Author Topic: Mazda B2600 paint -Turning a 'sow's ear into a silk purse' the Earl Scheib way!  (Read 12952 times)

Offline goodfellow

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This was a last attempt at saving an "old friend". I've owned this truck since new in 1988, and I love it, but I didn't want to go broke; hence the "Earl Scheib" approach.

I've debated just getting rid of it, but it's such a rare piece these days and such a great 4x4 that I decided to give it one last shot at a life. Yesterday I replaced the front calipers and changed the oil, and now it's time to clean it and get it ready for some metal work and paint. Not a show paint job, but a driveway special done under an awning next the machine shop. It will get cleaned with the pressure washer from head to toe.



The OEM paint job will get sanded and we'll put some paint on the truck. I have plenty of Ford Red and Black Valspar paint in stock and it needs to be used up. What better way to do that than to respray the truck on the cheap.







The interior will get vacuumed, shampooed and cleaned as well .....



... while the exterior will stripped of decals and rust, and the inner fender wells will need some new metal welded into the rust holes.







The rear bumper will get rebuilt on the cheap ......



... and the engine compartment will get a good de-greasing and cleaning





That's the project for the rest of this month and early October. Then it's full-on Jag time --

Wish me luck!! -- Onward --

 

Offline goodfellow

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It needs a lot of love.  Everything is rusty, but some of the fasteners are still workable.



Surprisingly the radiator and condenser are in pretty good shape!



The front bumper is a mess -- rusty fasteners are holding it together; which means I'm not even going to try to take it apart for cleaning and painting. I will wash it, clean it, sand it and paint it as one piece.



I used a solvent-based wax remover to get off the plastic oxidation, and then washed it with soap to open up the pores.





I then sanded it with 320 and called it day



This is Earl Scheib rattle can all the way -- The new stuff from Krylon has the primer and adhesion promoter already mixed in the paint. It's supposed to be the new choice for plastic and metal. 



While is was at it I also removed the rear bumper -- totally rusted underneath, but I'll weld in a new section. Welding surgery will begin tomorrow.



Otherwise the rear looks OK



All masked up and ready for the plastic coat. I stuck with original colors -- gray for the plastic and black for the metal bumper itself.



Looks passable and will make a big difference in the look of this old truck





Done for today!


Offline goodfellow

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The rear bumper on this thing is totally gone. Time for a redneck rebuild. First I needed to dissect it to see what was still salvageable......





.... apparently not much!! -- LOL   -- RUST & RUST!!



The lower tube was totally gone, but the heavy steel frame mounting brackets were OK -- so I cut them out and cleaned them up with a grinder. Thank God for plasma cutters !!





At the end of two hours this is what was left -- upper tubes are OK, lower totally gone.





Lots of rust to grind, but this thing is still salvageable. You just can't find an OEM bumper for a 1988 B2600 anymore.





Now for the rebuild -- I thought I had a few drops of 3" steel tubing left, but they went bye-bye to the neighbor last year for two fence posts. They would have been perfect; time for another plan. Thanks to our old friend Bob (Heiny57) I'm in possession of a wide assortment of angle iron that he kindly gave to me after he finished a job in my neck of the woods some years ago. I decided to use 2-1/2" x 1/4" angle iron to fab up a new lower bumper. Heavy duty for sure, and it will be stronger than the OEM tube.

Thanks again for the steel Bob -- it comes in handy for these type of redneck engineering jobs.



I'm going to use the angle iron to make a box and use the box as the lower tube. All I have to do is mod the round profile on the mounts and make them square to receive the angle iron.







Time to weld and to take that rounded tube mount and make it square







All tacked in place







Done -- I put some black oil based primer on the bumper because of all the old rust spots. Tomorrow I'll grab a couple of Rustoleum Hammered spray bombs and give it a nice black hammered finish. For now the oil based primer needs to dry overnight.





Not a perfect rebuild, but with that heavy boxed angle, it certainly is more heavy duty than when it came from the factory.

Offline goodfellow

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Made short work out of this one today. I needed to remove the toolbox, bedliner, sick-on decals and finally get at the rust in the wheel wells.

The toolbox has been on this thing since 1988 -- I put it on a week after I took delivery. Amazing that it still looks good and hasn't cracked or sagged. It, along with the bedliner were purchased at the local Montgomery Ward auto center at the time. Ahh, the good old days!!







