Huff's Green Turd

[huff75]

Had a little time after work so I started building some braces for my sliders. The cage is tied to the sliders so I figured that would be a smart idea.

[huff75]

Got some time to weld on some braces. They made a huge difference. Before I could stand on the end of the slider and see movement. Now they are solid.



A little paint on them.

[huff75]

Getting ready to paint this thing tomorrow. This is my first paint job and its on the cheap. The plan is to wet scuff it with red scotch bright pads, rub with acetone, mask it, prime and paint.



This is what the guy at the store said I needed to prime over factory paint.



He also said a quart would do the cab, hood and fenders?
Anyway I know the "OD green" thing has been done plenty but I like it and it will be easy to touch up. Any advice on my first paint job?

[charlie2tight]

Make sure you overlap some when spraying. You dont want tiger stripes.

[THEWHITEZOMBIE]

Originally Posted by charlie2tight

make sure you overlap some when spraying. You dont want tiger stripes.

x2

[huff75]

Started early this morning. Wire wheeled some last small rust spots and loose paint. Then I hit every inch with the hose and scotch bright pads. I used the air gun to blow out a lot of old crud from the windshield trim. It took multiple washes but it all came out and was scuffed good so I masked it up.



I rubbed it down with acetone and then layed down the sealer. It was actually a cool battleship gray.



Then it was time for the color. It was way too thick for the spray gun so I had to reduce it with a 4 to 1 ratio but it went down nice.



I'm pretty happy with the result. There are a couple of runs and about 100 bugs buried in my paint but for $80 bucks it was nevery going to be a show finish anyway. Now on to the outer tube!

[THEWHITEZOMBIE]

"Good enought for who its for" always tell myself that Looks great man

[FordX4-offroad]

will you paint mine for me?

looks good seriously.

[huff75]

Thanks guys. Still not really close to being done but figured I'd paint it now instead for trying to paint around a bunch of tube. I guess I need to build the propane tank mounts and get some tube going again. My posts have been fairly bland lately so I'll try to do better!

[Black Sheep]

any reason why you didnt cut the rockers higher? I've been measuring and looking on mine and i think i can get away with cutting them almost to the bottom of the door hinge.

[huff75]

I could have but where I cut them was what I thought a good compromise between clearance and work to get that clearance. You can go to the bottom of the hinge but you are getting into additional sheetmetal work that I was too lazy to do. Also how I build my sliders they just come straight out from the frame. I just didnt think the added work for a few inches was worth it.

[5BrothersFabrication]

When I welded tube anywhere close to the body, I used a piece of aluminum to slide in between the body and tube. For one, aluminum dissipates heat very well, so it saves you from blistering the paint, and two, it keeps you from getting alot of spatter and burn marks on it. DEFINITELY cover up your glass! Lots of little spots left in mine, but it's coming out anyways.

[crawlwalkcrawl0331]

nice build. any plans to protect that classic body?

[huff75]

Originally Posted by 5BrothersFabrication

When I welded tube anywhere close to the body, I used a piece of aluminum to slide in between the body and tube. For one, aluminum dissipates heat very well, so it saves you from blistering the paint, and two, it keeps you from getting alot of spatter and burn marks on it. DEFINITELY cover up your glass! Lots of little spots left in mine, but it's coming out anyways.

Yeah that will be a new challenge. Before I didnt really care what happened to it because I was going to paint it. I was writing measurements on it with a sharpie etc. I will have to come up with somthing cause I dont have a piece of aluminum sitting around.

[huff75]

Originally Posted by crawlwalkcrawl0331

nice build. any plans to protect that classic body?

Not really. The fenders and hood has quite a bit of rust holes and I dont really care if they get crinkled. The doors will be set up to come off when wheeling so they wont get beat as bad.

[5BrothersFabrication]

Originally Posted by huff75

I will have to come up with somthing cause I dont have a piece of aluminum sitting around.

$10 at Home Depot. Or the side out of an old fridge? Piece of tin roof?

[huff75]

Oh I have somthing I can use. Just have to look around.

[huff75]

Only had a hour or so today so I worked on a smaller project and started the side tube things for the sliders. Still have to add some braces for the center but its a start.

[huff75]

Finished it up. Got to make the other to match then I will get em welded on.



Also got the bottle brackets for the propane tanks orderd so when they come in I will get their mounts built and continue the outer tube.

[robn69]

Looking NICE!! Keep up the good work!

[Sherb]

Nice. Sliders appear to double as useable, sturdy steps w/o sacrificing ground clearance. Love it! Going to have to think about something along those lines down the road. Never cared much for the aluminum rocker mount steps that are on my rig at the moment.

*edit* So I just realized the tubes are likely going underneath (saw a pic of set installed in the '79 Ford build thread), not off to the side like I was envisioning in my mind. Haha, so much to learn. Though what I was envisioning would probably work for my needs. Back to lurking/learning.

[huff75]

Originally Posted by Sherb

Nice. Sliders appear to double as useable, sturdy steps w/o sacrificing ground clearance. Love it! Going to have to think about something along those lines down the road. Never cared much for the aluminum rocker mount steps that are on my rig at the moment.

*edit* So I just realized the tubes are likely going underneath (saw a pic of set installed in the '79 Ford build thread), not off to the side like I was envisioning in my mind. Haha, so much to learn. Though what I was envisioning would probably work for my needs. Back to lurking/learning.

Nope your first thought was correct. Finished the second one today. Also got the main hoop to the exterior tube mounted today. I got the driver side thingy on but I ran out of shield gas so I couldent mount the other one. I think it sticks out kinda far but it should help keep the cab from getting destroyed.

[SAY789]

I think they look great man. truck is turning out killer!!

[Sherb]

Yep, that's pretty much what I had going through my head. I may look into the feasibility of extending the bars back along the bed to provide more access to the lumber rack.

[huff75]

Originally Posted by SAY789

I think they look great man. truck is turning out killer!!

Thanks. Hopefully I will have time friday to go get more shield gas. Then if my tank brackets are here I can get the other slider tube on and build the mounts for the brackets.