Chicken Ranch - S10 Rat

[Pullon]

Got some Zen bucket time on the Home Depot bucket - took a minute to appreciate the nice day... Found the long board and a decent supply of sandpaper. Took down the Bondo, added a second layer, took it down and feathered, finished with a skim coat of two-part professional putty (yea I am trying to pass).

Came out respectable - smooth, feathered and better than a big dent.

I also worked the smaller area by the gas door. It is OK too. Next came a very good scrubbing over the entire truck. I used purple cleaner and a wash cloth on the right side and purple clean and a Scocth-Brite pad on the left. I sanded all the chips with 80, 220, and 400 feathering it out according to the chip size. Then washed the left side again with a new pad and plain water - towel dry. Now I am getting in the ball park at least!

Will primer the Bondo areas with two-part high build primer - light sand the primer then a long slow scrub on the back and left side with a fresh Scotch Brite Pad - I got a ten pack at Pep Boys - then she goes into the yet to be erected paint booth for final inspection and a wipe down with degreaser.

Just as I thought I was getting somewhere I remembered the pile of bumpers, flares, and grill. That stuff all needs to be scrubbed, sanded, prepped and sprayed with plastic prep (on the raw stuff). OK - add another day on the fix'n to get ready to paint part!

[Pullon]

A little closer to paint day. Pulled the step pad and ball off the rear bumper and cleaned it up - only part I have seen on this truck with rust. Sanded and cleaned up the front fiberglass flare and other parts except the new stuff. I will wait until paint day on those - comtamination is too risky. Scrubbed one more time with Scotch-Brite paying extra attention to the areas that had a little shine - looks pretty uniform now. There was a sharpie mark inside the front bumper - 3/26/2001 - who knows what happened - but at least they didn't overspray the wiring and stuff under the hood.

Will build the booth today. Since I only have to paint one side I can offset the truck in the booth to maximize room on the side getting paint. Right now Sat looks like the best day to paint as it is going to be cooler all week. So I think I would be better off just baby stepping the rest of the prep to align with a paint launch time of 0800 hrs Sat.

Been thinking on a PCM tune - to tighten up the shifting - maybe make the old gal snap too a little more like when she was a young chick. That would be a good thing to do while I was curing the paint, but for now I need a running truck because it is tough to get it in and out of the shop solo.

[Pullon]

Abort! Abort! Abort!

Everything was ready - paint shack built, filtered fans running, stuff sanded and clean - awaiting final degreaser wash. I selected a touch-up paint gun to shoot the primer- figured I would drape some plastic over the non primed stuff and shoot some primer - only a few spots no biggie.

Figured I would do a few final things while the primer dried. Opened the paint - managed to spill a couple tablespoons full on the work bench and my shoe...sigh.

Hmmm - no hardener for the paint. So the clear and primer are two-part, the base is one. OK - so I just mix reducer.....reducer, REDUCER???? Where is the reducer? Damn, damn, damn - no reducer. Either they billed me for it and forgot to put in in the box, or WE just forgot it. PPG automotive store is closed on Sat - I am soooo screwed for this weekend - damn, damn, damn - what a downer...

So that is where I sit - trying to lick my mental wounds to keep all this in the "whatever" pile where it belongs - but still... I'll just use the time to go over everything again - check sanding, prep, tape, etc. This time I will prime one day after work - then color and clear the next.

I am using Omni Plus MP282 SV high build 2K Primer, MBP Acrylic Urethane Basecoat, MC270 4,2 VOC Production Clear - with medium hardener and medium reducer (MR186). All that stuff will make you sick without a good respirator - at that is my safety briefing.

Here are some photos of the paint shack - before I put the "door" on the end. Two fans barely give it positive atmosphere pressure - I think a good fart would do about the same - but it is the most I have ever done to paint something.







You can walk all the way around the paint shack - a little crowded in the back but plenty of room on the work bench and tool box sides. I am hoping to leave the shop door open for ventilation but can close it if unexpected wind kicks up.

