Automan2164 Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 So what happen to the farmer did i miss an update? Nope, my biggest hurdle is the body work, and it seems I only get the chance to mess around with it is in the winter. It is patiently waiting for me to grow the balls to start the body work... It's not going anywhere. Something this rust free just doesn't get sold.Rob :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXLMJ Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 darn, i was hopping i was going to have to head up your way and pick that truck back up. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted October 11, 2012 Author Share Posted October 11, 2012 Time to reopen this chapter. I finally have everything where I need it, The Diesel will be parked for the winter shortly, and I can spare some funds... I've been cleaning/organizing the garage and the little workspace I have to kick things off. First I am going to finish pulling the brake lines, the gearbox, and any clips. After that I am going to get the broken bolts out of the frame and bed, then tow the whole works over to the metal prep guys. There I will have them do the underside of the bed, the frame rails, the underside of the cab, the floor of the inside, and the engine compartment. Once that is done, I have a gallon of POR15 waiting in the basement. Stay tuned. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Great to see that you havent givin up on this! can't wait to see the progress :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Cool! Where you parking the diesel for the winter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 Cool! Where you parking the diesel for the winter? The Diesel will most likely just get covered and sit out in the driveway. Unfortunately, the garage is a one pony stall with all the junk in it. If I tried squeezing them both, I wouldn't have any room to work. Speaking of work:Tonight I had a buddy come over and help me get the bed off and up. I broke off a couple bolts when I took it off, so I needed to get them with the torch and persuade the rest out. Next with the bed off, I needed to get out the bolts that broke off while taking the bumper brackets off. Seems to be a trend here... I broke off three of them, but ended up only getting two out. The third didn't like the torch, and the nut came off the frame. Son of a. Well, it's out. Just going to have to weld in a nut. Somehow. Just happened to be the one farthest into the framerail. My buddy was at work getting the shocks off and helping out. Closer and closer... Hope to have it out there end of this week or the beginning of the next.Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 You did better than I with those bumper bolts. I snapped all of them on my 92, even with excessive heat. Nice work :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Had some time to get everything ready for the blaster this weekend while taking breaks from housework. I removed the brake lines, fuel lines, master, steering box, doors, and all the little things that needed to come off yet. Only things that could come off at this point would be the glass, hood, and suspension... I managed to save all the break lines, and most of the hardware. Now all that is left is to put the bed on with a couple bolts, and cart the works over to the metal prep place.Rob :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 It looks dayem good stripped down to parade rest - I'm surprised in not seeing more rust. So what happens at the metal prep place? I've never done anything like this and don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I think there's just something cool about stock wheels. I know in the past that you've said something about some Soft 8s and other such plain looking wheels, but have you ever put any thought into keeping the stock steelies and having them powder coated a nice graphite color? If you're still thinking to lift a bit and some 32s, some 32x9.50s would look all sorts of amazing all tucked under the fender flares. Just a thought... Good luck with the metal prep! It's a good looking truck but I'd still be terrified of getting nothing back but a box full of good steel patches and a garbage bag full of rust chips and dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 It looks dayem good stripped down to parade rest - I'm surprised in not seeing more rust. So what happens at the metal prep place? I've never done anything like this and don't know. It's basically just a company that does the dirty work for you. I wanted to sandblast the truck myself before applying POR15, but living in a residential area, as well as not having a compressor that could take a blaster chose to go this route. I will just drop off the truck to them, and from there, they roll it into their shop and blast away. I will be getting the frame rails, underbody, engine compartment, cab floor, and bed underside blasted so I can have clean canvas for the POR15. The rest will be sanded by hand before automotive paint. I assume they have a booth, which allows them to recycle the media, and they charge an hourly rate for services rendered. For sandblasting, I think it is $100 an hour. Having them do this for me saves me the mess, hassle, and noise complaints from the neighbors. The prep company also does baking soda blasting, powder coating, hydro graphics (Where they wrap metal with a baked on graphic), and general metal refinishing services. This is their website: http://www.metalprepservices.com/ I think there's just something cool about stock wheels. I know in the past that you've said something about some Soft 8s and other such plain looking wheels, but have you ever put any thought into keeping the stock steelies and having them powder coated a nice graphite color? If you're still thinking to lift a bit and some 32s, some 32x9.50s would look all sorts of amazing all tucked under the fender flares. Just a thought... Good luck with the metal prep! It's a good looking truck but I'd still be terrified of getting nothing back but a box full of good steel patches and a garbage bag full of rust chips and dust. I have thought about it Ben. I plan on doing a pinstripe on the truck when it's done. I had contemplated painting the wheels white to match, and duplicating the stripe on the lip. I wouldn't do soft 8's, but was thinking of these, wrapped in some re-treads. 