Hey guys,

As you may have heard, half the state of Oregon is on fire. I have family that lost everything. Among the items lost was a brand new truck that the insurance company totaled. As I look it over, it doesn’t look bad at all. It has some melted plastic bits, which I think would be easy enough to replace, but the paint has a bit of a yellowish tint to it in a couple places. Most of it is over the letters on the tailgate, which could be swapped easily enough, but there is a small bit of yellowing on the bed side. I’d like to not have to do any paint work. What do y’all think my chances might be of wet sanding and polishing it out? I haven’t tried yet, as I want to get my hands around the buyback price before I make it look too easy to repair. Thoughts?

Off and on I have to work with metal, plastic, and woods that have been in fires. If a fire is hot enough to see yellowing I find it very hard to just "compound" it out. You'll just have to sample it. I'd be inclined to try to do a light wet sand with maybe 1000 grit or higher just to see what is on the sandpaper and how it reacts. As for compound I'd be starting with something like the 3M Super Duty and just see what it can do. If you are lucky it could be more of a smoke component but yellow usually means the beginning of a cooked coating.
Call around for pricing....https://www.amazon.com/05954-3M%C3%AF%C ... 54&sr=8-10

Thanks for the reply. I tried a little cheap compound my buddy had, as all the good stuff went up in flames. It didn’t help. I figured start with 800-1000 and work my way up. Just didn’t want to start until I know the buyback number.

Yeah, makes sense.....

jkesselr wrote:Thanks for the reply. I tried a little cheap compound my buddy had, as all the good stuff went up in flames. It didn’t help. I figured start with 800-1000 and work my way up. Just didn’t want to start until I know the buyback number.

factory clear=very thin clear. dont be surprised if you sand through.

^^^^^^^^^^agree with that....by the time you've removed the "problem" you've also started removing the clear.....

With temps that severe, I'd also be concerned with the interior
pieces. Dash, seats, carpet, door seals, etc. will deteriorate very
quickly after that much heating. Not to mention drive-train parts.

I'd look it over very closely, not just the paint.
It was totaled for a reason.

(Sorry about your family's loss. Hope all are now safe.)

NightTrain wrote:With temps that severe, I'd also be concerned with the interior
pieces. Dash, seats, carpet, door seals, etc. will deteriorate very
quickly after that much heating. Not to mention drive-train parts.

I'd look it over very closely, not just the paint.
It was totaled for a reason.

(Sorry about your family's loss. Hope all are now safe.)

good call.
boots on suspension/steering/brake parts, rubber mounts, maybe even wheel bearing,ball joint, u joint greases could have gotten hot enough to be damaged/ooze out. theres also electrical insulations that could have gotten a little too hot and became brittle.
might be better to part it out. thats whatll happen when it gets to a boneyard.

I hear what y’all are saying about the potential for more extensive damage, but I just don’t think it is there. The fire was near the right rear corner, but the split loom for the wiring Back there wasn’t melted. The only suspension bits that are even back there would be leaf spring bushings and a shock. The spray in bedliner wasn’t melted, but the bed caps were a bit melty around the edges. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of work there, but if the price is right, it might make sense.