So progress has been slow recently. There really isn't much to report, other things have taken priority. We did get a spare hatch to make a tailgate, just need to figure out how to attach it. Current easy idea is pins in the bottom that go into holes with grommets and latches at the top.
It is slowly becoming a shelf so I need to get working on it soon.
Last weekend I rented a skidsteer to make the parking pad I need behind my privacy fence. It will be used to store parts cars and long-term projects. Turns out a skidsteer with wheels (no tracked ones available when I reserved it) just makes a huge mess in soft or semi-soft ground. I only got stuck twice though.
I am going to buy a grader blade for my tractor this week to get it smoothed out. The gravel is all down but there are ruts everywhere.
Here is what it looked like before, this was after clearing out enough brush to know what was there, when I moved in it was a solid mass of brush.
Under all that was an old foundation for a single car garage and a large pile of trash. When digging it up I found glass jars, tile, a broken toilet, an umbrella and many old aluminum cans. Under inches of trash and dirt was the original slab.
After the gravel and making a mess with the skidsteer.
So THAT's what it looked like back there.
I didn't have hip waders with me, so I didn't feel like losing a shoe or three just to look around and see what kind of mess you and Jake were making in the backyard.
(I still think you should somehow make a camper top work for this thing, just for the Internet rage factor)
Well it has been awhile. After many months of other things we got working on this project again and a new video is up.
I would have asked about this yesterday if not for my ADD. LOL
Is the tailgate welded on, or are you still thinking about a hinge?
In reply to EvanB :
I'm going to watch this to see how much of my "in media res" and avant-garde camera angle footage Jake used. I'm going to assume none.
(It's not like he LET me hold the camera, I just sort of did.)
Crackers said:
I would have asked about this yesterday if not for my ADD. LOL
Is the tailgate welded on, or are you still thinking about a hinge?
For now we are planning to pin the bottom so it drops on and latches at the top. Hinges are planned for the future.
Knurled. said:
In reply to EvanB :
I'm going to watch this to see how much of my "in media res" and avant-garde camera angle footage Jake used. I'm going to assume none.
(It's not like he LET me hold the camera, I just sort of did.)
I think it's pretty close to none. He went from 6+ hours of footage to under 10 minutes for this one.
I'm so glad this is back.
berkeleying hell this is cool.
I wonder if this is possible with the V70s....
In reply to FuzzWuzzy :
Anything is possible...
I don't know if the V70s have an aluminum hatch like the 740s but that might make things a little more difficult.
The progress was stalled by some projects that didn't quite get off the ground, house projects and good old fashioned procrastination. Once we got started on it again it is moving quickly. Today I did some more cleanup and prep for primer this weekend.
This is the storage area behind the rear seat. We blocked it off from the bed and seam sealed everything so it should hopefully stay dry.
The rear of the cab turned out fairly well. There is still a bit of sanding and bodywork to be done probably but it looks fairly seamless.
I cut the lips off the rear window area that we cut off. After welding that into the area behind the front door windows I cut down the stock rear window seal to fit. After paint I will cut some lexan to fit and install it with the seal so it should look fairly factory. I wanted to do something that looked better than the typical sheet metal patch over the area or lexan screwed into the sheet metal.
I'm still trying to decide what to do for wood for the bed. My top choice is Apitong that is used for semi trailer flooring but the amount I need would run around $150. I am still trolling craigslist for free hardwood flooring. If I could find some bowling alley wood that would also be nice.
Heh heh heh... you need to get wood
(For serious: The cheapo-ish oak plywood from Home Depot looks really nice, you should just probably weather seal it in ways that I didn't)
Well that didn't go as planned...
We spent all day today getting this prepped for the first coat of primer. I started spraying it and it was laying down textured. I played with the settings on the gun and got it a little better, or maybe not. Being stubborn and not wanting to waste the primer I had mixed I kept going. The compressor was struggling to keep up even though it shouldn't have an issue.
I ran out of primer with the doors still unprimed and took a break to think about things. I checked the website for the primer and noticed that it recommends a 1.6-2.2mm tip. Of course the HF gun I bought has a 1.4mm tip and they don't sell other sizes.
I decided to finish the doors so everything was primed. This time I thinned the primer down so it was a regular build instead of high build according to the directions. I also adjusted the gun so there was less air flow and more material flow. And it was so much better! I am still debating whether I should track down a gun with tips in the recommended range for primer to shoot the next coat tomorrow but regardless the first coat has to be block sanded.
What brand of paint did you end up going with?
Its awesome you made it to the painting phase- soooo much work to get there!
I got the primer from paintforcars.com, it is the combo dtm/high build/sealer. The paint is the single stage enamel from tcp global restoration shop.
In reply to EvanB :
A source for hardwood flooring could be demolition contractors.
Rons said:
In reply to EvanB :
A source for hardwood flooring could be demolition contractors.
Good to know, I'll keep that in mind for my search.
I did some more research on the paint gun shooting primer and it was recommended to drill the tip out to get a larger size. I will try that today and see if I can get some better results on the second coat of primer.
I'm going to leave this here.......
Don't drill the tip on a gravity fed HVLP gun!
The needle is your fluid valve and has to be sized accordingly or else it will leak out of the tip incessantly.
Just spray it thinned down. You don't lose a whole lot of "build" volume that way, just need more coats.
In reply to Crackers :
Too late for that. I drilled it out to 1.95mm. It doesn't seem to leak more than a few drops occasionally.
EvanB said:some more cleanup and prep for primer this weekend.
I'm still trying to decide what to do for wood for the bed. My top choice is Apitong that is used for semi trailer flooring but the amount I need would run around $150. I am still trolling craigslist for free hardwood flooring. If I could find some bowling alley wood that would also be nice.
Bowling alley wood is typically maple, which while hard is not terribly rot resistant. Oak flooring would be better, as suggested watch for someone doing rehab on an old house, or check in your area for a building materials salvage place (a Habitat for Humanity ReStore may have something suitable.)
It is definitely more blue now. The first coats of paint went fairly well. We could have done better on the body work but at this point it just needs to be done. I will put another coat on in a few days then it is time to reassemble and get it on the road.
