.  When it rains it usually pours. 

[Bdblazer1978]

Took advantage of some nicer weather and mounted the cab to the frame. Realized that my "hard" left front mount is toast and needs to be replaced, going to have to find a hockey puck based on recommendations on this site. 

[Bdblazer1978]

Finished the initial work on the hood.  I learned I need to sand the body filler with a finer grit. I stopped at 180 and should have gone to 320, I'll fix it before I put the base on. At this point I just want to get everything in primer so it's safe to move in the next few months. 

 

My wife really wants her truck done when she let's me store parts in our dining room to warm them up. 

[Dave72dt]

I generally prime after 80 grit, throw on a guide coat and start blocking the primer, again with 80 and work my way up, depending on how it blocks out or prime again, ending up at either 400 for solid colors or 600 for metalics.  Overworking the filler often ends up removing too much.  Filler and primer sand pretty similar so you are less likely to oversand so it's easier to keep the surface level than leveling against bare metal.

[ggdad1951]

what brewery is that growler from on the shelf?

[Bdblazer1978]

On 1/19/2021 at 9:52 PM, Dave72dt said:

I generally prime after 80 grit, throw on a guide coat and start blocking the primer, again with 80 and work my way up, depending on how it blocks out or prime again, ending up at either 400 for solid colors or 600 for metalics.  Overworking the filler often ends up removing too much.  Filler and primer sand pretty similar so you are less likely to oversand so it's easier to keep the surface level than leveling against bare metal.

This is my first time, do you block on epoxy primer or a high build?  This is just epoxy primer to cover the metal. I'm still trying to figure out all this bodywork stuff.