Two water separators on the air lines - 55 psi tank pressure gives me 4.5 CFM - borderline but I am not about to buy another compressor so I will do panel, pause, panel pause - the way I did boats. Not the best, but it is reality for most of us home shop guys.

[sonomaguy]

Nice booth, figured 2 running fans would give more air pressure.

[Pullon]

Quote: Originally Posted by sonomaguy

Nice booth, figured 2 running fans would give more air pressure.

The black swivel fan is more powerful than the $16 POS Walley World Chinese crap fan, but even so, you can barely feel air moving ten feet away - the filters really wack the air volume. In hindsight I probably would get the cheap $2 filters instead of the medium $5 filters - I was really trying to keep bugs out more than a micro dust bomb anyways....

I saw a booth like this online and there were three fans - which at first I thought was overkill. If you have time visit some garage sells - get three cheapo box fans - set them up high on the wall.

Storms last night - supposed to be clear weather (long enough) this week. Starting to get excited again to get back on track as soon as this parts chaser rolls out ....Chicken Ranch Oh how I miss thee.....

[scriptedmind]

Awesome progress on the truck so far though!

I'm intrigued by this paint booth. I have a two car garage and wanted to do this very same thing in there to paint my truck. The two issues that people hounded me about were paint particles getting into the fan motors causing a fire/explosion. Though fans pushing the air seems like it would prevent that (I was thinking puller fans).

The other issue is paint going air born out of the garage door and getting overspray on my other rides on my neighbors rides.

Are you totally sealing up the open end in the pic or are you leaving a vent in it? If a vent, let me know how bad the overspray is coming out. I remember the overspray was pretty decent coming out of booth at the boy shop that I worked at.

[Pullon]

Quote: Originally Posted by scriptedmind

Awesome progress on the truck so far though!

I'm intrigued by this paint booth. I have a two car garage and wanted to do this very same thing in there to paint my truck. The two issues that people hounded me about were paint particles getting into the fan motors causing a fire/explosion. Though fans pushing the air seems like it would prevent that (I was thinking puller fans).

The other issue is paint going air born out of the garage door and getting overspray on my other rides on my neighbors rides.

Are you totally sealing up the open end in the pic or are you leaving a vent in it? If a vent, let me know how bad the overspray is coming out. I remember the overspray was pretty decent coming out of booth at the boy shop that I worked at.

The open end has two simple hanging sheets of plastic free to blow around - if I get overspray on my house and cars then I wasted time with HVLP and will throw them in the aluminim recycle pile! About the flash fire from paint fumes - yes that is a possibility if I get enough concentration of flamable fumes. I am counting on those fumes not being able to move upwind through the filters and then concentrating to the point they can ignite. More than likely I would pass out from the fumes first - and thus stop spraying.....

Home/shop stuff is a compromise...but since the Chicken Ranch body is ten feet from the shop door I will look it over to see what overspray gets out and let you know....

Got my stupid reducer today at lunch - will shoot primer on bare steel tonight....

[Pullon]

After covering the non paint areas with plastic, looking over everything a final time and wiping down with degreaser, I put on my mask and mixed the primer - 4 parts paint, 1 part medium hardener, 1 part medium reducer. Shot two coats on the front and rear bumpers and the new front flare (fiberglass) and three coats where I did the amatuer body and bondo work. Man that high build primer really is high build! It said three hours to sand - so that was it for last night. I buttoned up the shop - wore the mask out of there so I never got even a whif of the paint. Been sick on that stuff years ago - never forget it - don't go there!

Even with the small touch up gun which is old-school with lots of overspray none got out of the "tent" onto the Chicken Ranch project just ten feet away - it kind of migrated to the ceiling and sides and stuck there - to the plastic - telling me even if you wanted to do back to back jobs the loss in transparency makes the plastic a one job deal. Two 10x100 rolls were under $20 - cheaper than the thinner...

