Getting my 46 WD15 repaired and back on the road

[lostviking]

Finally got around to doing something to the truck today. I pulled the bottom two leaves out of the spring pack. Pretty easy to do, I had the new center bolts. I am surprised by the results. Just looking at them in place I didn't think they were that thick. The U bolts previously just barely were long enough (ish). There weren't any threads sticking out. Now I've got a full 3/4 inch of extra thread. I feel pretty good about that. Jumping up and down on the rear bumper it still feels pretty firm, but them maybe I've lost weight

 

From the side I think it's noticeable, but I guess I should compare pictures. It seems to just sit nicer now, without having it's rear up in the air.

 

Have a nice Sunday everyone.

[lostviking]

Had the day off, so I worked on the truck a bit. Jacked it up and put the rear on stands. I removed the wheels to get access and torqued the u-bolts on both sides. Reinstalled the wheels and torqued in steps to 110lb/ft. Rear ready.

 

Jacked the front up and put it on stands, then took off the Jeep wheels. The offset just wasn't enough, and I couldn't put thick enough spacers on and have and stud left.

 

Moved the tires back to the stock wheels. put the adapters on...torqued in steps to 110lb/ft. Put the wheels on and did the same stepped torque. I marked the studs and lug nuts with a paint pen. I won't be taking it apart for pictures this time around.

 

Now if I can bring myself to get the painting done, it will be ready to drive again. Believe me, several short slow trips and rechecking torques everywhere. I bought a screen room popup. That's my "paint booth" to keep "things" out of the paint. It's been getting colder here, for San Diego, but hopefully there are a few more days over 70 so I can paint. It's always the things that I've never done that take the longest for me to get started with. Gotta get over that.

Edited November 4, 2022 by lostviking

[Solga]

1 hour ago, lostviking said:

It's always the things that I've never done that take the longest for me to get started with. Gotta get over that.

Oh how I know that feeling ! I had all the materials to replace a small section of our roof, and it took me way longer to get started on it, than it should have.  Ended up placing a tarp over it, until the wife got on me enough to fix it. ?

[lostviking]

Hello everyone. It's been a very long time since I did anything worth speaking about on the truck. Mainly just needs painting done, so winter stopped all that.

 

There was one other thing I've wanted to do, since I did the brake upgrade. The previous owner spliced countless short lengths of brake line, all 1/4 in to plumb the truck. I had already replaced all of it, except one length that led back to the rear. It too was multi-piece, and for some reason, he did about three crazy "S" bends in the tubing. I guess he didn't want to just cut it to the proper length, but then nothing else he did to the brake lines was right, so why not.

 

I checked to make sure I had the correct flare nuts, then straightened out a sufficient length of 3/16 NiCop. I pulled all the old line out and sent it to it's just resting place, then fed the new line into the stock location, and securing straps. I had to open them a bit to get the old out, and left them like that.

 

I pulled the line out the side up front so I could work easily and put a nice double flare on it. Secured that to the PV2 proportioning valve, and slipped the line into the securing clips along my way to the back.

 

Bending the line along it's path, I made sure I had enough line, then cut it to length. This time I had to lay under the truck, but no big, I put another flare on the line and secured it also. By this time brake fluid was just starting to drip from the master to the end of the line.

 

I'll top the master and let it gravity fill for awhile, then go back out and bleed the brakes. Hopefully one last time.

 

Spring is coming, I've got everything I need to paint...just  need good weather. I even bought a popup screen room to paint the fender inside.

 

Enjoy the weekend. Mine has been good so far.

Edited March 4, 2023 by lostviking

[lostviking]

Crawling along the floor a bit more, towards the finish line. Went out and bleed the brakes today. As I suspected the garbage brake line install by the PO, with all the nice "s" bends, was probably trapping air. With the new straight single piece, I was able to get a firm pedal just pushing with my hand. Check.

 

I also got the last two tires put back onto the Dodge wheels. I'll just sell the Jeep ones. I put the adapters back on, torqued to 110 ft/lbs, then the wheels torqued to the same.

 

Now I just need some dry air to paint, oh, and more work on the running board. It fits, but it's a bit wavy.

 

Good Saturday to all.

[lostviking]

Well I finally have some warm dry weather, so for better or worse...the cab got painted today. This time I mixed the paint properly

 

I masked off well outside the painting area, then put a tack coat on. Waited 10 mins, then a wetter coat. Step and repeat through 4 full coat and the 10 oz of paint I mixed up.

