so heres the scoop, i finally got a mini truck and its the dakota what i wanted. my plans for this are big but will come a little bit at a time and i cant promise myself they will all be accomplished, perhaps alternatives will pursue. I will update this thread as i go along

heres the truck



im the kinda guy who likes to learn and get his hands dirty, so in light of that i already decided im gonna paint it myself. ive never painted with a spray gun, i bought a cheap airbrush last year and dabbled with it a bit. i did a custom interior on my grand am, ive learned quit a bit on how to apply, how to fix runs etc. with some help my brother when he comes for holidays if im slacking. hes a 3rd year bodyman so any help is there.

when i first picked the truck up, the first thing i noticed was the clearcoat was fading on that nasty purple. i can tell it was repainted because i found runs in the paint on the inside of the door where the door latch is.

heres a shot of the clearcoat



so today ive started the stripping of the chrome trim, drivers side door. which at my surprise wasnt too ugly, one spot of rust not eating through in the front bottom of the door.

heres the trim coming off and off

 

Good luck with the overhaul!

Painting can be very expensive... both the materials and tools you'll need.

What colour are you going with?

 

thanks, im gonna go with something similar to Newleaf Green... heres a sample

http://www.colourlovers.com/palette/.../Into_The_Wood

im gonna be picking up materials as i go, i wont be starting the actual base coat till august, but im gonna have a couple months to patch up and get it ready

 

ripped off some more trim, the box top rail trim and drivers box trim... little scary!

 

time was limited, about 10 minutes got me here:



today i picked up:

Bondo Glass Repair Kit
Bondo Body Filler
few sheets of sandpaper
Primer
Bondo Mesh
Nitril Gloves
Tach Cloth

$50 total, but i used my canadian tire money so it all cost me $20

 

Ouch that looks pretty rotted.

You plan on cutting it out and welding in a patch panel right?

 

i cut out the rust and used bondo mesh, i just have touchups to do now. pinholes and such in the filler. i dont have a welder or access to use one so i had to go the mesh way, otherwise i would have used a plate. but nonetheless its holding up pretty good. this weekend im gonna rip the other side trim off and see whats underneath. ill be doing the small rust on drivers side in the next 2 weeks. ill post up some updated pictures this weekend

 

so i didnt get it done on the weekend, but i did get another coat on that after sanding and using a flapper disc to get the high spots. im gonna sand some more during the week if i can and do another coat to finish it so that spot is done. heres a pic




the fiberglass is very solid for that spot

 

Looking good so far, did you make sure to get rid of all the rust?

I'd hate to see that rot out again in a year or two after all the work you're putting into it.

Good luck!

 

yeah i cut it all out for that spot, all the other spots on the drivers side was surface rust. ill be doing the rear of the box by the bumper next, im gonna brake and roll a small sheet at work for that one and weld it in