"Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration

[taskswap]

What paint and where from? I have been gagging at the cost of rattle cans..

It's basically all rustoleum - primer, color, and clear coat. Nothing special. I think I have a dozen cans of each. Which means it's not a $50 paint job. But it's also still way cheaper than even the most entry level Maaco gig...

[rcarlisle]

More mix of project fatigue and bad weather just making certain things impossible. But we had enough hours above 50F to do this:

It's a better pic than reality. I have plenty of rough edges here. But it'll do for a hunt truck, for sure.

1. Bondo and solder-fill holes as appropriate

2. 2 coats of primer

3. Wet sand to 320 grit

4. Wash and rinse

5. Two coats red

To do:

6. Wet sand again, add another coat of red

7. Tape/mask and add two coats white to center band

8. Wet-sand all

9. 3 coats of clear coat

$20 says I don't bother with the whole procedure over the whole truck...

You're going too far with the paint, I think. You say hunt truck, so if you want it red, scuff it, paint it. Then wet sand to get the majority of the dusties, trash, etc out of it. If you sand through, call it character. In a project like this, I bet at this point, the original beige is looking like a pretty good color. Just touch ups instead of entire repaint?

My truck was apparently Maaco'd at some point in dark blue. Over a disintegrating two tone Explorer scheme. I would love to have that Explorer theme back, but that's quite a bit of work. Still trying to figure out how I might bring back some hint of it's former glory. I like a survivor/rat kinda vibe, so I have plenty of options. And mine will never be a full restoration - just not what I want.

If you are serious about a hunt truck, then don't sweat the details - scuff it and paint it red. Heck you could probably paint it safety red industrial enamel with a roller and thinned paint and it look pretty good. $50 for a gallon would likely be cheaper than the spray cans. And I'd skip the primer altogether. Use the factory finish as the primer coat.

Your idea is looking good though. I remember as a younger man thinking that about the only color F100s were was red/white. So many red/white F100s. But they look dang good now. And any 2 tone is great in this age of white/silver/black trucks

[rcarlisle]

What paint and where from? I have been gagging at the cost of rattle cans..

Me too.

Check your signature. It's supposed to be Elyza right?

[Gary Lewis]

More mix of project fatigue and bad weather just making certain things impossible. But we had enough hours above 50F to do this:

It's a better pic than reality. I have plenty of rough edges here. But it'll do for a hunt truck, for sure.

1. Bondo and solder-fill holes as appropriate

2. 2 coats of primer

3. Wet sand to 320 grit

4. Wash and rinse

5. Two coats red

To do:

6. Wet sand again, add another coat of red

7. Tape/mask and add two coats white to center band

8. Wet-sand all

9. 3 coats of clear coat

$20 says I don't bother with the whole procedure over the whole truck...

I'll bet you continue the process of painting as you get better at it.

[taskswap]

You're going too far with the paint, I think. You say hunt truck, so if you want it red, scuff it, paint it. Then wet sand to get the majority of the dusties, trash, etc out of it. If you sand through, call it character. In a project like this, I bet at this point, the original beige is looking like a pretty good color. Just touch ups instead of entire repaint?

Practice.

The bulk of what I do is to learn things and acquire new skills. The truck itself is a by-product, not the goal. It's a good frame and good engine but let's face it, in Colorado a 4x2 carbureted rig is always going to be limiting. But I had fun and learned a ton. It'll serve me for a year or two then I'll almost certainly swap it for a 4x4 of some kind.

I've never wet-sanded anything before, nor buffed a clearcoat. Now I know how.

[rcarlisle]

You're going too far with the paint, I think. You say hunt truck, so if you want it red, scuff it, paint it. Then wet sand to get the majority of the dusties, trash, etc out of it. If you sand through, call it character. In a project like this, I bet at this point, the original beige is looking like a pretty good color. Just touch ups instead of entire repaint?

Practice.

The bulk of what I do is to learn things and acquire new skills. The truck itself is a by-product, not the goal. It's a good frame and good engine but let's face it, in Colorado a 4x2 carbureted rig is always going to be limiting. But I had fun and learned a ton. It'll serve me for a year or two then I'll almost certainly swap it for a 4x4 of some kind.

