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  1. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    In keeping with my standard theme here... \ The old tailgate:
  2. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    The paint laid down and spread out fine. There are no Tiger Stripes or inconsistencies. The bed had slight orange peel last night that got a little worse overnight as it dried. I’m guessing that as the solvents in the clear evaporated, the solids remained and allowed shrinkage? It isn’t...
  3. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    The clear really makes the metallic pop. Here is a comparison. BEFORE: AFTER:
  4. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    Finally. The cladding needed 2-3 more coats since they already had 2-3 coats on them there were some sanded through spots that needed more to cover. The bed sides had repairs with primer that took 5 coats to hide. I do enjoy this stuff but I still get nervous when painting. The...
  5. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    The MDS may help if you’re on level ground at a steady speed. How much help, I don’t know. I agree that the concept of fresh heads on a worn out short block was traditionally a bad move. The bores in the engine had almost zero taper so chances are, the short block is fine. I’m in no hurry to...
  6. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    Hello and thank you, Yeah, we are still in California. We looked at properties in northern Arizona but it didn't pan out. Most properties in our price range that had 6 or more acres were on dirt roads. I don't want to drive my shiny cars on dirt roads. If all I had were old vehicles with dull...
  7. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    There is a truth to be known about many projects. The prep is where the time is spent. This is true in this case. It isn’t the spraying of the paint and the clear that takes the most time. It is the disassembly, the cleaning, bodywork, more bodywork, masking and then the paint. All of that...
  8. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    The tailgate color went on fine. It looks even with no Tiger stripes. That is a condition that sometimes happens with the metallic particles where they don’t all blend together. The finish looks uneven in color. There are many causes for that, one is when the painter doesn’t have adequate...
  9. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    Today was a baby step back into painting. It has been a few years since I painted a whole car. Some habits you develop by feel where you just find your own way, a way that works for you. I’ve said for years that one difference between a newbie and a professional is that the pro knows how to make...
  10. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    I have a plan. I’m going to mask the truck and paint the cladding, tailgate and rear bumper and front bumper in place. I have two grilles to paint and the hood scoop. Those will be painted in another room. Why two grilles? I want to see which look that I like best. One is this grille in...
  11. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    I had planned on repainting the whole right side of the bed since there were three dents to fix. The left side was going to only get paint on the cladding since the rest looked pretty good. There was a small ding near the taillight that I thought maybe I’d just accept. I couldn’t do that...
  12. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    It was a simple mistake that required the repair. In the end it will hide and be fine. To aid adhesion, I used this. Then this: For a small job like this, it didn’t make sense to spray with a traditional spray gun.
  13. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    Fixing this left side…. You know how sometimes a small mistake “snowballs” into a repair that takes 10 times the amount of effort that you would have spent if you did it right? That is where I am here. I had trouble determining the proper length of screw to use and this simple mistake… ….led...
  14. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    I think the top flange may not have adhered as well as the other areas partly because the flange had a rough edge that made it hard for the tape to stick. I used a wire wheel on a drill to clean off the old tape and that left grooves in the plastic. Since the tape stuck to the door and...
  15. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    The right side just was not hood enough for me. I considered running screws to the top flange from the inside but that isn’t easy to do. It is hard to determine the exact height to drill and as I have shown, punching through the cladding is a risk. I got the right door cladding off and cleaned...
  16. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    The gaps just kept nagging at me. I knew that I could do better. On the left side, I pulled the door panel to see if there was anything that I could do from the inside. I first peeked in there and saw that the plastic push clip you see here: ... that is attached to the top flange of the...
  17. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    The cladding is all on. I love the look of the truck with the panels in place. I do still need to do the final paint and clear. I'm a bit disappointed with the panel fitment....The 2 sided tape didn't hold as well as I hoped. Right door: Left door: I put a screw in from the back...
  18. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    I caught a cold so progress has slowed a bit. It is always amazing how much filler gets sanded away in the process....
  19. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    I decided to skip these additional supports. After I got the corner cladding on, the panels are stiff enough. Adding additional reinforcements would be redundant. I did measure, drill and mount those clips that hold the top edge of the cladding in place. The left side too: The...
  20. Kern Dog

    2007 Ram 1500. Making an SLT look like an SRT 10

    One last thing to do for these corner pieces. There are three metal clips that have to go on the sides to hold the panels tight to the body. I just have to pull the corner cladding pieces and measure down from the tape to the flanged edges. Here you can see a gap the will be closed up...
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