Went out before work this morning - knew there would be a few "fuzz balls" here and there in the primer - but still disappointed to see them - nothing magic had happened. Probaby 15-20 scatted around - most would just wipe away with the roughness of my fingers. It is because I don't have a painter's eye - I can't see at the level needed - that takes time and experience. Been there before - no panic - have to wetsand the primer anyways with 1000 grit. If you are smart about it, each layer gets cleaner and cleaner - am still hoping the third base coat will be nice and clean...ready for clear after 30 minute flash....

Will shoot the red base after work today - if I am very lucky I'll get to shoot the clear tonight as well. Thus far I have not been lucky so I will most likely let it dry overnight and repair/continue on Wed night.

I will probably also redo the masking as well - its been on there four days. The yellow tape from the paint store is WAY better than the blue tape from Walley World - go with the yellow...

[Pullon]

I sanded the prmer - took awhile - then had to clean up the mess. Wiped everything down with degreaser and wipe that off. Started to take the HVLP sprayer out of the box - and stopped....When you get to this point, hurrying for a home project, poorly cleaned project, sand dust on my clothes, in the air, skipping a final close inspect - it is time to walk away and save hours of rework or years of excuses. So, at about 6:30 I shut 'er down for the night. Will focus this evening on cleanliness - will do that final inspection the best I can. Retape. Wipe down everyting again and prepare to spray Thursday. I have screwed up too many times to fall for that crap again.....

[layinbody31]

Progress sounds great! Can't wait to see the final result

[Pullon]

Today I don't much like painting cars - too stressful for what is supposed to be a relaxing hobby! I degreased and wiped down a final time and then went over everything with a tack cloth - never have I started off with something so clean. The base coat went on pretty easy - wish I would have had one more pot of paint as the two quarts (mixed) went really fast and I had a lot of acessories to cover which really eat up the paint (especially the grill). Let it flash while cleaning the paint gun. Had a different HVLP gun for the clear - 1.5mm tip. Tank pressure set at 50 gun pressure 20 - I fooled with it the whole time both base and clear - wish I could spend five minutes with someone who could paint! I have good timing and a good eye for paint flow - lousy at gun set up which is a real handicap.

I was very happy with the lack of "trash" in the paint - no problems because I did not do my part which is all I can ask for. However, don't let me mislead you - there are 6 or 7 little tiny pencil point sized black beetles - most on the back bumper - guess they were attracted to the clear smell as they did not show up until the clear was on. More than likely there is enough clear under their bodies that I can rub them out. In any case the clear is fairly rough - not horrible by any means, but I am going to have to spend some time with wet sanding 1500 and 2000.

Sounds like a downer but I am very pleased it came out as good as it did. Body work is nice and smooth - new plastic parts and grill are also nice. So overall it is better than I expected. I will refrain from final judgement until the rub down is completed.

OK, the mask worked fine on the primer and base - but not the clear! Before I realized what was going on I was well under the influence of the damn clear. That is not what I wanted - I THOUGHT I had taken proper precautions - apparantly that was not the case. I did not pass out or anything but I was a little stoned when I walked out of there - bah!

The work is not that far below what I have paid for in the past - so there is hope, even if I would rather be doing something else than painting - OK not a heater core either - or exhaust work - or pulling an engine - or waxing - damn what does that leave?

[sonomaguy]

Post pics!

[Driveway Kustoms]

nice setup with the 'booth' Ive had that idea in my brain for a while and was curious if itd work haha

[Pullon]

Here are some right after painting photos. Looks like the red is too much for my camera!

[Driveway Kustoms]

does this have the front xtreme valence? Theyre only like 125 on fleabay for a urethane one

[Pullon]

Quote: Originally Posted by Driveway Kustoms

does this have the front xtreme valence? Theyre only like 125 on fleabay for a urethane one

The valance was missing when I bought the truck. After driving a few cars and trucks (Mark III conversion and BMW Z) and constantly worrying about running the front up on a curb I decided to go back with a new black stock S-10 valance. Yes, it does not look near as cool, but I am more interested at this time in a driver - I just did not want the dents and scrapes. There is always the option of adding the valance - especially in the next few months while the paint is still fresh but it's not likely.

