88towmanche Posted April 8, 2019 Author Share Posted April 8, 2019 Shout out to Krustyballer - got one of his hitches last week & dropped off powder coat, should have back today or tomorrow. Paint shop now says truck won't be done until next week.....good thing it's not the DD yet....turns out the painter none too happy about pulling the fender flares and the resultant snapping of 90% of the studs - he's going to fix with stainless hardware, but adds time to the project (and wants to up the $$$ for the hassle) - still coming in under budget so I agreed to a 20% bump - he also found a couple more dings that I missed and I think is frustrated with the hassle of pulling 30 yr old door panels to get the handles and locks off...his quote was really low to begin with and the guy does quality work...lol I told him that for extorting the extra $$$ he should double the number of coats of clear Question about that rear bumper - I was just going to rattle can it flat black, but now thinking I could take it apart, sand blast it and drop it off for powder coat to match the hitch. Don't have a blast cabinet, but do have a cheapo HF spot blaster and a big 80 gallon compressor - could strip that down to bare metal pretty quick, will have to see what the powder coat guys think... Or...what about having the shop paint the rear bumper to body match like the front? Anyone do that with a rear step bumper - think it would look ok? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 What's the best stuff to clean up the bumper end caps? Mothers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 pretty sure mother's Back to Black is what my pop uses on his Jeep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share Posted April 16, 2019 Still waiting on getting truck back from paint - did get Krustyballer's hitch back from powder coat - that is one nice piece of work - thanks again Krusty! Pulled apart the rear step and was going to try and strip it (also for powder coat) - used a Harbor freight spot blaster and 25lbs of blast media - got about 1/8 of the bumper stripped, made a hell of a mess and lost 2hrs of time - now think I'll leave stripping it to the pros - it's weird, part of that bumper almost looks like it was blue at one time, but think what is on there now may be powder coat or one hell of a tough paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHMJXJ Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 On 4/10/2019 at 12:56 PM, 88comanchesurvivor said: What's the best stuff to clean up the bumper end caps? Mothers? I used a heat gun, then Harley's leather care on the side moldings on my XJ. They look new and have held up to New England winters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 Back from paint. Good coverage - said they used over a gallon of clear - got some issues where they didn't finish buffing out, still going over the whole truck, may take it back in to have them address a few things or may just take care of myself. Rear step came out ok with rattle can - Krustyballer hitch lined right up and bolted right in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 Rattle can step with Krusty hitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rylee144 Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 Wow that looks great. My truck needs paint as well and is the same color as yours. Hope this is the year I can get mine done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 Rattle can front bumper, grill and bezel Think I am going to plasti-dip all the emblems black and just go with the whole truck Black n Blue - maybe not the rims, not sure I want that look. Can see where the paint shop did a piss poor job buffing out the clear coat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokieMJ Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 Congrats on the paint job. That is looking really sharp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted April 29, 2019 Author Share Posted April 29, 2019 Using plastidip to on the badges & emblems - like the black n blue look on this rig. Thinking it might look good with the black molding back on after the paint hardens another couple weeks - maybe not, like how it looks now. Next up: bedliner - Rhino or Linex? (not of fan of the DIY bedliners - seen some ok ones, seen a lot of bad ones) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDJeep89 Posted April 29, 2019 Share Posted April 29, 2019 Have you looked at Raptor Liner? It's sold on Amazon and it's a DIY spray on bedliner. It comes with a Schutz gun too. I know a few people who have it and it looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted April 29, 2019 Author Share Posted April 29, 2019 3 hours ago, DDJeep89 said: Have you looked at Raptor Liner? Nope - will check it out, thnx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMO413 Posted April 29, 2019 Share Posted April 29, 2019 Raptor is made by Upol sand they make a very quality product. I have heard allot of good things about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJXJjeepguy Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 