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Changes in my job have got me hopping, but I continue to make progress on my truck as often as I can. We've had some very nice weather here which has made it nice to get lots of painting done. I'm trying to get as many of the big pieces painted before cooler and/or wet weather sets in. The place where I am doing this work is not the best environment for painting so my bar is not set very high. I keep telling myself that this isn't going to be a 'show truck.' Also, to paraphrase something an old boss used to say (about his welding abilities), I wouldn't make a pimple on a good painter's butt! In the end I hope to have a truck that will be fun to play with and still look pretty good going down the road. But I digress...

A couple months ago I temporarily mounted the front fenders to the truck so that I could (1) figure out how to do it before they are painted, (2) figure out where to install the turn signals, and (3) check the fender height (I had a concern about my radiator support not being 'square'). Since then I've painted the front fenders and the grill, and the hood is 75% done (inside painted; ready to paint the outside). To recap a bit, I'm a Union 76 collector so this truck is going to represent a gas station service truck, hence the blue and orange scheme. I matched the colors to a 1950's era porcelain enamel sign that I have hanging in my garage. The orange is a stock color (Sherwin-Williams) and the blue happened to match "Nissan Blue" (Wesco). Both are single-stage urethanes. I had issues with getting the orange thick enough to not see through it (which turned out to be an issue with my gravity fed spray gun, not the paint). I shot four coats the first go around. After that had cured I wet sanded the fenders and gave them three more coats. I had the same issue with the orange on the grill. That took five coats, the last two I shot with a different gun. Live and learn, I guess. I shot all of the blue on the grill first then masked for the orange (since the orange is in the front). What a nightmare! There are some spots where the parting lines are not as clean as I'd like so I will go back and touch those up with a 00 brush. Ultimately, one day when the budget allows, I hope to acquire a chrome grill to replace this painted one.

On a different note I also acquired new tires (thank you dad!) to go on the new 16x6 rims that I bought. I painted the rims blue (they came powder coated black). Once I install the hubcap clips the rims will get another shot of blue. I'm really looking forward to seeing the truck sitting on these one day soon.

After shopping for cab glass via the usual vendors, I decided that I did not need to spend so much money on shipping (which basically doubled the cost of new glass and has a 4-6 week lead time). I took my old windshield glass to a local shop and had new ones cut. Then, thanks to an ad on Craigslist, I picked up brand new glass for the rear window, the vent windows and the door windows (all LMC products for a project that went a different route) at half cost. The hour and a half drive to pick them up was well worth it.

Next on the docket is to get the windshield installed while the fenders are off, then the front end can go together.