The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Archived Journals 1940 Chev 1/2 ton “Franken/Restomod”

Good day all;

This is my 2nd try writing this as the first time I had written the post when I tried to add the pictures I had an issue and hit the back button. Darn it, I lost it all so I get to do it again...
This post is also very similar to the post I made about the cab so if you experience déjà-vu its not you.
Friday I left work early as I wanted to get to the shop to set things up for Saturday morning. When I got there I was asked to get my cab onto a cart to make it mobile and easier to body work. Yes, you heard that right body work has started! The new apprentice at the shop, Kelsey has been working hard on my truck parts. She has the fenders scuffed and it sounds like she will be starting in on the cab next week. I think I was about an hour fabbing up the cart mounts to match the cab mounts then I was able to get to the box.
The box was to be the main focus for the weekend. It represents the last of the “BIG” pieces to be epoxied. Last weekend was the big weld up so I need to get the box blasted, sanded and epoxied. Friday I got the box loaded into the blasting bay, cleaned up the bay and loaded the pot with sand as well as changed the lens in the helmet. Since I am borrowing the space I like to clean it up and leave it in better shape than I find it.
Saturday morning I was up early, and was at the shop for about 8:30. Since everything was prepped I was in the bay blasting almost immediately. I had a number of loose pieces that I wanted to blast and epoxy as well since I was at it so I started with those. The wheel tubs were in that pile and while I was blasting them I noticed some pin holes. I stopped and popped out with them to the welding bay to fix the up and while doing that I noticed that I hadn’t finished repairing one tub. When I was first putting the tubs in I had cut away a portion of the bottom that I thought would be in the way. What I thought would be covered by the bed wood Turned out to be visible. I had replaced the cut portion on one tub but hadn’t done the 2nd so I fixed that up.
Back into the blaster I went and by noon I had the loose parts blasted and hung in the booth. After some lunch I got started on the box and having the hoist in there was sure a blessing. I can only imagine how hard it would have been to get the underside completed laying on the floor. After a couple of false starts; thinking I was done, blowing away all the sand only to discover some spots needing attention I was done! Whew, that feels really good to say... I probably spent at least 30 minutes blowing sand and crud out of all the nooks and crannies, but eventually I think I got it all.
Next I hit all the visible flat panels with some 180 grit to knock down the dimples. Once done, a quick last blow down and I was ready to paint. I have been putting on 2 coats of the epoxy, As I like the idea of the additional protection. The epoxy is the U-tech 250 stuff that I have been using. I started with the hang parts as I wanted a bit of a break for my aching back. I was pretty tired by this point and I was regretting adding in all the loose parts. To give the surfaces time to dry before adding the 2nd coat I bounced around getting the hanging parts then the underside of the box moving to the upper side and then starting over with the hang parts. I did stop for a 15 minute break for a snack and some water when I needed to reload the gun. The epoxy is a 3 part mix for a spray application. The ratio is 3:1:1 in that it is 3 parts base epoxy, 1 part hardener and 1 parts reducer.
I was home by 8PM, showered and relaxing on the couch by 8:30 and enjoying a well deserved beer. It is probably good that it was such a marathon of a day as it will stand out in my memory for a long time!

That is all for now, pictures to be added shortly.

Stay safe,
Steve