55.2-59 57 Fleetside C4 build

[dsraven]

nice job. looks great. curious, are the lower rear cab corners inner and outer or just the outers? hard to tell in the pics and they are so smooth.

[Jason 56]

Looks great! I’m anticipating seeing color. We are both at the same point in our builds. If all goes well for me I hope to paint my cab today. Keep up with the progress pictures.

[57FleetsideC4]

Originally Posted by dsraven

nice job. looks great. curious, are the lower rear cab corners inner and outer or just the outers? hard to tell in the pics and they are so smooth.

Thanks for the comment. I did inner and outer cab corners. Steve

[youngrodder]

Great job is all looks very sanitary....

Marc

[notsolo]

Truck is going to be spectacular, your skills are showing....Drivetrain is awesome..also impressed with how clean your shop is.... Very nice...Ed

[57FleetsideC4]

Originally Posted by notsolo

Truck is going to be spectacular, your skills are showing....Drivetrain is awesome..also impressed with how clean your shop is.... Very nice...Ed

Thank You. I am trying build a decent truck to drive and enjoy. Steve

[Kevin_C]

in the home stretch. Looking good

[57FleetsideC4]

Originally Posted by Kevin_C

in the home stretch. Looking good

Still a long, long ways to go. But all the really hard work is done. Steve

[dsraven]

check around locally, maybe you can find a rental spray booth and you could paint it there and assemble it for spring. then DRIVE IT!

[Jason 56]

Looking great, really clean lines! I can relate to the weather problem. Solvent pop occurred when i cleared my cab. Garage was too cold. I painted again last weekend when it was 20 degrees here. Garage is heated, but fumes in the attached garage were a concern. Only did the box steps as a trial run. The obnoxious fumes didn’t get into the house so I’m going to continue spraying. Your spray booth looks similar to mine I’m going to respray my cab next weekend. At least in the winter the humidity is lower and I don’t get any bugs in my spray booth

[dsraven]

I'm really hoping you guys are considering respiratory safety. No project paint job is worth your health. A rental paint booth would be cheap compared to health bills. I found a breathing air system for cheap in the local online classifieds. I put it outside for fresh air and run a hose to my mask.

[57FleetsideC4]

Originally Posted by dsraven

I'm really hoping you guys are considering respiratory safety. No project paint job is worth your health. A rental paint booth would be cheap compared to health bills. I found a breathing air system for cheap in the local online classifieds. I put it outside for fresh air and run a hose to my mask.

I have been looking around to rent a booth. I have plenty of friends in the buisness but hate asking because they are trying to make a living but will see. The hard part is getting all the pieces moved. Still a ways to go before paint.
I am still trying to figured out the best way to paint the cab. Inside first then mask and leave a hard line somewhere in the door opening? Steve

[OKGMC4]

I just did this. Did outside first, then masked off and painted inside. Paint on doors hidden by weatherstrip. Paint lines in cab kept sharp by using 3M vinyl pinstripe tape, then masking to it.

[57FleetsideC4]

Originally Posted by OKGMC4

I just did this. Did outside first, then masked off and painted inside. Paint on doors hidden by weatherstrip. Paint lines in cab kept sharp by using 3M vinyl pinstripe tape, then masking to it.

Thanks for the suggestion. I am painting the inside the same color as the outside. I like where you taped it off the inside and may do that then sand and buff the hard line. It boils down to which is easier to mask the inside or the outside. Lot of time to thing about it. Steve

[OKGMC4]

Originally Posted by 57FleetsideC4

Thanks for the suggestion. I am painting the inside the same color as the outside. I like where you taped it off the inside and may do that then sand and buff the hard line. It boils down to which is easier to mask the inside or the outside. Lot of time to thing about it. Steve

Ooohhhh. Gotcha. First time around I painted it orange inside and out, all in one hit. It was not very fun but at least I didn’t spend 5 hours masking that time!

[dsraven]

looks great.
I see you have masked off the frame etc but wondering if you have done it from the underside in the area around the rockers. when you spray the rockers there will likely be abunch of overspray because you want to get the bottom sides. that said, the overspray almost always finds it's way under the masking if it isn't covered from the underside of the frame as well. I would hate to see all that previous work covered in overspray. it would be a lot of work to clean it all up shiny again. a little extra work, I know, but prolly less in the long run if you mask it all off before you spray. possibly you have already and it is just hard to see in the pics.
one thing I do, before I spary colour, is shoot some wax and grease remover on the flat areas that will show any ripples in the bodywork. I set up a light at the far end of the project first, turn off the shop lights, and then shoot a little wax and grease remover on the project so it glistens like new paint would. any defects show up pretty quickly so you can look after them before the spendy paint gets applied. just a thought.