I've never wet-sanded anything before, nor buffed a clearcoat. Now I know how.

Good points. I'm learning that if I keep wetsanding my paint, it gets smoother and smoother - I'm on 800 grit last time on parts of it. Started with 320 and 400. Then 600 and 800. Might actually put the buffer on it next time and see if I can have a shiny spotty paint job.

Or I may do as you and LEARN more. For me it will be about patina paint. It will go out of style, but I will still like it most likely. I have found that a Rustoleum 2X color I have on hand is pretty dang close to the respray blue that is on the truck. Or I may try to mist on some metallic blues of the original two tone to give it just a hint of that color.

Fun things about these trucks is that you can learn so much and not really destroy the value. I like my 4 x 2 and try to NOT drive it in rain or foul weather. I have a fully insured newer FWD car that gets bad weather duty.

I have a theory that these trucks don't rust so bad if you aren't flinging a bunch of wet crap up under them. Mine is about 95% solid with only the smallest spots in the cab corners. There is a really solid truck I want to buy in tow that hasn't been driven in years. Just sitting in a driveway. And it has no rust I can see. It's that sky blue, so rust would show easily.

Keep learning. I'm certainly following this thread to learn as well.

[taskswap]

Good points. I'm learning that if I keep wetsanding my paint, it gets smoother and smoother - I'm on 800 grit last time on parts of it. Started with 320 and 400. Then 600 and 800. Might actually put the buffer on it next time and see if I can have a shiny spotty paint job.

Or I may do as you and LEARN more. For me it will be about patina paint. It will go out of style, but I will still like it most likely. I have found that a Rustoleum 2X color I have on hand is pretty dang close to the respray blue that is on the truck. Or I may try to mist on some metallic blues of the original two tone to give it just a hint of that color.

Fun things about these trucks is that you can learn so much and not really destroy the value. I like my 4 x 2 and try to NOT drive it in rain or foul weather. I have a fully insured newer FWD car that gets bad weather duty.

I have a theory that these trucks don't rust so bad if you aren't flinging a bunch of wet crap up under them. Mine is about 95% solid with only the smallest spots in the cab corners. There is a really solid truck I want to buy in tow that hasn't been driven in years. Just sitting in a driveway. And it has no rust I can see. It's that sky blue, so rust would show easily.

Keep learning. I'm certainly following this thread to learn as well.

Yeah absolutely. I think I have an additional advantage on the rust in that while Colorado has its challenges (harsh weather, high altitudes, super slick mud) one thing we have very little of is road salt. Hail is more of an issue than rust, to be honest, but one nice thing about these old trucks is they were made of stout stuff. I don't think Rocky ever saw a garage, let alone spent time in one, but there's not a dent on the hood...

[FuzzFace2]

You're going too far with the paint, I think. You say hunt truck, so if you want it red, scuff it, paint it. Then wet sand to get the majority of the dusties, trash, etc out of it. If you sand through, call it character. In a project like this, I bet at this point, the original beige is looking like a pretty good color. Just touch ups instead of entire repaint?

My truck was apparently Maaco'd at some point in dark blue. Over a disintegrating two tone Explorer scheme. I would love to have that Explorer theme back, but that's quite a bit of work. Still trying to figure out how I might bring back some hint of it's former glory. I like a survivor/rat kinda vibe, so I have plenty of options. And mine will never be a full restoration - just not what I want.

If you are serious about a hunt truck, then don't sweat the details - scuff it and paint it red. Heck you could probably paint it safety red industrial enamel with a roller and thinned paint and it look pretty good. $50 for a gallon would likely be cheaper than the spray cans. And I'd skip the primer altogether. Use the factory finish as the primer coat.

Your idea is looking good though. I remember as a younger man thinking that about the only color F100s were was red/white. So many red/white F100s. But they look dang good now. And any 2 tone is great in this age of white/silver/black trucks

X2 on too far for a hunt truck.

I think if I was using the paint you are I would have gone with roller & paint brush for the places the roller could not get to. Wet sand & buff should come out pretty good. Check Youtube for roller paint jobs.