Amazing what blows in under the liner in three decades -- LOL



One of the mounting holes for the box is rusted. I guess I didn't use enough silicone to keep the moisture out. The other three points were perfect.



Decals come off easy with a good heat gun -- even baked on and hardened stuff like mine.



Finally I was able to get the car into the garage and put it up jack stands to tackle the rust on the right-hand side. Pretty bad on one the section where the inner fender meets the floor pan.



The inner fender on the other hand looks great -- that fender liner sure did its job.



Bottom part of the floor pan and the fender well is totally rusted through





Just hitting it with a body hammer made a huge mess -- Rust and more Rust!!!



I cut out the most offending area and made a new 18ga steel patch.







Tacked the patch in, then stitch welded it up and went on my way -- no grinding or blending. Just the patch and the welds; that's good enough for this Earl Scheib job.



I put some self etching primer on it and a few coats of black paint, then after it's dried overnight, I'll throw on a thick coat of sealer and undercoat.





The whole patch job took two-and-a-half hours -- DONE. Tomorrow I'll patch up the other side.

Just call me Earl Scheib Junior!! -- Earl used to advertise that he'd give you $10 free metalwork with a paint job. I guess this metalwork is worth about $10 a side. -- LOL

Offline goodfellow

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Managed to stay the course and complete the driver's side. It wasn't as bad as the passenger side, but it was a lot of smaller patches and hence it was much more "fiddly" to deal with.

First the interior was cut out with the plasma torch and a new patch fit over the hole.





The exterior was riddled with small rot holes that ate into the double wall. I cleaned them and sprayed with rust eater, the welded small patches over them.



Finally I sprayed everything with bedliner paint and undercoat. Once it's cured I completely goop it up with a tar compound





Per Earl Scheib, that takes care of the $10 dollars of "free" metalwork per side. I can now start to sand, fill and prime as necessary.

Offline goodfellow

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Order of the day was to sand.... and sand.... and finally; sand some more. I used 80 to get at the rough spots and smoothed everything out with 220 grit.
The hood has a sizable dent in it -- that will have to be metalworked and filled.



Other than that there were a few surface rust spots that the 80 grit took care of in short order.





Hardest part was cleaning and smoothing the sections where the old molding and stick-on lettering/stripes used to be.





Once the hood is fixed, I'll have to give the truck a thorough wash and degrease; then spot prime some sections and sand with 320 wet. A job for next week. I'm leaving town for a few days, but will get back on it Wednesday.

Offline goodfellow

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The decision was pretty well made for me when I pressure washed the bed this morning. Rust and more rust hiding beneath the bubbled paint.







So I took out the old O/A cutting torch and went about getting this rusted hulk free from the frame. It was hot and humid outside so I had to work in the garage with the AC on for most of this job. I constructed a bed lifting frame out of some scrap channel iron and hooked up to my garage hoist. Lots of other small bolts and clips to undo but finally the bed came off without a hitch







I quickly made a dolly out of some scrap 2x4's and set the bed on that for the time being to get it out of the way.



I rolled it behind the machine shop for storage until I can get at next week with the welder.



The truck frame is rusted and this will give me a chance to scrub it and put some paint on it.



The cab itself is in pretty good shape.



I guess I'll have to add another $20 worth of Earl Scheib metal work to the bill!! 


Offline goodfellow

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Got back from a trip early this morning and since it was such a great day I decided to work from home and do a bit on the truck. We had near freezing temps last night, but today it was perfect -- sunny, dry, and temps in the 70's. Perfect time to lay on some frame paint

I wire wheeled the frame as best I could and then used a generous mix of Valspar Tractor Paint (Gloss Black) to spray every nook and cranny on the rear frame. I also did the front core support and valance while I had the wire wheels and painting equipment out.



I didn't remove the harness -- too many rusted fasteners. I just painted right over the entire harness -- wires, clips and everything. Fast and cheap!!



Same treatment for the front -- wire brush the rust, prime a few spots and spray the heck out of it in three coats. I can't say enough about the Valspar paint. It's definitely a durable product.



I did use an HVLP primer gun to lay on three very thick coats (well actually a thin first "tack" coat, then two very thick cover coats). I also used the recommended hardener  -- it makes it a very tough gloss, and I reduced the paint with plain medium temp reducer -- mix ratio was 3:1:1 (paint, reducer, hardener).