[flnole78]

Very nice work! I feel your pain when it comes to trying to get the gun setting correct. I'm horrible at it though Ive only shot high build primer and one can of single stage. So I'm really a novice. But yours came out great in my opinion. Ive seen people pay thousands for paint jobs that weren't that nice and uniform.

[Pullon]

After 1000 grit in the rough spots - 1500 and 2000 everywhere else I used the $19.95 car polisher I already had to buff the paint. Mirror glaze cutting polish (85) and Mirror Glaze Polish (205). At first it was not going well at all - then I read some more went to Walley World and got a couple yellow foam pads for the 10" polisher. What a difference - with the foam pad it only took about 14 more hours to get the paint worked down good enough for a driver.

I also did a final polish on the whole truck so that took some time. Once the body was OK I spent another couple of hours putting all the stuff back on. Am happy with the results. Here are some photos - in person it is about what the average quick turn body shop would roll out - which is really all I could every ask for at home. The dog is Roy Rogers - he wanted to go for a ride - real bad. So my wife and I made a little run - A/C just barely managed a puff of cold - she's a leaker - whatever - THAT is not a problem!

Side View



Truth angle - not bad for home painting



Wish I would have had another pint - a little thin on the tail gate!



Xtreme front with a stock dam - I know - but I don't have to worry about ripping the dam thing off every time I go to lunch at work...

[dropped4doorblaze]

Whats different about the Xtreme front besides the xtreme dam? I have a 01 xtreme blazer and guess ive never noticed a difference? Looks good tho!

[flnole78]

The full color grille. No chrome.

[Pullon]

Test question - how can a A/C system leak when the leakdown check shows no leaks for 30 minutes? Hint: It was very easy to find only took some spit. Answer: The low pressure valve is leaking - it doesn't leak with the test because the gauge is connected to the stupid valve that is leaking. On a guess I checked it the way you field check valve stems and it is coming out pretty steady, guess the cap slowed it down a little....

[Ricky]

Wow, that turned out nice..

[layinbody31]

Great work!

[Driveway Kustoms]

ncie job! came out clean!

[Pullon]

Swapped out the evaporator line - reshot the R134 - three or fours days later - no cool. OK - so we can do this the hard way.....Got some R134 with dye in it from Walley World - and a $3.50 screw in black light bulb. Shot the dye into the A/C - turn off lights - turn on black light - search, search, search - no leaks. That can't be. So I take the service cap off the high-pressure side to check the pressure and it was clear it was leaking - showed up real well with the black light as bright green. Turns out the used line I swaped out also had a bad high pressure valve! I tried to take the valve off - it is not budging - so I ordered the whole line from Amazon for $27. Will go by Walley World and get three more cans of R134a. I am sure they think I have figured out how to make something with it and have turned me over to Homeland Security - but it should have been EPA with all the damn leaking.... Pin stripes are on - still waiting on the rain guards.

[Pullon]

I changed the accumulator line with a perfect fit from Amazon - vacuumed and recharged the system this time one can had a dye in it (just in case). Did a solid hour leak check - all good.

We took chili pepper out on her first road trip - well I have been commuting 22 mile to work and back but this was a couple hundred miles each way. I was on the way back when I remembered I forgot to toss my tool bag behind the seat. You never know - there could have been leaks, etc... at least I did take the time to get a jack and tire iron from the junk yard - got a jack cover too but the jack mount was removed from the cab and I haven't taken the time to cut the one out of the donor cab.

Anyways - all the careful hard work and double and triple checking paid off - it was a nice quiet pleasant ride with no problems. My other truck is a '06 Dodge with factory 20"s - it rides like a bouncy tank. Even with the ZQ8 stuff the Xtreme is a much better ride - it was a pleasure. It was hot so we used the A/C all day - worked fine too.