285/75R16 Guard Dog MT's As for the blasting, I would hope that more comes back than a swiss cheese frame. The body is pretty solid so lets hold out hope for good things to come back. Like bare, shiny steel. Mmm... Steel. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 That makes perfect sense contracting out the sand blasting. That company does a lot of good things. I guess they exist, but I don't know of any outfit like that down here, except for marine applications. Even with little rust if you're doing a full frame-off resto it's for sure the way to go to see bright shiny metal. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 Well! Been super busy with getting my ducks in a row, cleaning the garage up for the arrival of a very stripped MJ, and getting all the parts together to take to my boss's house so he can teach me the finer arts of bodywork and paint.Last Friday was the day to take it to the blasters, so I called on a friend and a trailer. He showed up willing to work, and we got to it.First time it's seen the street in a long time! My buddy Steve and I stopping for a breather. (I'm on the right, winter beard time) It was about an hour drive through back country roads and little towns. It was going ok, when it dawned on me that we were going to pass a fellow 'Jeep Aficionado's' homestead. I like to tell people he's what I would be with land. He's got acreage, and it's nothing but Jeeps rusting away in the trees, waiting for their turn... Pickups, Wagoneers, CJ's, XJ's, Wranglers... And one MJ. I stopped by his house cold one day and we talked for hours. great guy. Anyway, I digress. As we were about to pass his place, I told my buddy about him, and to look as we pass. We were almost past his property when I saw him out raking. He looked up, stopped dead, and stared at the whole shebang rolling by at 60, as if he were trying to paint a picture of it from memory. I got a laugh, and about 2 minutes later I got a call... 'A truck that looks like yours just passed by my house behind a truck and trailer I don't know. Did someone steal your truck?' After a good chuckle, I told him what was going on. I also made it a point to demonstrate how nuts we Jeep guys are to my buddy... We were in the next county down some random back road and there was a Jeeper that knew who I was, that I was into MJ's, had my number, and most importantly, could tell what my truck looked like stripped down to the shell without any other clues like a familiar tow vehicle or trailer. You never know who might be watching... Hahahahahaha.My procrastination almost ruined the whole thing though, as I forgot to check when the blasters closed. I quick got on my phone and checked, in time to realize that we were on track to show up in a half hour, after they close. A quick call to them confirmed this. I asked if they might be willing to stay late, and they couldn't, because they had to pick up their kids. He told me Monday would be better, and to make plans for that. After telling him that we were already over halfway there with the truck in tow, he was gracious enough to shuffle things around.You would think that they would be kind of mad about my poor timing when I got there... NOPE! The two brothers that run the metal prep place were just as excited as I was to see it! And there it goes. I left it to them with my instructions, they seemed really excited about it, and told me to pick it up in a week. They quoted me 3 hours at $125 an hour, but pretty much figured they would have it done in 2. We will find out tomorrow.This also brings me to the current task at hand. Color. I've known I wanted to redo a white for awhile now, but bring it into the current century. The original "Olympic White" is more of an off white, and had more of a yellow hue to it. Almost cream. My boss is a self taught body guy who is going to help me paint the truck, and we started flipping through his stacks of paint chip books. I wanted to keep the color in the Jeep family, found a few nice whites from '96 but couldn't trust a small square on a page. I started google-ing the paint code for those years, when my boss pretty much asked what colors are available now, and that's when it hit me. I could just go down to the dealer and see what the current white looked like in person, and get the code right off the vehicle in front of me. Bam! I think I found the bright, crisp, into the 2000's white I was looking for. Let me introduce you to PW7 'Bright White'. Bright white on the close one, other is a pearl. And that's all I have for now! Picking up the truck to bring home tomorrow, and dropping off the doors, fenders, bed, gate, front clip, and flares at my boss's house after that! Ball is a rolling now! Rob . :MJ 2: . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Hope everything goes as well as it can! :popcorn: Nice shirt too... we must shop at the same store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I think the Bright White will look absolutely stunning on the ol' MJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knever3 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Darn facebook pictures :fs1: Wish I could see the pics!