Next project!

[billybob_81067]

Anyone in here ever painted a vehicle before? Cause I'm getting ready to paint my 95 powerstroke. I got our shop all cleaned out so there will be less dust and crap in the air. I replaced the rusted out drivers side fender and peeled off all the side moulding. Then I did some body work on the drivers side where it had a few dents and dings. Finally I sprayed some rattleguard bedliner on the rocker panels, over the wheel wells and on my tailgate. I've still got a ding on the top of the cab I've got to do some body work on and then a few hail dents on the hood.

Oh yeah and I spent a couple hours straightening out my condenser fins with a pick... Should make the A/C much colder! I have no clue of how the previous owner got them all jacked up like they were!

Anyways here's some pics! Since I've taken these I've stripped off my mirrors, door handles, and door locks to prep for the paint.

A clean shop! :-D



Another shot.



Front view



Drivers side view.



Replacement fender



Passenger side



Closeup of bedlinered rocker panels.

[MANN]

My .02$

Good luck

My first truck (vehicle) was a 89 dodge dakota longbead 4X4. I got it for free, and worked with my dad to fix it up. I loved the engine/transmission/Interior work. It took @ a year working nights to get it going. The WORST part IMO was painting it. You have to

sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, and sand some more.

then Paint, paint, paint, paint, clear coat, clear coat, clear coat, clear coat

My dads friend (who owed him money and did painting for a living) helped, but I sanded that thing what seemed like forever. He would paint, and I would sand. It was a lot of hard work, but I was able to say I did it, and It looked Awesome when we were done. Unfortunately it only got 10-12 mpg so I only kept it for a month and sold it to buy what I really wanted. A Jeep Wrangler(which was later totaled by a drunk driver ).

You are on the right path cleaning your shop. just buy lots of sandpaper, and remember that the smoother it is without paint will be the better it will look with it. Also buy a couple of 12packs you will need them

[BeaverEater]

ya painting sucks, im in the middle of sanding and repainting my boat and its taking forever. Fortunately im only stripping and sanding for the most part. Ive got a body shop guy thats gonna paint it for me.

[MarkM]

You explained some time ago (I think it was you) about what bedliner was but I have to ask why have you applied it now, surely you should have painted the truck first and then done the stonechip coat as masking it off properly now is going to be rather difficult.

A wet floor is going to be your friend though as after all the sanding and there will be a lot, you need something to keep the dust down. As all the hard work will be ruined by dusty air.


These pics are nothing to do with me but will give you some idea of what can be acheived with care....the shiny look is actually STILL an undercoat!!







This is polished and still the guy isn't happy as he wants it to be even more shiny


Final result, all the bumpers (fenders) and wing mirrors were black plastic so not a bad result in the end.

[beam]

That's a ford van??? What the? Why don't they make cool ones like that in the States?

At first I thought it was a Dodge Sprinter.

[MarkM]

It's called a Transit, The most Popular Commercial Vehicle in the UK. That particular one is a MK5, (to the people that drive them, though to Ford's it is still a MK 3 or a '95 model)
if you look at the pictures below you will see what he has changed from the stock form
They do them in all kinds of sizes, SWB LWB and types Pickups, Low roof, Hightops, semi-high, panel van, Crewcab, People carrier versions (basic and a flashy people carrier version called a Tourneo) They are available in mainland Europe with lefthand drive so you could import one if you really wanted to, be very rare on your roads.


MK1 1965-1978 The pickup has the earlier pre 1970 grill





Also available with the Diesel and V6 "bullnose" front


MK2 1978-1984 Blue van short wheelbase - Yellow van long wheelbase




MK2 facelift or phase2 1984 - 1986 White minibus short wheelbase - Blue van long Wheelbase!




MK3 1986 - 1992 short wheelbase on the left and long wheelbase on the right - most lwb's were twin rear wheel

[MarkM]

MK4 1992 - 1995 Different headlights and the long wheelbase became even longer and most lwb's were single rear wheel now!




MK5 or smiley 1995 - 2000 Minor changes from the mk4 introduction of "smiley" front grill and new style dashboard




MK6 2000 to 2006 now available in front or rear wheel drive! Silver van is a "Jumbo" largest Transit available!