Monday morning - what the!!!! On the way to work the A/C just barely put out a puff of slightly cool air. So I put yet another can of R134 (that was # ten if you are counting) and waited until dark to get out the black light. After an hour of running I was begining to think nothing was going to happen but then there it was under the compressor - green dye glowing in the black light. The seam in the middle of the compressor is seeping but only while the system is operating.

Hmmmm - mixed feelings on that - I mean happy to find the OTHER leak but not so happy it is the compressor as I really do not want to vac the system again. Since it is night I will wait until after work tomorrow and see if I can unbolt the compressor and tighten the housing bolts. If I can tighten the bolts a convencing amount I'll clean the dye up and try another leak check - it could just be the bolts have come loose during the last 13 years... There is another compressor in the pile, but I was supposed to use it on the Chicken Ranch - which is calling me...

[layinbody31]

Glad to see Chili Pepper is nearly complete... can't wait to see the Chicken Ranch get some more love

[Pullon]

Damn, Damn, Damn! The bolts were tight so I swapped out the compressor and vac/recharged the system. I ran it for a while with the a/c gauges installed - acually saw the low side gauge drop ten pounds in 30 minutes. There was enough dye left in the system to show it was coming from the middle joint in the compressor - just like the other one!

See the connection? All the "spare" parts are just as defective as the "broke" parts. They have about the same miles 150K plus so I should not be surprised - but it is very interesting from an academic perspective... I mean beside the point that I am about to blow a fuse!

Ordered brand new compressor that comes as a kit with accumulator, orface, oil, etc. I am tempted to go ahead and order the hoses that lay on top of the fan shroud - considering my luck with this thing!

Like I said we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way - bring it on Chili Pepper Bitch - just kidding my little Latina Princess

[StirFrey]

she likes to play rough

[Pullon]

The $200 and change A/C compressor from ebay looks like good quality - had to swap over the pressure sensor from the old one but that was just a small snap ring. Oil was in it already and it had a slight positive pressure which I took as a plus. Did not use the accumulator that came with the kit - the one on the trick was a month old so I saved the new one for the project. Vacuuming the system is getting to be routine! -20 pounds then service. At about 24 pounds the compressor stayed on just like the original (but they did have the same pressure switch after all). Nice and cool inside. Just like before. Now I wait - this time I won't call it until it holds a couple of months - not about to jinx myself....again!

It took a few days over a month for the $30 ebay rain guard tinted window things to come it. Had to trim 1/2" at the mirror end to get them to fit in the channel and they don't line up well at the where the window angles down - not me - the angle is slightly different. I would say they were probably made for some Chinese car we never heard of. Stay away. It has been a long while since I got hosed on ebay so I have become too trusting. Just assumed a guy selling S-10 tinted rain guards would be selling S-10 tinted rain guards - and have them in stock since it was "buy it now". So instead of getting a good deal I end up paying more than if I would have just gone to Pep Boys and got the tape on version that was on there to begin with. More imported fodder for America's landfill - thank you again for sending all our stuff off shore - dickweeds!

Off topic - I must be going through bucket list stuff! Will know for sure if I start building a helicopter, hovercraft, or anything Tesla related! Been wanting to take up guitaring again but am not sure if I should go with a Fender or Gibson clone or even Ovation my last guitar was a 60's Fender Strat that I bought at a garage sale for $50 in '69. I don't need loud - nobody wants to hear my version of Jimmy Hendrixs at Woodstock - need easy to play......just getting ready for when the Chicken Ranch rolls and I convert the shop to a man cave for my "golden years".... maybe I should just buy Fender parts and build a guitar out of all the s-10 parts laying around!

[gunther19820]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pullon

the filters really wack the air volume. In hindsight I probably would get the cheap $2 filters instead of the medium $5 filters - I was really trying to keep bugs out more than a micro dust bomb anyways....

I saw a booth like this online and there were three fans - which at first I thought was overkill. If you have time visit some garage sells - get three cheapo box fans - set them up high on the wall.

