Below is the box ready to get the box liner application (fenders will be removed first!)
Here's the Bed Liner kit we'll be using, from Pro-Form. Kit comes with tint-able texture,
hardener and a specific gun - not unlike the old "Body Schutz" guns we used to use
to spray rubberized undercoating.
After pounding out the damaged edges of the Tailgate I laid it out on the cement floor to ensure it was straight and level. Took a little tweaking with some 2x4's under one side and some well-placed hits with the ball-peen hammer in the other, but it came out pretty damn close.
Once that was done the cracks and separated edges came together and I ran some weld across them:
The welds where then cleaned up and brought flush with the panel -
After removing most of the original paint and as much of the surface rust as possible with the pneumatic stripper, I sprayed on a few coats of Metal-Ready, an anti-rust metal preparation product that turns rust (Iron Oxide) into a black inert substance (Iron Oxite). I've used it for years and even did some testing for the company (PRO15) a few years back (which can be searched for in my blog).
If you're as old as I am, you'll remember when MAACO advertised a $149 complete paint job. I'm not sure how they did that even back then, but I do recall paying about $300-$400 in materials to paint cars about 25 years ago....now, the materials you see below, almost everything needed to paint this truck, amounts to nearly $4000.00! A gallon of automotive base-paint alone is $450 and a gallon - and that's not counting your clear, hardeners, reducer, sealer, primers and - in this case - truck box liner.
Other small pieces that will need to be painted with the truck's exterior are sitting on top of the grille shell, which will be painted last as it's white.
Once the color is finally on, we can get the fun part -
cleaning the shop and detailing all the parts that make a vehicle a driver!
