71 F250 Paint

[Blue Cloud]

After watching Keith's Rustoleum paint job I've decided try this on my 71 F250 4x4. I've been wanting do something with the paint sense I got the truck up and running and this looks doable. I'm going to try it on an 2 wheel trailer I made out of a 1972 camper special. The box is in fairly good shape, anyway a lot less rust than the box on my pickup. That way if I mess up, all I have is a funny looking trailer. My boys and I (20 years old and 14 years old) have spent the last week or so getting the box ready to paint, sanding and body work. I'll try to post some pics of the progress as we move along. First some pics of the box on the trailer with some of the body work done and the bare metal primered.

[Blue Cloud]

If the paint turns out OK on the box we'll start on the pickup cab and fenders. I'll need to find a different passenger fender or repair the one I got. Also the door bottoms are dented a little, no rust to speak of. Here's some pics of the doors and fender.

[Blue Cloud]

Just an update, or lack of one. My job has had me so busy for the last week, I haven't got any work done to speak of. Still have alot of sanding to get done. About all i did this week is remove the tailgate and hardware. I was going to remove the fuel tank filler tube and weld up the hole for the extra tank under the bed,( the tank from the 2 wheel drive won't work on a 4x4) but decided to leave it and maybe have a tank made later on. Hopefully I'll get some time this next week to finish up the prep and get started on the paint, and still need to order the rubber bumpers for the tailgate and rubber seal for the filler tube from LMC.
(so much to do and so little time! )

[Blue Cloud]

Finally got some time to get some work done on the bed of the trailer. I got the filler tube for the extra tank removed and the sanding done. Good enough anyway for me, it won't be a show truck by any means but good enough for back and forth to work and hunting trips. Also got the first two coats of Rustoleum on and I'm real happy how it turned out. Alittle orange peal but the hunter green color covered alot better than I thought after only the first two coats. I'll wet sand first thing in the morning before it gets too hot, then put down the second two coats. Heres some more pics.

[Blue Cloud]

Here's some pics of the orange peel. I feel real confident it will sand right out though. I might have had the paint mixed alittle thick, I used four parts paint to three parts mineral spirts(four dixie cups to three dixie cups). I'll thin it down alittle more on the next coat.

[shanmeg1]

Sand that layer smooth and subsequent layers will lay flat. You may have the paint too thick. Try adding more mineral spirits. Seems the humidity has alot to add to the mixing process. Here it is very humid so more mineral spirits are required to give the water consistancy of the paint and avoid the orange peel. I have found that after the second layer using 220 grit and 400 make sure this level is smooth before adding more layers.

[jzjames]

I have a opinion that whoever tries this paint technique is going to have to apply the coats of paint MUCH thinner. This deal is to get a fairly nice paintjob by trading off alot of work and patience against spending alot of $$$ to have someone paint your truck. Im pretty sure you want your coats of paint to be very 'watery' or thin. Just washes of paint, building up your color with 6-7-8-9 coats of thinned paint, wet sanding between each, and polishing the final coat as stated in the "unbelievable $50 paintjob".
Otherwise youre just going to get a rolled on paintjob. Just my take on this

[layedout72]

i think you need to make it a LOT thinner, you say you did a 4:3 paint to mineral spirits, my take on all of this is, you need way more than a 1:1, and maybe even 2:1 mineral spirits to paint.

[Blue Cloud]

Well I'm headed out the door to roll on the next two coats. I got anxious last evening and went ahead and sanded. Couldn't stand waiting any more. The paint had set up enough thanks to Wyoming's famous high temps and low humidity. Knew it was good for something. The orange peel sanded out pretty easily. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I had the paint too thick on the first coats, so I'll thin it down alot more this time. I'm not going to worry very much about the ratio, just more thinner than yesterday.

[shanmeg1]

Right
Jzjames the layers are real thin and opaque until you get to the cover coat about the 4th or 5th coat. Some other advantages are no overspray or special booths and with a lot of patience anyone can have a nice paintjob that will be hard to tell from a professional spray job. People look at my parts that I finished and have a hard time believing it was rolled. Newer methods from the moparts site now are using the roller with dry brush and Brightside Marine paint.

[Blue Cloud]

I got the second two coats of paint on this morning, mixed the paint alot more thinner for this layer. I didn't measure, but a little more spirits than paint. It went on real well on the flat surfaces but tended to run alittle on the vertical surfaces, which made me have to roll over them more than I wanted to, which caused some orange peel. Not as bad as the first coats, but some none the less. Anyway, I'm real happy with how this is turning out. The Rustoleum hunter green reminds me of the old Ford green, maybe alttle bit darker, but pretty close to what I wanted. I wet sanded after 6 1/2 hours (91 degrees w/ 17% humidity) and most of the orange peel came out. I probably could have got it all out but I wore out. Looks pretty good anyway. They are right when they say your trading labor for cash, I'd hate to pay somebody for all this work! I didn't get any pics taken but I'll get some tomorrow. Hope it doesn't rain tonight.

[Blue Cloud]

Got the final two layers of paint on this morning. I mixed the paint even thinner today and it seemed to work alot better. that and the extra sanding we did seemed to help a bunch. It flowed on way better and leveled out pretty good. The advice on thinning the paint out more helped. I'll post some pics later.

[Blue Cloud]

Well I finally found some time this week to finish the paint on the box. I think it turned out fairly good.(for a driveway paint job ) I still have a small amount of orange peel on the sides, but I can live with that. Not a show truck by any means. I could have wet sanded more and got it all out but looks alright. I've decided to do the front end later this winter if I can find a shop, otherwise I'll wait for next spring. Hunting season is getting close here in Wyoming and I don't want to scratch the new paint, although I think the Rustoleum is going to be really hard I'm sure it should cure for a few weeks anyway. Also I decided to do the inside of the box and I'm glad I did. Looks alot better. I removed all the loose paint ( wasn't much) then used a wire wheel on a 4 1/2 inch grinder, then sanded everything, wiped down with spirits and rolled the paint on. (three coats) Also didn't thin the paint down as much for the inside as I did on the out side.( about half & half) It came out almost as smooth as the outside. All in all, I'm real happy how this turned out, lots of work but fun.

[Blue Cloud]

Got pics when I'll post later.

[Blue Cloud]

Finally, T got some pics of the box. http://s96.photobucket.com/albums/l164/pettybone/