This is exactly how I plan to shoot mine in a couple weeks.... I have a couple addtl questions for you:

-why keep the fans high?
- do you think you would have seen better airflow with 1 fan pushing air in, and 1 fan exhausting air out?
- what mil thickness plastic did you use?

[Pullon]

Quote: Originally Posted by gunther19820

This is exactly how I plan to shoot mine in a couple weeks.... I have a couple addtl questions for you:

-why keep the fans high?
- do you think you would have seen better airflow with 1 fan pushing air in, and 1 fan exhausting air out?
- what mil thickness plastic did you use?

I wish I had a profound scientific base answer for you - but the truth is I was afraid the narrow cheapo box fan would fall over so I taped it to a step ladder. It was only a coincidence that it was roughly the same height as the other stand up fan. If you floor is not real clean - better to have the fans up. Also if I did this again I would buy the cheapo filters - they let in more air but still will keep bugs and floaters out.

[Pullon]

Lunchtime today - living large - A/C at about 50 degree running wide open - fond memories of the Bonzai Flaming Nochos still making my stomach burn a little. Heavy traffic, slight uphill - press a little more gas - nothing! Dash is lit up like Christmas! I carefully slide it to neutral - cha, cha, cha, - bloom, blah, blah, bla. What the hell!

She would start, run rough as hell for a couple of seconds and die. 20 times - same thing. You would think bad gas but I had about 70 miles on that tank. Rolled backwards about three hundred yards against pissed off traffic. Let her set awhile - walked to a gas station got a bottle of STP dry gas stuff dumped it in. Same thing starts - runs like hell two or three seconds. ONCE it popped to life "normal" but as soon as I touched the gas it died. Had to call the office to get a ride - damn, that will be brought up again..... Then I had to call for a tow - 22 miles - so what the hell is going on here?

I put her in the shop - figure I better do something else for a little while - not a good time to turn a wrench. I still want to say bad gas - I bleed some out of the pressure port - nice pressure - but the gas on my hand smelled like the dry-gas stuff not like gasoline. I think I should drain the tank first. But second - I don't know right now. What are the possibilities? Fuel pump, PCM, ?????

[Pullon]

I drained the gas - got some more same problem. Checked fuel pressure "guessed" it was kind of low even though I DO NOT trust that stupid Harbour Freight pressure gauge. Ordered a new fuel pump (wait, wait, wait) went to Texas for the weekend. Came back and the fuel pump was on the porch. Got a decent gas pressure gauge - holds pressure until you release and has a drain port to bleed. Did I mention I changed the fuel filter?

Put truck on jackstands. Unbolted bed and disconnected wires back there. Unhooked fuel filler. Removed back wheels, raised bed four inches to slide a 4x4 through. Rested 4x4 on big truck jackstands and lowered back of truck all the way - resulting in plenty of clearance to change the fuel pump.

Changed fuel pump. Tried it out with the new pressure gauge - ZERO! What??!! Rechecked everything - checked wiring diagram. Oh - the left rear ground on the frame is the fuel pump ground - reconnected ground. Good fuel pressure. Alll riiiight!!!

Crank, run, die, crank run, die - kind of like chugga chugga chugga biddddllle cherp. Damn - not the fuel pump. Read all I can find and finally come across a couple of sentences about after market distributor caps and rotors. Hmmm - I changed that stuff when I put the motor in.

Pulled dist cap - it looked worse than the one I threw out in Feb. You gotta be kidding! Installed new cap and rotor - runs like a champ!

My wife says I am not a real mechanic - I only change parts until whatever I am working on gives up! Whatever! For the record she did ride with me to get fresh gas (the lawnmower gets the stuff I drained). On the bright side - it was a nice and cool ride!

[layinbody31]

Glad to hear you got it all figured out, but sucks that you had to go through all the trouble of putting a fuel pump in just to find out that wasn't the culprit

[flnole78]

What ever happened to the rat s10?

[StirFrey]

i was wondering about this build the other day actually...