MK7 2006 out in july!! new front and new dashboard



Although it will depend on how it is looked after the most reliable version is the MK5, but there were a huge number of that version sold all over europe, rare versions include factory fitted V6 and 2.9 Turbo's, simply on the road the MK2 is rare but a lot of MK1's are still around, the engines on the MK6 are temperamental to say the least, the new version they have changed the engines again so time will tell if they are any good.

[PyRo]

The white paint is going to be your friend. It's probably the cheapest color to buy. It also hides imperfections well. When I pained my Jeep (white) I actually did it outside because I didn't care if a few things got stuck in it. It came out decently for my first paint job and suprisingly all I got stuck in it was a bee. The first panel had bad orange peel because I had too small of a regulator on the gun, I also had a run on one of the fenders and some minor orange peel in spots. Because of the white though it's only noticable if you get close and really look at it hard.

Good luck with it and just remember prep is the key. Make sure everything is scuffed, all dents and scratchs are out, and prepsol it a couple times before spraying. Use a piece of cardboard or scrap metal (old fenders and doors are great) to get the guns settings right.

In the end though, it's still just a Ford

[billybob_81067]

You explained some time ago (I think it was you) about what bedliner was but I have to ask why have you applied it now, surely you should have painted the truck first and then done the stonechip coat as masking it off properly now is going to be rather difficult.

A wet floor is going to be your friend though as after all the sanding and there will be a lot, you need something to keep the dust down. As all the hard work will be ruined by dusty air.

Actually I thought about applying the rattleguard bedliner after the paint, but I figured applying it first would actually be easier in the long run and I won't have to worry about getting it on my fresh new paint! Also I was/am too lazy to mask off my ENTIRE pickup to keep the bedliner overspray off of the other surfaces. Any white overspray that gets past the masking should come off with some laquer thinner and the laquer thinner won't even touch that bedliner once it's dried or even partially dried. That bedliner is Naaaaasty! (in a good way of course)

I'm going to do most if not all my sanding outside the shop, just back it outside work on it for as long as I can and then drive it back in when I'm done. This will also cut down considerably on the amount of dust present.

Those are some wicked looking vans! I've never seen anything like those before. It's insane the different models of vehicles that companies make for different countries. You would think they would offer the same models anywhere and everywhere!


MANN, You should post up some pictures of your pickup that you painted if you have any. Sounds like a good project! That's too bad that you had to put all that work into it just to sell it a month later. I'm planning on keeping this pickup forever unless something beyond my power forces me to sell it for $$$. I'll be sure to stock up on some Coors for those long nights of sanding, cause we all know that alcohol makes everything fun!


Pryo, you should post up some pics of your paint job too. What kind of paint did you use? I'm still debating on going with a basecoat/clearcoat 2 stage paint or an Acrylic Enamel with hardener. I'm definately glad this pickup is white, couldn't ask for a better color to work with! What's this prepsol you're talking about? A cleaner degreaser? I just might google it right quick.

Oh and in the end my "just a Ford" will just be better than all your dodges and chevys!

[MarkM]

Those are some wicked looking vans! I've never seen anything like those before. It's insane the different models of vehicles that companies make for different countries. You would think they would offer the same models anywhere and everywhere!

You would think so, but some markets don't have the same needs or likes. The MK5 although not made in the UK anymore is now made in China as Fords licenced them to make it since it is now an older model, ALL the Transits were made in the UK and then exported to Europe Etc, so perversely we in the UK made lefthand drive vehicles

A Chinese Transit


A one off special still being used by Fords to promote what they can do in their brochures


As it is right now


It will be restored back to the original look, I saw it about a week ago and a lot of work is needed but will get done.

[PyRo]

I used a single stange, I believe it was the value line of Dupont.
When I bought it, it had been rolled. The damage was mainly to the LH quarter and the LH fender. The fender I replaced, and the quater the previous owner had attempted to repair by packing bondo in all the dents. It was over an inch thick in some places so I took a couple hours and pulled all the dents out and chipped/scraped away most of his bondo. That quarter is still about half bondo but it's no more than 1/4 thick in the worst spots. It's been painted about a year now and hasn't shown any cracking yet. It also matchs a little better now that it's faded a bit.