Can you see me smiling???

[donsrods]

Finally, after 5 years of building, my Son Dan has gotten his rpu painted and is starting to assemble it for the last time!!!![cl We decided to paint it ourselves as a decent paint job would be $ 4-$5000 and no shop would spend the time to properly prep each little panel the way we would.

We sprayed PPG etch primer and then DP90 onto the whole thing, sanded that smooth, and then shot two more coats of DP90 on the top and bottom. We then flipped the body over and shot an epoxy bedliner on the entire bottom. This thing should last a million years. When that cured, we turned it over, sanded the body one more time, and then shot two coats of SEM Hot Rod Black onto it. We had 17 body panels to shoot, and we still have 18 bed pieces to do.

The last thing we did was spray the entire interior of the cab with SEM "Chipguard" which is made to protect rocker panels from stone chips. We tinted it with more black paint, and it left a nice textured finish on the insides. Most of this will be hidden by carpeting and aluminum panels, but mainly he wanted to protect the body from ever rusting.

Here are some pictures. Will have to do this in two posts because you can only put so many pictures per post.

Don

 

[donsrods]

More pictures.................

 

[adamsoil43]

Its a shame to cover that with carpet and aluminum, looks good.

 

[tburnett]

wow that looks brand new! they didn't look that good when they came out!

 

[Pookie Bros]

Looks FANTASTIC!!!![cl

 

[Tripper]

WOW... that is fab!!! Is that a Brookville bod?

BoB

 

[donsrods]

Thanks guys. Yep Bob, it is a Brookville. We bought it unassembled so we could channel it and we thought it would be a piece of cake to assemble. Boy, were we wrong! Lots of nights we left the shop thinking things would never line up right, but finally we did get it to go together right.

It's come a long way since the day 2 1/2 years ago when UPS dropped off the 12 boxes.

Don

 

[Tripper]

Don,
I assume you're good at jigsaw puzzles!?!

BoB

 

[donsrods]

We are NOW!!!!!

Don

 

[jfg455]

you got any pics of the frame build? I like the formed center rails with the holes in them. Nice to see something other than 2x4 box tube in a frame. More of a "factory" look to it. Body looks killer! I love the SEM products especially up here in the rusty NE! [cl

 

[CORPO]

it sure looks great.. you and your son do great work!

 

[cycledog]

Quite nice![cl

 

[donsrods]

you got any pics of the frame build? I like the formed center rails with the holes in them. Nice to see something other than 2x4 box tube in a frame. More of a "factory" look to it. Body looks killer! I love the SEM products especially up here in the rusty NE! [cl

Thanks jfg.......... My computer crashed a while back and a lot of my early on pictures are locked in the old hard drive, but here are some I do have.

This is the Autoweld back half kit Dan started with. It came complete with the 9 inch rear, and four link setup.

Then we sliced it up and made it fit better into the bed area.

Then we had a local steel supply shop bend up the side rails and channel for the center X member.

This thing ended up being so heavy we had to use our gantry to turn it over for welding. When we took it to the powdercoater 4 guys had trouble carrying it. lol

Frame jigged up for welding.....

And after all the welding was done and 57 holes were punched in it....

All done and back from the Powdercoater......

 

[jfg455]

cool looking frame! and beffy too. Thanks for the insight! [

 

[ANNAMEL]

I hear ya man!!! All that hard work and sweat is paying off for ya. The frame is a true piece of workmanship and design. Excelent work!!

 

[the reverend muddy grimes]

Just curious, but is there a reason for 57 holes?

 

[donsrods]

Thanks Corpo, Cycledog, and Annamel. I missed your posts, must have been typing while you were posting.

Rev, yeah, the holes remove 2.3 lbs from the frame. No, actually they are just there to add some detail to an otherwise flat surface. Same reason we punch holes in our front axles and stuff like that.

Some of them may actually be functional though, allowing some air to pass under the body to help cool things like the transmission cooler, but that is probably a stretch.

Don

 

[rockb1]

Man thats looking good!! Cant wait to see it come along

 

[ratdog]

That looks terrific.That frame should have no flex in it at all.The paint job looks very nice with the textured areas as a contrast.

 

[35Mastr]

Getting that much closer. Looks really nice.