Had to call it quits early today as the weather turned, but I got a solid half day of beautiful weather to keep going on paint. We've got a rash of storms headed this way, so I reorganized the garage into a miniature paint booth so I can keep going on that stuff even in crappy weather. It'll just have to be one by one instead of all together.
Engine Bay:
Got everything protected and sprayed the firewall. Soooooo satisfying. @Wildman If you get the chance to spray before you swap your motor....you definitely should.
After cleaning, before respray
After resparay
Also...found this little gem. When I pulled the cowl drain, it weighed a freaking ton. Lo and behold, the duct was literally packed solid with mud, sand, and shit.
That was fun. A screw driver and good rinsing later, and we were back in business.
I did a little prep on the frame and shock towers, I'm going to repaint the front clip of the frame after the mounts are in and verified. Still some work to do there, but will definitely be worth it in the long run.
Body Parts:
While the weather held, I grabbed all the remaining aluminum and cleaned, prepped, and hit them all with primer. Front bumper, loop, winch plate, corners, and front fenders.
Front fenders are going to be color matched blue, bumper and accessories will be satin black, I'm debating on the corners going silver or satin black. I had been going the satin black route, but the dark blue looked good with silver contrast when I was test fitting them. We'll see.
Hole cleanup:
My tub looks a bit like Swiss cheese without the corners. I went through and deburred all the holes, then painted all the holes to prevent rust.
I had mentioned earlier that I went with longer bolts to avoid nutserts. In the pics below, the holes in red are the only ones that I used nutserts. The yellow replaced with a 1.5" bolt, and the purple on the rear took a 4" bolt.
As you can see, the PO hacked the shit out of the tail lights...hence the corners in the first place.
Interior:
The last thing I got after before calling it quits was the genright tunnel cover. It shipped flat, so I started with bending a curve into it using the edge of the front tire. Then I continued to bend it as I added more bolts. The holes circled in red lined up with original holes in the tub. The other holes need to be drilled.
As you can see, the corner by the transfer case lever opening is going to need some serious...massaging....
Also, the inside of the tub is going to need a good cleaning too when I gut it =).
That was as far as I got today, but I'm hoping for a light work week to keep moving on it.
Engine Bay:
Got everything protected and sprayed the firewall. Soooooo satisfying. @Wildman If you get the chance to spray before you swap your motor....you definitely should.
After cleaning, before respray
After resparay
Also...found this little gem. When I pulled the cowl drain, it weighed a freaking ton. Lo and behold, the duct was literally packed solid with mud, sand, and shit.
That was fun. A screw driver and good rinsing later, and we were back in business.
I did a little prep on the frame and shock towers, I'm going to repaint the front clip of the frame after the mounts are in and verified. Still some work to do there, but will definitely be worth it in the long run.
Body Parts:
While the weather held, I grabbed all the remaining aluminum and cleaned, prepped, and hit them all with primer. Front bumper, loop, winch plate, corners, and front fenders.
Front fenders are going to be color matched blue, bumper and accessories will be satin black, I'm debating on the corners going silver or satin black. I had been going the satin black route, but the dark blue looked good with silver contrast when I was test fitting them. We'll see.
Hole cleanup:
My tub looks a bit like Swiss cheese without the corners. I went through and deburred all the holes, then painted all the holes to prevent rust.
I had mentioned earlier that I went with longer bolts to avoid nutserts. In the pics below, the holes in red are the only ones that I used nutserts. The yellow replaced with a 1.5" bolt, and the purple on the rear took a 4" bolt.
As you can see, the PO hacked the shit out of the tail lights...hence the corners in the first place.
Interior:
The last thing I got after before calling it quits was the genright tunnel cover. It shipped flat, so I started with bending a curve into it using the edge of the front tire. Then I continued to bend it as I added more bolts. The holes circled in red lined up with original holes in the tub. The other holes need to be drilled.
As you can see, the corner by the transfer case lever opening is going to need some serious...massaging....
Also, the inside of the tub is going to need a good cleaning too when I gut it =).
That was as far as I got today, but I'm hoping for a light work week to keep moving on it.
Last edited: