Detailing Project: 1995 Chevy 1500 w/t

Thank you very much. Means alot coming from a guy with so much detailing experience and knowledge

 

I have to say the pics don't do it justice. It looks much better in person, and looked much worse in person when it was dropped off. It was a great experience for me and I learned a lot.

 

Optimum actually recommends using an HVLP gun....

https://youtu.be/LI9HLpeJZdg

 

I'd be proud to have made that truck look the way you did

 

Same here.

 

Thanks fellas

 

Well my bro and SIL came to pick up the truck today and they were overwhelmed with how good it looked. SIL was nearly in tears saying her grandpa would be proud and she hasn't seen it look this good since he was driving it 15 years ago. They plan to make room in the barn for it this weekend. I sent off a small bottle of ech2o mixed to a quick detailer ratio, a bottle of megs ceramic spray wax and a few MF towels for maintenance washes, but asked if anything major needs to be done to bring it by. I will see it again in Oct/Nov for fluid film application so I'll likely do a quick hydro2 treatment and optimum tire coating to add some protection thru winter. I'm really happy with how it came out and learned a lot in the process.

 

Oh and I added some LED headlights yesterday because the stockers were so bad, they are stamped DOT but idk, these are ridiculously bright and need to be adjusted down, but my brother can take care of that, it rarely gets driven but still needs to be safe and not blind oncoming traffic. I sent him a link on how to adjust them so he will do that one night soon.

 

My brother took the truck to a concert to do some tailgating. He said dozens of people came up and complemented him on the truck. And 2 guys asked if he would sell it. the police/event parking even gave him a nice spot near the gate and away from the riff raff for no charge. He gave my number to one of the officers who asked him who detailed the truck. So maybe I have a potential customer now lol.

 

Thanks Steve. That was before I even tried the 105. I read a great article on detailedimage about being able to get a lot of cut from 205 by saturating your pad which keeps it from getting clogged with clearcoat. It actually worked very well, but in the interest of time and product I did end up doing a full 2 step with 105, then 205, testing various pads as I went.
I found the lake country wool cutting disc was best with 105, lots of cutting power, then the hdo yellow, followed by buff and shine urofiber, and lastly the mega MF cutting discs. Then I used 205 with the urofiber and LC hdo orange pads which did a nice job finishing down. I tried some areas with a black bad but didnt find it made enough of a difference to go over the truck again.

 

Thanks. I have to say, I surprised myself. I still have a long ways to go but this was a nice learning project for sure.

 

Drove over to the sugar shack earlier. The truck still looks good and is slick and shiny. It's been driven a few times in the rain and stored outdoors. It could use a wash but everything still looks great.

 

What a great looking truck. Fun project for sure. Just curious, have you checked under that drop in liner? I only ask because there was a thread recently where people were chiming in about bed rot under those. Would hate to see that happen with this one.

 

Yeah I have and there is quite a bot of surface rust but nothing too bad, BUT until a couple years ago it has always been stored inside and had a cap on it. The plan is to pull the liner and spray the bed with fluid film, as well as the frame, suspension, undercarriage, and the back side of all the accessible body panels this fall. I will be trying to talk my brother into investing in getting a spray in bed liner but I'm not sure he is willing to invest. If not I'll get fluid filmed and the drop in put back in place.

 

Good deal. I'd just try to buff or sand that rust first. Fluid Film will be a good choice if he's too cheap to pay for the spray on bedliner.

 

@Pudge Any mid-term feedback on those headlights? I just picked up a 1988 E350 with square lamps &.... well 1988 tech.
and did it require any wiring updates or were they plug & play?
Thanks.

 

They were plug and play. They are ridiculously bright and blinding so I wouldn't recommend them if you drive much at night, this truck is very rarely out past dusk. I was able to aim the down enough to be driveable.
As far as I know they are still working fine, I did not notice any condensation issues in them when I saw the truck last week and it's been sitting out in all the rain we have had.
I did notice when i was installing them that one went dim for a little while then "warmed up" or something and went full brightness. I added some dielectric grease to the plug after that little issue and didn't notice it since then. I'll check in with my brother tomorrow ,and go take a look at the truck tomorrow when I'm in the area getting my daughter from school and I'll update you.
Maybe I'll even take it for a ride to my house after I drop her off, and give it a fluid film treatment and wash. Hmmm yeah i think I'll do that, i have tomorrow off from work.