Blue Ribbon 4x4 Build Thread

Moving along. I really forgot how bright the chase lights were. Hoping to lay down some paint today.

 

Getting that 2k down before the weekend is over

 

So sparkly!

 

Yessir!!

 

These aren’t getting put back together till Friday.

 

Sweet!

 

Thanks!

 

Late last night I put these things together. Got the surround paint and clear down. Tomorrow they get installed.

 

The tails were ready for the 6th annual anniversary meet for my truck club. Good attendance, lots of raffle prizes, and tons of donations to Veterans.

 

Complete!! The chase lights are super bright, and the parking light bars are deep red and bright as well.

 

Love how these tails came together.

You may have mentioned before…how is the light output from your reverse lights w/o the reflector bowl?

 

I think the lights in his bumper come on as well, IIRC. The one in the taillight could probably be taped over and he'll still sear the retinas of the neighbors and he backs out of the driveway.

 

Lol fair enough

 

Adam is correct.
I’ve always been disappointed with the back up lighting in any car, even with LEDs. My wife’s car is terrible too, and my eyesight just gets worse every day. So reflector bowl or not, I needed more. We have a long dark driveway and while off-road, back up lights need to be bright. The Amazon lights (6 years now!) in the rear bumper are wired to reverse, it’s one of my favorite mods.

 

Haha fair…fair…

Looks great. Thanks for the response!

 

Yessir! And thank you!

 

Took about 20 minutes, including sourcing tools and materials. I did the throttle body coolant bypass mod. I live in an extremely dry climate, with a very short winter. My goal is to not change back to the original position once a year. Thanks to @HulkSmurf14 for answering my questions and convincing me to go for it.

Removed the intake tube and throttle body. Thought I could do it without removing the throttle body but it was actually easier to complete the task by doing so.


Reroute already finished. I loosened the clamp on the right so it could rotate, then attached the other end that was on the throttle body to it’s new location.


Then used some heat shrink tubing. Heat it up and pinch the ends to seal up the old fittings.


That’s it. My dirty ass engine bay.

 

Ooooooh yeah!! Nice work!! Easy win and you didn't need to buy anything!!

 

Yessir!!

 

...........


Red?!?!?!?!

 

I didn’t have blue!!

 

How is this holding up? I was thinking about plastidippin my hood bulge and then the outer grill frame, and then spraying some black primer and then a black matte paint then the matte clear. How do you think this would work?

 

I think it would work great. This process that I stumbled upon has really worked out great. I would give that plastidip plenty of time to dry out before painting over.
I purchased some 2K matte clear a while ago to go over the Rustoleum matte clear, but it has held up so well I’d hate to ruin it. Here’s the bulge today-the truck is filthy but I wiped down the bulge. There are zero paint chips. Zero.

 

okay sweet thank you! Ill prob give the plasti dip several days to dry or longer, i have no plans to use the truck or go anywhere so it shouldnt be a problem. I attempted to get the bulge off and unfortunately i broke at least 10 of the brackets that hold on the the black grille insert and the actual bulge. I tried hot gluing them so hopefully that works. im about to clean it off good and try the plastidip. Did you sand your chrome before you did the dip? Thanks for your time man for real!

 

No worries! All I did for prep was clean really well with alcohol. Thin coats! I think I did like 7-8 coats. The only difference will be that you won’t have a layer of sanded bedliner, but I think your paint will hold up fine. Those little plastic tabs are a pain!!

 

New to me adjustable Kings for the rear!!! Good to go in all four corners.

 

They on yet?

 

Haha, YES!!! I’m heading out to hit the dirt right now.

 

Grinning from ear to ear!!!
Crazy how they soften up the faster you go.