 

I'm going to let it sit for a few hours, then remove the masking. I'll see about 600, 1000, 3000 wet sanding next weekend.

 

It's heavier near the bottom and gets thinner going up. By the level of the gas filler the blue was never sanded through, so I'm hoping it feathers while I'm sanding. The whole truck needs a paint job, so I'm just trying to get it good enough to drive around in.

 

Cheer.

 

 

Edited April 8, 2023 by lostviking

[Los_Control]

I love it!

[RodFru2u]

Looks like a great job, Here's hoping you can get the truck back in the wind before summer.

 

[lostviking]

Thanks. I'm learning from my mistakes, even though I did just learn...I think the last "wet coat" wasn't thick enough. I think I was too paranoid about causing runs, so the surface was never wet enough to flatten out. I'm guessing, but I think that's what happened. I believe I've got more than enough paint thickness to sand it smooth, but it I end up having to spray again I'll get it right that time for sure.

 

The wife likes the color, which has a definite violet tint to it. I'd rather it didn't and better matched the truer blue color on the truck. I wish I knew for sure how to mix something to get that violet to go away. But then as I keep saying, the whole truck needs to be painted again to get it really looking good. So this is all just school for me.

 

Anyone know how to get rid of the violet? Maybe mix some other colors into what I have to tone it down?

 

Enjoy for Easter everyone.

[lostviking]

I've got the running board pretty much back to shape, but that outer face...it isn't going back into shape without some creative thought.

 

So I bought a contour gauge and measured the shape of that face. The "fingers" on the gauge are .0515 inches thick. I sat at my desk with a caliper and measured those guys and entered the dimensions into Solidworks, then drew a spline along the dots. I got a coworker to 3D print a test piece for me.

 

 

 

After testing it on my good side, I'll create the inner shape by offsetting this pattern the thickness of the metal (.080). Then I'll send out a have some metal ones made. My intent is the make a die and anvil about 1 inch wide. I'll build a heavy duty press and use a 7000 lb jack to press the shape back into the metal. The ones you can buy new don't have the shape on the outer edge, they are just smooth. Not good enough. Maybe I'll sell them the design later

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by lostviking
finished the text under the picture.

[Veemoney]

Nice to see the truck has some paint on it. Be interesting to see how close it blends color to color once you get to sanding. The die profile should get the floorboard back to presentable condition.

[Young Ed]

Wow that die system should be great. Mine could use some pressing too

[lostviking]

Went out to start the wet sanding and found out two things. First the only disks I had started at 1500, second they are dry disks Ya, I used a couple anyway. I did some 600 hand work also, but my arms get tired fast. I switched to the air tool, and it still worked OK, but you can imagine it takes a bit more time. I could have finished it all up using the dry disks and just let them fall apart (the velcro backing separates from the sandy side), but instead I ordered some 5 inch disks from Amazon. They will be here tomorrow. If I get them early enough, I'll continue.

 

I did get one of the transitions blended enough to see what it will look like. You see the difference well enough, but I can live with it for now.

 

Still trying to get the contour of the running board duplicated. It's harder than I thought to measure the points on the contour gauge. I think I'll just take the gauge to work and ask the QC guy's to measure it with the digital measurement system we have. It does 3D, so they should be able to give me the contour plot.

 

Have a great Saturday everyone.

[lostviking]

Went out to wet sand today. What I proved is I'm not so good at doing that with my orbital. I tilted it accidentally in a couple places and now see primer half moons. I also had one high spot, primer again. Kind of bummed, but I can touch it up when I do the fender I guess.

My bigger concern was the mismatch in colors and what that would look like. I was sure I had 5 inch foam pads, maybe I do somewhere, but I couldn't find them. I used a 3 inch pad on my drill instead. I used only Maguiars 105 Ultra compound so far, just so I could see what the transition looks like. In this picture, the color transition is about an inch or so above the yellow line. It's not as bad as I feared. In fact, it's not bad at all. It seems to show up a lot more in the picture than in real life, because I wasn't sure looking at it, but in the picture I could see the transition and the need to smooth it better.

Anyway, I have 5 inch pads coming as well as more compound. I think it will be very presentable, even with my limited skills.

Everyone have a good Saturday.

 

 

[Veemoney]

Nice to see some color on it. Progressing but I can't tell how well it matches to you get some shine to it.

