97 Tacoma Partial Restoration Engine/Paint

Congrats Bill! Not much longer bud!!!

 

There was a hint?????

 

Think that's enough Bill???? I know I know... I'm

 

Yeah, well if your truck was here getting WORKED ON I would be feeling better, but NOOOOOO....you are too busy coming up with cutsie little emoticons to post...lmao


Thanks though guys. I am excited, and can't wait to get her into the paint booth next!

 

HEY HEY HEY!!!!! I'm still getting the money together.... LOL Hoping to have it to you monday. Give you a call later today though.

 

No problem. Just having some fun at your expense. I am just happy as hell to get that truck running. Oil leak is taken care of, and I am hoping to get the final body repairs done and have her in primer/sealer by next Saturday.

 

congrats bill on the new motor glad you got it runing

 

Heck yeah! Sweet!

 

YAY!!! Bill, get it painted!

 

Well now that the engine has been completed and installed, it is time to get her into some primer and paint. First I want to list what has been done to the engine so far:

Rebuild lower engine (short block)
Brand new cylinder head (valves lapped and new seals installed)
New performance clutch, pressure plate, and release bearing
New spark plugs, plug wires, air filter, fuel filter
Radiator flushed out

All the mounts and bolt up points were inspected for wear and deemed in good shape. the water pump was not replaced, because the pump on the old engine is a lifetime warranty pump, and was replaced less than a year ago. It was inspected just to be sure, and the bearings and seal were tight and clean.



This is what she looked like before I got started on any of the work.....





Now it is time to get her prepped for paint. when changing the color of a vehicle there are a few things that must be decided on, and observed to get a nice, new, uniform color. First you need to decide how far you want to go with the color change. Many body shops that do a color change only paint the externally visible areas. This means that when you open to doors, trunk, or hood, you will still see the original color on the door jambs and such. Those $299 XYZcompany paint jobs? All they do is scuff up the original clear coat that you can see, then mask and paint. The inside areas do not get painted. What I chose to do was to go for a 90% complete color change. All of the window glass on the sides, as well as the weatherstrip, door panels, and door seals have been removed. although these CAN be taped off, I personally prefer to remove them, so that there will be no chance of accidental painting of the weatherstrips, and a full coverage of the part will be obtained. the only areas NOT getting paint will be the interior of the bed (which will be getting a spray in bed liner later) and the engine bay itself. I WILL however be painting the hood, and the fenders, including the area of the fender that is inside the engine bay. After inspecting with the engine out, the engine bay paint still looks nice and bright, with no signs of rust or scratches, so I will leave it as is.

Once you decide what is going to get color, you have to inspect for any body repairs needed. As you can tell from the photos, I had a lot of work that needed to get done. My youngest daughter rolled this truck onto the driver's side and a decent amount of damage has been repaired to this point. Other than that, there were different areas of the cab and bed that needed some attention from years of use. When doing body repair you have to take a few things into consideration: Will I be making a small 'ding' repair, or do I need to grind the area down to the bare metal for pulling or other repair? Why does it matter? Well depending on what type of repair you are making, you need to select your body 'filler' material. Typically you have "Bondo" which is actually a brand name, but typically is used for repairs when you have exposed the bare metal. Small dings that do not get sanded past the primer can be filled with 'polyester filler' which is easier to sand and work. You CAN obviously use Fiberglass filler, but I won't be going over that since I do not have any to demonstrate, and I won't be using any for the repairs here.

Why worry about which filler? Well, the typical 'Bondo' is designed for bare metal repairs, because it adheres to the metal best when the metal is totally bare. 'Bondo' may stick to a small ding type dent, but over time it tends to loose it's adhesion to the work, and eventually it can pop off. I've seen it happen. Polyester is best for small dings because it will adhere very well to the painted surface once it has been sanded and scuffed up. So why not use polyester for all the repairs? 2 reasons: One, polyester is about twice the cost, so you want to use it for small dings anyway. The other reason is that polyester filler resists water, but bondo does not. So if you have bondo on a bare metal repair, you want to make sure you do NOT wet sand that repair. The bondo will absorb the moisture, eventually transferring it to the bare metal, and inducing a slow rust-out from the inside. So if metal is exposed, or the dent covers a large area, use bondo, and sand/grind to bare metal, but if the dent is small and does not have any exposed metal, you can use polyester filler, and still can wet sand.

Next post I will be going over specific repairs, and prep work for primer, where we will discuss the different types of primers for the paint job.




This is where I will have the bed sitting when it is in the spray booth. The straps are only there to hold the bed in place while moving. Once in the booth and in position, the straps will be removed.




This is my nephew doing some of the initial wet sanding on the driver's side, before we removed the bed. The reason I chose to remove the bed is because with a total color change, I needed to access the back of the cab, as well as the front of the bed.

 

Looking good Bill!

 

Man, this thing is gonna be done up really nice once you're done. I can't wait to see the end result.

 

I know! I am excited too. The paint is going to be incredible! Got the Dodge Viper Blue Pearl, and two different metal flakes, .004" patriot blue, and .008" Cobalt blue. I can't wait to see this thing finished! Paint booth is almost ready!!!!

 

OK, small update. The lady that I am dating right now (YAY! I am dating again!!!) well I found out that she used to work for Dupont and can get me the high quality Dupont colors and clear coats. she even said that she will probably be able to get the color I want for FREE! Now yes, I already did order the paint as well as the clear coat, but being able to use Dupont brand is a big plus for me! This lady is awesome too! She can't wait for me to get the truck going so that she can go mudding with me, and she even loves Nascar! (she is really good friends with Tony Stewart, and said that before Jeff Gordon met Brooke, he had asked her out!) So this gal is like the female version of me, AND she is gorgeous!
Back to the truck, so the paint booth is now almost totally finished, and the truck is actually inside. The final touches of the body work are being completed, and she will hopefully be in primer by next week, and possibly in color by next weekend!









I took my sister's advice when she said that the interior would stand out really bad once the paint is completed, so I ordered a brand new carpet from Auto Custom Carpets, Inc.





They delivered FAST and It looks great and ready for installation. These people have great customer service, and helped me get the right match. I will be installing the carpet after the paint is completed. At this rate, when I get done this truck will look nearly show-room!

 

great job bill this build is coming along great cant wait to see the end result

 

Every time I check in here it gets cranked up a notch. Go go gadget resto.

 

so after it is all said and done. you gonna take it out with us or ride with someone????

 

He plans to wheel it. I already talked to him about that lol

 

why you gotta lie to everybody on the interwebz?

 

I will assume this is a "haha" lol