14 hours ago, JMO413 said: Raptor is made by Upol sand they make a very quality product. I have heard allot of good things about it. I have seen it myself and it really great product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted May 6, 2019 Author Share Posted May 6, 2019 Did a check run taking the boat down to the launch and back (did not launch) - truck really pulls the boat very well - didn't see speeds over 35mph as I had the canopy up on the boat, but this is going to be a nice set up. Have not wired up the trailer lights yet - going to do that in conjunction with all of Cruiser's tips on cleaning up the grounds and still have to swap out the factory cables with the set from Meanlemmons. Brakes are inadequate as they are for towing - they work fine, but need upgrade - going to do the booster upgrade out of a 95-96 XJ and see if that inspires a little more confidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted May 6, 2019 Author Share Posted May 6, 2019 Sold the old tow vehicle - had this F150 for last 10 years, both kids learned to drive using this truck - took the abuse in stride. 1996 Ford F150 - straight 6, 5 spd - base model (no headliner or carpet, crank windows and manual locks) but it had A/C and dual tanks - not a Ford guy but that was a damn fine truck, hated to sell it but need 4x4 for getting in and out of some of the launches around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ls2xjcomanche Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 Matches the boat well, looks good! Haven’t been able to get in touch with your paint guy yet but hoping to this month. I went with rhino liner and couldn’t be happier with the final result! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertRat1991 Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 On 4/22/2019 at 8:31 AM, 88comanchesurvivor said: Rattle can step with Krusty hitch Which rattle can paint did you use for the bumper? Is that a semi-flat finish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted May 6, 2019 Author Share Posted May 6, 2019 20 minutes ago, DesertRat1991 said: Which rattle can paint did you use for the bumper? Is that a semi-flat finish? Duplicolor for the bumper - think it was semi gloss (or satin) - will check the can tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted May 6, 2019 Author Share Posted May 6, 2019 32 minutes ago, Ls2xjcomanche said: I went with rhino liner and couldn’t be happier with the final result! Yeah, man I really liked how it looked on your truck - DIY Raptor has been getting a lot of good reviews, but not sure if I can block out enough time to do it right (prep is everything), going to get a quote on the Rhino and then weigh cost/benefit of having done vs. screwing it up myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted May 7, 2019 Author Share Posted May 7, 2019 22 hours ago, DesertRat1991 said: On 4/22/2019 at 8:31 AM, 88comanchesurvivor said: Rattle can step with Krusty hitch Which rattle can paint did you use for the bumper? Is that a semi-flat finish? Duplicolor Semi-Gloss Black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDJeep89 Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 I just Raptor lined the exterior of my TJ wrangler. I had about 50 hrs of prep time. I might have gone overboard on prepping but I wanted to make sure I got every nook and cranny. I went with a tintable and used Anvil as my tint. I think it turned out awesome. I spent $200.00 on the liner and about $40.00 on the tint. It was worth it to me and I saved a ton of money doing it myself. I still have to put a lot of parts back on it, but here's how it turned out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted May 8, 2019 Author Share Posted May 8, 2019 That is one cool looking tj ^^^^^^^ really like the color choice - talked about doing something like that with the mj, but got overruled by wife - got take these battles one at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88towmanche Posted May 8, 2019 Author Share Posted May 8, 2019 Shout out to Meanlemmons for the awesome cable set! Started the process of replacing the cables - did both the grounds off the battery which have been giving me trouble, replacing the stock one was straight forward, think I picked the wrong bolt for the second shorter lead - going to switch it from the bolt on the horizontal surface to the one on the vertical surface. Whole engine bay needs a lot of attention and clean up - still trying to figure out all the vacuum issues, the truck has factory cruise so it should have the football reservoir in the front bumper with 4 ports - there is one there, but it is the little round one with only 2 ports. The PO (or the PPO) cut the lines to that reservoir and threw a football shaped one (this one with only a single port) up on top of the motor - truck runs ok, but have no HVAC control - blower only comes through the defrost vents - usually a vacuum problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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