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Old 03-17-2024, 12:25 AM   #4
Greg58
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Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Valley, NE.
Posts: 997
Re: New To Me '03 Tahoe

I watched the video that Hatzie posted, my fear is that is a temporary solution at best.
I bought a 2007 3500 Chevy Express van on an online auction a few years ago, for a very reasonable price because it had white falling off paint. What attracted me to it was a solid rust free body and a 6.0L, 4L80 drive line.
It was one of the worst I had seen as far as how much paint loss it had. When I would wash it at a spray car wash the flakes would fly off and litter the floor! My solution was to strip all the paint off, first with plastic scrapers because I didn't want to lose the green primer that was still adhered pretty well. I tried 3M eraser wheels, abrasive plastic wheels for an angle grinder etc. Progress was very slow. The best thing was a wire cup brush on a 4.5" angle grinder. I used light pressure and didn't stay in one spot too long, I was surprised to find that the green primer is really tough and hard to grind through. I then primed the whole van with additional primer and a roller!
My idea was to paint the van with White bed liner. I bought a Raptor tintable kit in the same white as my van. This solved my dilema about what to do about the white door jambs. The kit came with a spray gun, you mix color and hardener into the 1 liter bottle and go to town! I did the roof first and learned how to spray the stuff, then worked my way around. I had misjudged how much I would need and had to buy a second kit. All in all it turned out pretty good, the bedliner surface has held up well, and the truck sits outside most of the time. In hindsight I should have bought a real spray gun instead of using the basic cheap thing that came in the kit. The most time consuming part was masking off windows all around, removing tail lights and plastic trim. I will find a pic to post later.
Greg
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1970 GMC Sierra Grande, 2500 133" wb, 402, 4spd.
2007 GMC 3500 SRW 4x4, Crew cab, Duramax/Allison. (Sold}
1987 Chevy Suburban 2500, Silverado, 2wd, 454, t-400
2023 Chevy Silverado LT 3500, crew cab, longbox, 4x4 Z-71 Duramax.
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