[lostviking]

After getting something to eat and resting a bit, I went back out. It won't match. The area's I just did are getting direct sun, and it's pretty easy to see if you are looking. The truck has had a 20 foot paint job since I bought it, so I'm OK with the mismatch, until I can get the whole deal painted. That isn't at the top of my list of ToDo's though.

Presentable and not gonna rust up due to only primer are my goals. Then some behind the wheel time for a change.

 

I'm still undecided which shade I like better, but then I do have that gallon of the new stuff

[lostviking]

I had the day off today, so school was in session again. The lesson was why you can't "fix" a bad spray. Because you can't. Long before I got the pebbles cut down, I ran out of paint in spots. I suppose I could have tried to touch that up, but reality struck, and I put a 320 disk on the orbital.

I didn't take all of it down to primer, but I did expose enough getting the pebbles to disappear, the the only recourse is another spray. I hope I learned something the first time, we'll see :). I'll make that final coat a smooth shinny one, so I can wetsand it lightly and then go to compound. Yes, it's harder than it looks, so those of you who are good at paint, my hats off.

Call it ego, but the places I spray I want to look better than the old paint job. I think I know I was just too paranoid about runs, so I put the paint coats on too thin. It's probably easier to get rid of a run that smooth the gravel over the whole thing.

Failing forwards

Edited April 24, 2023 by lostviking

[lostviking]

Mixed up some more paint, masked off and sprayed. One extreme to the other...too slow, or too close, runs. Then I panicked and decided I could use the tip of a folded paper towel, you know where that led.

 

I got four pretty heavy coats on. It's the area of the cab right under the door and the bottom 6 inches or so of the door. I'll see what happens when I go to wet sand. If I can flatten it out that would be great, if not I'll be going for lesson three next weekend.

 

If you learn by screwing up, I'm becoming a scholar.

[kencombs]

If the runs are still a little soft, dent with a fingernail, try shaving off with a razor blade.  A little tape on the very ends of the blade will keep it from gouging.  Works much better than depending on sanding.

[Dave72dt]

If sanding a run, use a block.  A short section of a paint stick works well for this.  Finger pressure on sandpaper only will burn through the surrounding paint before the run is gone.  Sandpaper can cut really fast when the paint is fresh so be gentle and check your progress often. I've had reasonable luck with a razor blade when paint is 1 or 2 days  old and more of a dragging or scraping motion than shaving.  A nib file may also be another option.

[lostviking]

I was able to sand the drops out without damage. I used hard rubber blocks and 320 then 600. Surprised I didn't mess it up. One thing is for sure, at some point "a mans gotta know his limitations". Paint is definitely mine. It is better than the old paint, mostly I've got transition lines between the paints, but I never expected that not to happen. I need to use some more swirl remover on the door, and do the section of the cab right under the door. But it's going to end up having to be "good enough" until I can afford to pay someone who knows what they are doing to repaint the whole truck.

 

The reflection looks dull, but it's mostly the garage floor, as you can see by the bottles and my pant leg. I know I can shine it better, but I've decided it's good enough to drive again...once I finish below the door...oh, and paint the fender in the bed. Nobody will be calling me Rembrant.

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by lostviking

[lostviking]

I have on occasion been able to finish a paint job well.

 

 

[Los_Control]

You all good Lost .... just way ahead of many including myself.

Too get that shiny paint you need lots of prep work. Many can not even imagine .... or care the amount of time to achieve it.

 

Me,  I'm sorry the color match was not to your liking ..... I get it .... swing & a miss. .... against a professional pitcher.

 

I can only imagine how difficult it is to get custom paint mix to match with a old custom weathered custom paint job.

 

What you are doing is great work, nobody expected you to do better .... There are a few here that can hang with you in custom paint .... Not me.

 

I love the job you are doing .... not many know or understand the effort it takes.

[Veemoney]

7 hours ago, lostviking said:

It is better than the old paint, mostly I've got transition lines between the paints

It looks good and straight and you got paint on it, that meets your goal for now. Time to get the fender and floorboard done before it gets to hot to paint. Most painters see area defects in their paint jobs where others don't. Another thing that helps is when it is assembled. The more pieces you put on the less you notice any particular area in many cases. Right now your looking at the repair on the door and lower but once the fender and floorboard is painted and mounted you won't notice it as much with other parts mounted is my guess.

[Dave72dt]

Transition lines are hard to disguise but placement of them will help considerably.  I would have chosen the body line directly above the door handle.  Having panels fore and aft of the repair makes a color blend difficult also.  Pros would have had a tough time blending as well.