[dsraven]

I also try to remask the previous masking because it seems to always have a little dust on it that blows up onto the wet paint. another good reason to use painters masking paper over other stuff, like newspaper, as the raw paper tends to offgas paper fiber hairs. using the plastic works as well but be careful with removal is it tends to shed the oversprayed paint from the plastic as it is removed and that stuff sticks to the new paint job. sometimes I eemove the plastic while the paint is still tacky, and roll it as I go, so it sticks to the plastic and doesn't come off in chunks as the plastic bends when removing. I always do a perimeter of tape around the body and then stick the masking to that so it comes off easily and then the perimeter of tape comes off after that with no masking materials attached to it. thats just what works for me. more tape used but it's cheap enough compared to fixing a problem.

[57FleetsideC4]

Thank You dsraven for you comments and suggestions. I do have the underside masked off very tight so won't let overspray through. I will recheck my bodywork as I go through the painting but believe it is good. I do go through a lot of tape and always checking to see if anything is loose. Like you said tape is cheap. It will be pretty much down hill once painted and I can clean up my shop for the last time. Still trying to figure out if someone has a booth I can borrow. Looking forward to seeing it done. Steve

[dsraven]

I have painted stuff in my shop, as required, but even when the walls and shelves are masked off the overspray and dust clean up takes a lot of time. I used a 2x4 frame with furnace filters stapled on, the hanging furnace filter type, and put that in the garage door opening, then let the door down on top of that. then removed the windows and covered the openings in the same way-minus the wooden frame- then placed a fan outside the windows to get some ventilation going. I wet the floor down and squeegee'd it off so the floor dust is down to a minimum prior to spraying. I use a supplied air full face mask with the compressor outside in the fresh air (upwind). I use a tear away mask cover so if it gets overspray on it I can tear it off and stick a new one on. I have some smooth hardboard scraps usually stuck to the wall somewhere so I can check my spray gun pattern before spraying. I have several air dryer methods and a air supply hose large enough to supply constant pressure with no pressure drop once the gun is actually spraying. this is a common problem with home spray painting, the air supply lines are too small and the gun quick connect is also a restriction so when you give the gun a shot to check the pattern it looks good but a few seconds of constant spraying and the air pressure at the tip is too low so the pattern changes. a pair of disposable coveralls and lots of rubber gloves with a easily accessed garbage can is a must as well. I usually have a gun mixed up and another paint cup full ready to go before I start spraying. then hope there is no problems. when doing the wax and grease remover it is important to use clean, dry, not laundered with a dryer sheet, painting rags and use lots of grease remover with lots of rags so you don't wipe contaminants from one spot to the next. then allow the whole thing to flash off dry before you spray. otherwise it will be a mess because the grease remover is like a contaminant to the paint. trust me on that one. use the correct reducer for the shop temp and mix according to the instructions. a viscosimeter would be great but I don't have one and haven't had much of a problem over the years. I have sprayed a lot of cars and truck, equipment, motorcycles etc. most of them in my shop. I am lucky enough to have a paint booth available in Calgary but it isn't the cleanest place around. I try to get the last booth times for the day so it can sit in the booth overnight and then I gotta arrive right at opening so I can get it outta there.

[57FleetsideC4]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have painted complete cars in my shop. I spend a lot of time cleaning, taking all the lights down and cleaning, vacuum the walls, take everything on wheels out of the shop the wash everything down. Once I get the top and inside of the cab painted I will paint in 2 batch's. The cab with doors on, fenders and hood then the bed will be second batch. I just have to be consistent so everything matches. Steve

[dsraven]

yeah, especially tough when doing a metallic paint as it blushes so easily if doing shortl passes. it's good to do a long pass, covering fender, door and out to rear of cab. that way there isn't a double layer at the overlap of the fender to the door. it does make it harder to get the passes in a nice long straight line though.
I have shelves in my shop about 18" down from the ceiling and I store milk crate style bins up there. I have pegboard below that with tools hanging. when I paint i usually hang plastic from the cieling down to the floor and staple it to the baseboard area. that way all that stuff is covered. it does get a little iffie when a gust of wind blows and the plastic tends to billow up. I also hang a tarp over my toolbox so if I need a tool in a hurry, like the paint gun has problems or an airline has issues etc, I have easy access. I store a lot of stuff in lateral filing cabinets so those are easy to plastic off. on a dry day I will wet down the lawn outside the shop and also the dirt alley behind the shop doors. I usually spray the furnace filters a little as well, so the dust will stick to them easier.

[dsraven]

always good to clean those overhead door tracks before starting too, they hold dust that only drops when you're painting something, haha.

[57FleetsideC4]

Originally Posted by dsraven

always good to clean those overhead door tracks before starting too, they hold dust that only drops when you're painting something, haha.

Thanks, I try and vacuum, blow out everything as best I can. Steve

[57FleetsideC4]

Made some more progress on the truck. Got the roof, dash, glove box, ash tray and the second color on the dash. Now to paint the rest of the inside of the cab. Slowly making progress. Steve

[OKGMC4]

Looks really good!