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 Today was the day. Got off a half day, rallied the troops, and headed out. While I was on my way home, I got a call from the metal prep place. He started by telling me that there was a problem. Yikes. The belt that fed the media back into the machine had broken, and he had to stop working. Thinking of the worst and the truck not being finished, I was a bit concerned. Then he laid the good part on me. He basically had the truck done, but was trying to detail the extra rough spots to ace it out. He told me that he was going to get the belt replaced and would get all the spots again Monday for no charge, but I was already cocked with all the borrowed truck and trailer. He said he understood, added that he may just be being picky, and told me to come and check it out.We got there to a pleasant sight. It turned out great. Other than a few spots here and there that he couldn't detail with the machine going down, it's all clean, rust free, grey metal. He did make a comment about some of the splotchyness of the frame, and how you can notice some shiny spots that seem to have a different shade. He said that it was most likely a galvanizing coating they probably dipped the frame into when it was made, and that he wished he had found more of it on the frames he does. It sounded like they seem to fair a bit better over the ones without. All the glass is perfect, even the windshield as they did a good job getting everything covered up. He was super concerned with me being happy about the job, and said I leave it or bring it back and he would spend however much longer it took to get it perfect at no charge. I kept telling him it was ok, and that I really liked the job but he insisted that if I should need any more blasting or something powdercoated, that I just bring it by and they would knock it out at no charge. All that on top of knocking $75 off the job... They are just some super nice guys that are determined to make sure you're happy. I would recommend them to anyone.I also managed to drop off all the body panels at my boss's place, and have him give me a quick run down. He's made some calls and thinks we could get the whole truck done with 2 quarts of paint. He wants to get everything sanded down to a good base, apply a sealer to keep the old paint underneath, some primer, then some base, finished off with a nice clear. A friend of his has a booth at his company's shop, and he plans on painting it there in pieces. Once all is said and done, he's going to show me the art of the cut and buff to get the paint to perfection. He seems pretty pumped to be tinkering with some paint again, I can't wait to learn it myself, and start spraying.To Harbor Freight for POR15 painting supplies!Rob . :MJ 2: . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 Had to get a picture of the garage in there before I destroy it in the madness. Last time it will look like this for awhile! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 Looks great! That's about as close as you can get to a frame-off resto with a Uniframe. :yes: One thing: I saw a Heineken sign in the garage. You don't actually drink that skunk stuff do you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 Wow, that brings back memories.... It just took me a little bit longer to accomplish with my cheap blaster..... Glad to hear they didn't find any surprises in the metal of the frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
500 MJ Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 Looks great Rob, get that bare steel painted as fast as you can! FWIW - Two quarts for the whole truck seems a bit light. I think that I bought a gallon of base and I might have had a quart of it left once I was done. I think I put about a gallon of clear coat on, I might be wrong, it was a long time ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 Ugh. Bought the stuff to clean up the frame where need be today at harbor. Picked up some flap wheels, rollock discs, foam brushes for the POR15, paint cups, moving blankets for moving the painted parts around, tarps to protect the garage floor... etc. I got the flap wheel mounted up and started going to town. It does a great job and makes really short work of the missed spots, but it was just on the edge of dark, my garage lighting sucks... And everywhere I went on the creeper, I managed to get caught up on the cord for the grinder, or the drop light... Anger ensued. I needed to walk away. I will continue tomorrow. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Looks great Rob, get that bare steel painted as fast as you can! FWIW - Two quarts for the whole truck seems a bit light. I think that I bought a gallon of base and I might have had a quart of it left once I was done. I think I put about a gallon of clear coat on, I might be wrong, it was a long time ago... This. All of it. I got a gallon to go over my Eliminator when I painted that and ended up with about a half quart left over. It'd go a little over them you can have some for touch ups in the future. Looks really good, Rob! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Well, he assumes that when we get it all mixed we will end up with over a gallon of prepped paint... We are buying a whole gallon, but he was trying to guesstimate how much we might actually use. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Been out spending waaaaayy too much time getting the areas missed that I shouldn't have to. So irritated. Deep breaths. Deep soothing breaths. I wanted to be able to have the Marine Clean on and hosed off, as well as the Metal prep on today to keep on schedule... Not looking like it. Sort of mad at the situation... broken belt at the blasters, no way to pick it up if I were to leave it, and an incomplete job. It doesn't help to think that it's going to start getting dark around 4 PM now, leaving weekdays pretty much shot. Sorry, just have to vent. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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