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10/22/25: I hit a massive milestone today: The cab is painted!

The last week has been a grueling. You all know the routine—it’s the part of the job that takes 90% of the time. It was four solid days of wet sanding with, rinse, apply a bit more prime, spot putty, and repeat.

Yesterday, I finally reached the finish line on the prep. To get ready for the actual spraying, I moved the truck outside so I could thoroughly clean both the cab and the shop. I stripped off all the old masking, blew out every crack and cranny, wiped down the body meticulously, and then proceeded to re-mask the cab completely.

I moved the truck back inside and spent the better part of the day constructing a makeshift spray booth, hanging painters drop plastic cloths from floor to ceiling. Once the booth was set, I installed a 20-inch fan in one window, backed by a furnace filter, to create positive pressure and hopefully keep out the bugs.

When it was finally time to spray, I cracked the garage door open about six inches to let the fumes escape. I knew the risk of letting in a few airborne pests, so I applied an additional, sacrificial coat just for that purpose. My new compressor performed flawlessly throughout the process.

Aside from a couple of minor runs (which will easily sand out once the paint cures), the paint came out absolutely awesome, with very little orange peel.

It was a tough week of work, but seeing that shiny, fresh paint makes every minute of sanding worthwhile.

My plan is to leave the temp spray booth up so I can paint my doors and if the weather holds out, possibly the hood.

Great day today.