While I was waiting for the paint to dry i cut out the big rust area on the bed. Thank God for air saws and air hammers -- they made short work of the rot.





I finally made a straight tape line for the cutting wheel and will weld in a piece of 1/8" mild steel to cover the hole. Nothing fancy -- but i will have to slit the existing ribs in the bed to hammer them down onto the new straight metal patch.





I'll have to grind the existing bed flange clean and prep the bed for welding - but that's a job for tomorrow!


Offline goodfellow

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Was able to cut out most of the rust in the truck bed this afternoon. The entire bed is rusty and I just went after the most corroded parts. i could spend a month patching, grinding, sanding and rustproofing, but in the end the result would be the same -- more rust!! The problem with welding in patches is that the old adjacent metal will blow a hole the minute the MIG wire touches it -- hence it's best to stitch weld a little colder than normal. Less penetration for sure, but good enough for a Earl Scheib job.

I first welded in the structural portion of the rear bed with heavy 1/8"x2-1/2" hot rolled flat steel and burned it in very tight on the rear cross member.



Then I slit the bed ribs and hammered them down to meet the flat bar and stitch welded all the seams





Next I cut out all the large rust areas and just patched them with 18ga steel -- no grinding or fancy welding to minimize warping. Just burn it in and forget about it.







Finally I sprayed the interior and exterior weld areas with rustproofing and heavy bedliner goop. It should hold for a few more years.





Tomorrow I'll finish up the welding and prep the bed for painting.


Offline goodfellow

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Finished that patches today, but there were many more patches than I originally thought  -- too many! The wheel housing presented a few problems but after the rust was removed I just sprayed it with weld-thru primer and cut a patch.









Anyway, I managed to weld them up and get onto the lower edges of the bed fender flares. One side of which the mounting tab had rusted completely off. So I cut out with the grinding wheel and fabricated a mounting tab and lower fender patch. Since this shows I took my time on this one and worked the metal a bit to get a good transition. It won't need any filler, just some primer surfacer to get it ready for paint.







Patch is welded in and metal worked ...



....while the rear fender holding tab was made from 18ga and tack welded onto the new patch --  good as new!





Finally, I ground the fender tub and sprayed some bedliner goop to ensure that the patch doesn't rust from the inside and the underside.



All-in-all about a dozen patches later this thing is as good as it's going to get. Time to prep the bed and the cab for paint.


Offline goodfellow

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I was a little pressed for time yesterday but I was able to spot prime the cab and bed and put down a nice coat of exterior chip guard. The stuff is tough and is paintable  and will protect the lower edges for years.

First the lower bed section .......






... then the cab.







Now I'll have to spend a few days on paint prep and build a spray area under my portable garage -- no paint booth, this is strictly shortcut plastic sheeting to keep wind and debris out.
A little dust won't matter on this job -- Earl would be so proud!!! LOL 


Offline goodfellow

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Started on the white upper cab, the upper jambs, and the bed sides this morning. This stuff is thick -- it required a good half hour to stir the pigment into the binder.



Taped up the upper jambs and roof and cut them in









One tack coat and two full coats later it was white -- boy was it white! The pics don't do this Valspar Gloss White justice. The stuff pops!!!









I also prepped and painted the side vent panels





Then, while the other stuff was drying, I prepped the bed and tailgate and cut them in with? -- you guessed it --- WHITE!!
-it will eventually be red on top, white in the middle, and red on the bottom.







Three coats later and we have WHITE!!







It's a bit overwhelming -- all that white, but I think when I lay on the red portions it will become a more cohesive scheme. Trying to make a Mazda look like a Chevy with a white/red color pattern probably wasn't in Earl Scheib's $49.95 repertoire --- LOL


Offline goodfellow

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Made some progress over the last two days - and the first coats of paint are down. I decided to do the bed first to see if this color scheme was really as appealing as i thought it would be; thinking that if it goes to hell, I can change my mind on the cab side.

I blocked the bed with 320 and masked it up --







I also sprayed the rear lower valance with some white just to soften the red that I will put on top of it.



The color is a bit orange, but for this job it's probably just perfect -- lets hope so!!!
BTW -- Puppy Pads make great spill mats when mixing and pouring paint





I laid down three coats -- one tack coat and two full wet coats.







