Some progress on my 83

[volaredon]

Had this frame blasted and primed earlier this summer, finally got it painted yesterday.... First time I ever painted with an HVLP gun I used Sherwin Williams hi solids polyurethane paint as was suggested by the rep from SW based on the primer the sandblaster guy used on this frame. That paint is EXPENSIVE even knowing someone who works for the SW plant near me, but if it holds up it'll be worth it. The sandblaster guy used a SW 2 part epoxy primer, (macropoxy 646) and the hi solids is likewise a 2 part epoxy.
I did this in my son's 2 acre yard so I had plenty of room for over spray to settle on the ground instead of on something i wasn't wanting it on...
I mixed a quart of paint with the 25% (8oz) of part B and the max suggested 15% of thinner (the thinner for this paint is $60/gallon) and I only had to mix another 8oz of paint plus the part B and thinner to coat this whole thing and seemingly quite a heavy coat at that, and I went back over a couple of spots a 2nd coat.

 

[volaredon]

I am going to check out a different (hopefully better) cab for it tomorrow that doesn't need patch panels on the roof I got a nasty surprise when my cab was stripped off a "military" truck so hopefully it wasn't subject to a road salt bath over its life

 

[Dan64]

Frame looks great, I had the same deal with roof rust on my 87'. Cut it off through the pillars and replaced it. Any updates on your project?

 

[volaredon]

Not lately. Was at the body shop a week ago no progress.
I have another cab and a nice roof off of (yet) another cab, cab #2 roof is much better than the roof on the cab at the body shop that they claim they can fix .. but yet said "absolutely not" to cutting the posts and grafting on a nice roof. The one at the shop has lots of holes between the clearance light holes but is better at the gutter, the one I have here the skin is nice except right at the gutter area, the underside of the gutter on the cab I have at home is the worst of that one.

I did the floor pan work on the one that's at the body shop before I took it in, they told me that they'd use the cab I have here if I swapped trans tunnels here, to which I said id rather do the floor pan work as it's less seen, they'd rather work on the outer roof....
Id really like to lay the cab I have here on it's back and try to use lead to fill in the underside of the gutter area, it has the top side of the drip rail as a backer so the lead wouldn't just seep thru .. then transfer my 4 speed tunnel to this cab. I did a lot of bodywork the 1st cab but that doesn't make it right. With all this is costing me I don't want anything half assed.
If I do up this cab I will probably go junking and harvest another 4 speed/4x4 tunnel and start fresh with that vs cutting out the one I welded in the 1st cab...... Been busy with work and weather related disasters around the house like frozen gutters, chipping away gutters full of ice to keep them from falling off...... I have 6 gutter hangers in a row that aren't holding up anything over my patio sliding door..... Cleaning out the gutters on the north side of my house the other night with a hatchet a welders chipping hammer and a straight claw carpenter's hammer was 4 hours of hell a couple of nights ago this week ... And it's like 4*F out there now.... supposed to be in the high 30s/ maybe even 40 mid week next week so I'll have to get after that gutter then....
Wish I had a place inside I could move my 78 fury to for winter to free up some of my garage space. No I ain't selling it
I have the fury up on my lift and the cab on wheeled, furniture dolleys underneath it

 

[volaredon]

Just ordered floor pans for the cab at home. Don't know if I will need them completely, or just sections. Usually I fab my own. I have to get busy with my grinder and wire wheel to see for sure
This cab came off a '90 that was a military truck when new. The cab in paint jail is also a 90, both are from 2wd A/T Cummins trucks. The original cab that the body shop has my son and I have had stored (bare) in a friend's barn on pallets for at least 10 years. Hadn't seen daylight in all those years and still had issues.... Some I knew about from as soon as I got it out of the barn ( but didn't know all those years it was stored) while others I didn't know about until I put all the work I did into it, and then had it sandblasted bare. All the common areas that these cabs are known for problems ( except for the roof which looked perfect before blast) are excellent. Cab mounts, floor pan, cab corners, rockers. All great.

 

[volaredon]

The biggest issue with the first cab was that originally it must have been from a cab and chassis that had the back wall cut out and whoever fixed it did a hodge podge job of replacing it with Bondo and pop rivets, I ground all that out and welded it in solid, thinking that I would live with it being in areas that would be hidden when the truck was whole, by Carpet, upholstery and the front wall of the bed.... . But when I discovered all the Swiss cheese in the roof which means $$$ time and materials in the body shop that if I could find a better cab that would be less $$ for time and materials so the paint bill would be less. I hesitated to buy the 2nd one when I seen flaking rust over the windshield but took a chance anyway... It's still better than the original in other ways and the roof definitely isn't "as" bad but still not perfect. I might almost be able to use the roof from the military cab to fix the other cab, and put the '87 roof I have onto the military cab. And then sell one and recoup " some". But at this point I'm ok with sacrificing the first cab and fixing the 2nd one and chalk it up to "experience", "learning experience" , ,"training" sort of thing. I don't get back the cost of sandblasting the original cab but I am glad to know the truth about its condition vs spending money to put lipstick on a pig sort of thing. The last thing I want is to spend all the money and have things go bad in a couple of years... That would be a waste