Only time you need to prime is over bare metal you do not need to prime over the the color base that is on the truck.

Heck I did not do 2 stage on my 2 color (red & white) as it was way more work than I wanted to do. Painting it 3 times = red-1 white-2 clear-3 and if not done right would need to wet sand and buff NOT ME!

Mine is single stage and no wet sanding & buffing and it looks good. I did use auto paint.

Then again I knew how to do this so did not need the learning curve you did.

Dave ----

[rcarlisle]

You're going too far with the paint, I think. You say hunt truck, so if you want it red, scuff it, paint it. Then wet sand to get the majority of the dusties, trash, etc out of it. If you sand through, call it character. In a project like this, I bet at this point, the original beige is looking like a pretty good color. Just touch ups instead of entire repaint?

My truck was apparently Maaco'd at some point in dark blue. Over a disintegrating two tone Explorer scheme. I would love to have that Explorer theme back, but that's quite a bit of work. Still trying to figure out how I might bring back some hint of it's former glory. I like a survivor/rat kinda vibe, so I have plenty of options. And mine will never be a full restoration - just not what I want.

If you are serious about a hunt truck, then don't sweat the details - scuff it and paint it red. Heck you could probably paint it safety red industrial enamel with a roller and thinned paint and it look pretty good. $50 for a gallon would likely be cheaper than the spray cans. And I'd skip the primer altogether. Use the factory finish as the primer coat.

Your idea is looking good though. I remember as a younger man thinking that about the only color F100s were was red/white. So many red/white F100s. But they look dang good now. And any 2 tone is great in this age of white/silver/black trucks

X2 on too far for a hunt truck.

I think if I was using the paint you are I would have gone with roller & paint brush for the places the roller could not get to. Wet sand & buff should come out pretty good. Check Youtube for roller paint jobs.

Only time you need to prime is over bare metal you do not need to prime over the the color base that is on the truck.

Heck I did not do 2 stage on my 2 color (red & white) as it was way more work than I wanted to do. Painting it 3 times = red-1 white-2 clear-3 and if not done right would need to wet sand and buff NOT ME!

Mine is single stage and no wet sanding & buffing and it looks good. I did use auto paint.

Then again I knew how to do this so did not need the learning curve you did.

Dave ----

I have repainted motorcycles before. My thought is that the makers put way more effort into making the factory paint stick than I ever could, so smooth it out and paint over that. We did prime/seal on one. Other I did in back yard straight to paint after scuffing it. Same with auot paint - if it's stable, then scuff/smooth and put new paint on it. Prime if you need to smooth out a base or whatever. Some of the fancier colors are pretty translucent.

I had a 92 Dodge Dakota that was the Electric blue. Needed paint, so I was trading out paint for race car lettering. Told the dude to prime it all in one color or he'd be sorry. He thought he was smarter than me and would spot it in with primer and then paint. He painted it 2 times, THEN decided to prime it all in one color.

Solids are pretty easy usually though. I hope the white you have covers the red without bleeding through and shifting to a pink or muddy white.

 

[FuzzFace2]

I have repainted motorcycles before. My thought is that the makers put way more effort into making the factory paint stick than I ever could, so smooth it out and paint over that. We did prime/seal on one. Other I did in back yard straight to paint after scuffing it. Same with auot paint - if it's stable, then scuff/smooth and put new paint on it. Prime if you need to smooth out a base or whatever. Some of the fancier colors are pretty translucent.

I had a 92 Dodge Dakota that was the Electric blue. Needed paint, so I was trading out paint for race car lettering. Told the dude to prime it all in one color or he'd be sorry. He thought he was smarter than me and would spot it in with primer and then paint. He painted it 2 times, THEN decided to prime it all in one color.

Solids are pretty easy usually though. I hope the white you have covers the red without bleeding through and shifting to a pink or muddy white.

You have to watch some solids too.

The Candy Apple Red on my truck is see through, mostly clear, and why I primed the whole truck.

Because I painted the inside and inner fenders I could see it would take many coats to cover.

Dave ----