After all that I had a very small sag on the right lower corner, but it evened out a bit while drying and noone will notice.  I won't even bother to fix it.

While everything was drying on the bed, I also cut in the fenders and cowl with red paint, and it was getting dark and colder I only had time to but in the drivers side sills with red.





By the time I was done with all that work, the bed had tacked up enough to uncover the job. I carefully peeled back the paper and tape to reveal the finished bed.

I LIKE IT!!!! It looks gorgeous. This is a true Chevy combination and the Ford Red is perfect for this job. It just "orangy" enough to make this thing pop.









Tomorrow I tackle the cab --

Offline goodfellow

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Manged to finish this part before the weather started to turn -- it's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, and late afternoon the wind and clouds started to roll in.
Masking this thing is a bear, but then I prepped the cab with 320 grit paper, degreased it, and tacked it off with a cloth.









Ready for some Ford Red tractor paint --



I cut in the corners and remaining sills and let her rip.







Three coats later it was all dome with --





Right fender had a bug in it on the first coat, but a pair of tweezer got him out and the two subsequent coats covered the imperfection.



Hood came out nice -- good flow-out



I'll wait a day for this to dry and then hit it with the remaining white layer on Monday


Offline goodfellow

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Finished up the last of the paint today -- mainly the white middle panel sections on the cab. Talk about masking tape everywhere -- because the white center section had to be extended into the door jambs to make it look good.





.....BUT the masking nightmare was worth it -- it came out looking very good. I'll wait a few days for the paint to harden and then start reassembly by putting the bed back on the frame. I had to fab up some new mounts for the bed because I cut the old rusted ones with a torch to get the bed off.

Here it is -- done with paint. Next week I'll color sand and buff it out a bit just to make it look a bit more professional.













An old Mazda 4x4 with a classic Chevy paint scheme --- it seems to work!!

Offline goodfellow

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Finally finished this damn truck. It was a nice adventure, and a lesson in backyard mechanics; that being it takes twice as long as you originally planned. It was worth it though --

I had to clean the inside panels. Best way to clean molding and kick panels is to use carb cleaner to get the oxidized film and then use tire cleaner to make it shine -- works very well. All these panels were totally crudded up and oxidized -- they look almost new after the carb cleaner and tire shine.









After everything was done -- here's the finished product. A good driveway refurbish --

The hardest part was getting the bed aligned on the new fabricated mounts, but after that it was gravy!!!







All Done!!!!



Repainted the grill and added some silver touches to the buckets cutouts











Time to clean up the garage and have a cigar and an adult beverage.


Offline goodfellow

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Got home a day early from a trip and was able to spend some time in the garage to finish this thing up. The molding and pinstripes showed up a few days ago and i was eager to get them on the truck.

I decided (with the wife's help) that the dark silver gray pinstripe was best for the top parting line.





Then I cut and fit the body side molding and decided to install it up-side down (chrome showing on top) versus the traditional C-10 look of having the chrome run on the bottom edge of the molding. I think it looks better that way on a small truck.





All-in-all the truck looks clean and straight, and the pinstripe and molding accents add to that "straight" illusion. --- Because underneath all that fresh paint and bling is still a marginal rust prone 30 year old truck; but at least it looks good in the driveway again.




Offline goodfellow

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She' s cleaned up inside and out and the wife and I attended a neighbor's B-day party last night. So we decided to take the truck. The results were surprising, and it goes to show you how differently women and men think.  :)

All the women at the party (including my wife) didn't like the paint job on the truck. They didn't hate it, but they all said it wasn't a favorite color combo. Conversely all the men liked the paint job very much, and some of the older guys even understood the significance of the GM style paint scheme -- it boggles the mind.  lolx lolx lolx

On the way home we got rained out and the new paint was given it's first bath -- it faired well. Took it to the car wash this morning and it's shiny again.






Offline WoodenNickle

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I'm gonna send some of your pictures to Earl.  His reaction?  That looks like a $89.95 job to me.  You got his phone number?  I want to hire him!
Cheers,
Tom

Keep smiling.  Everyone will wonder what you're up to!

Offline Lookin4_67GalaxieConv

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Very nice job, Ray, and thanks for documenting so extensively.  Lots of good info here. 
boop/bop/beep