Hi all
I just signed up to this forum. I am building a hot rod of my dreams, well one of them anyway. It started life as a 1953 Ford pick up but there is not much left of the original truck. This is a whole new world for me but is in part a life long dream of mine. I have been working on it for the last 6 years or so, off and on. More off than on. It started life as a bunch of boxes of parts, not what I expected when I bought it but that is what I found when I went to pick it up. I have never done anything like this. Every thing I have learned comes from trying and reading, I have no mentors or anything like that, just a vision.
Here is what I started with.

And here is what it looks like today, well in the summer time when it works and is outside.

Well it looks like I will need to learn a bit more about posting on this forum. Computers and this stuff is not my strong suit. Sorry not sure how to edit this stuff.

Fixed it for you.

Nice looking project.

Good looking Truck for a Ford

Seriously though Nice ride, You gonna Put some paint on it?

So yes I am gong to be painting it. It is in epoxy primer right now. I did drive it a bit last summer but had some issues and it has not been driven since the begining of Aug. I am thinking of doing the rest of the body work over the winter but have some questions. The plan is to paint it myself unless I could find a person to make a deal with somehow. I have done everything else myself so what could go wrong. Worst case a mess up some paint and have to start over.
So for my questions, what do I do next? The body is in reasonably good shape, the repairs are done so not sure what the next step(s) should be. I would like to drive it this summer before putting final paint on just incase I have more issues and don't want to scratch my nice paint job. The plan is BC/CC in the brightest red I can find. Thinking 2018 Chevy Silverado, hot red. Same colour as my daily. All work is being done in my garage at home. So I guess I am asking what steps do I do now to get as close to perfect as possible.

Marten

If I were you I would Drive the heck out of it and fix all the issues you have with it BEFORE Paint,

As far as learning how to paint you basically came to the right place yup we can help with that!
What are the specs are on your compressor ???
Your compressor is the most important thing for painting anything.
If you don't have enough air your paint will look like dog poop.

Lets start with that theirs a lot more but lets start on the right foot

Doright wrote:If I were you I would Drive the heck out of it and fix all the issues you have with it BEFORE Paint,

As far as learning how to paint you basically came to the right place yup we can help with that!
What are the specs are on your compressor ???
Your compressor is the most important thing for painting anything.
If you don't have enough air your paint will look like dog poop.

Lets start with that theirs a lot more but lets start on the right foot

Yes that is the plan, to drive it this summer. I'm just a bit slow right now hobby wise so I thought I would do some body work now and paint later. I have a 60 gal compressor and home made cooling system that seems to work good. You can see it in the background of this picture.

When I say specs I mean how many CFM is the compressors Pump?
It will usually say x amount of cfm @ x psi and X amount at 90 psi or flat out x cfm ?

It is important as your Paint gun will require X amount of cfm at a certain pressure as will all your air tools. Air flow fluctuations will cause all kinds of problems you don't want.

Your plan is not bad just trying to help prevent some problems before they happen.
Your water trap looks like it is what many of us say to build to trap water IF it has at least 20 feet of pipe before your cooling trap? After that you need your water trap Oil filter and air filter assembly and then after that I like to see a desiccant drier but is not required not every one uses one.

Automotive paint isn't cheap and not having the right set up could cost you dearly.
Something I learned the hard way.

OK so I looked at the labels on the compressor and here is what I have.
5 hp, 22 amp and 220 volts, three pistons
18.5 cfm @ 100 psi and 16 cfm @ 140 psi
The water trap system you see has a drain valve and the bottom of each set of legs for a total of 4 drains

That my friend should work Very Very well, nice!

Ok so lets get to work whats first?

What exactly is under the current coating Of Epoxy? Do you know? Was ip applied of bare metal? Most of us go Bare metal first and build up from their. That way we know exactly whats under our paint!