93 Splash Build

93 Splash Street Build

This is how my latest project rolled in on the trailer. It's a 93 splash 2wd with a 3.0 and 5 speed.





It runs and drives, but has a huge dent in the oil pan. It's got 15" boyds wheels, but the tires on them need replaced. 225/50's on a 15" don't fill the fenders enough at all, so I'm going with more sidewall when I get new ones. It is already lowered a little (2" i think?) with eibach lowering springs up front and a belltech shackle flip kit in the rear. A previous owner backed it through a barbed wire fence (still a clean title), so it had the bed replaced and lots of body work done before I got it. I just have to finish up what's left and get it painted. I got a gallon of black basecoat with the truck, and once I buy clear, it's spray time.

I did a little sanding and mocked up the rollpan so I could shape the rear corners of the bed.




This was somebody's baby once upon a time. There's an alarm with sensors everywhere on this thing, and wires and holes from what was probably a nice stereo system. Apparently it also has under 50,000 miles, and the original paint and interior indicates truth to that statement, or at least a very well cared for 150,000.

I got all the burned paint sanded off the tailgate and got one side primed, but the primer is not drying nearly as fast as it should.

I sprayed the frame down with Ospho to destroy the rust. The difference is amazing. Rust is GONE.

And then painted it with some heavy duty polyurethane (semi-gloss black centari 5000) that was leftover from a big truck shop


I also did the same to the front end while I was making the mess


Someday the front calipers are getting painted as well.

Dad is picking up some dx84 tonight to get the PPG dpu174 primer drying faster. One patch of body filler to work out (right in a body line at the rear of the bed, it sucks) and I can prime and block all the repaired areas. I also scored some chip guard thats going on the bumper, rockers, behind wheels, etc...

Going back outside to unmask the fresh paint and get that rear bed corner finished up...

Got primer on today. Next is hand blocking and hopefully a final sand for paint.

looks good! i'll be watching this one.

I got doorjambs done today.


No smoking in the garage...

...you will burn to death. That's just what I'm using; there's probably 50+ more gallons on shelves in the other corner.

Why you wear a respirator

There was a normal web there before. I knocked it out before I primed, and the new one is all crazy.

If my repaired areas work out nice, I'm shooting for paint by tuesday. Gonna have a sweet new (well, fresh painted) truck soon.:thumbsup:

Nothing like fresh paint! Looks good...

looks awesome man,
but I'm wanting to know about that dual exhaust...

I don't even know about that exhaust. It has a flowmaster with single in/outlet, then it splits into the pipes visible in the picture. It's really weird how it's done, but it works and it sounds good. I'll redo it someday, and hopefully be able to put a spare tire back under there too.

My job put me behind schedule on the truck, but more money buys more toys. I'm mid-process on painting now. I did the bed, cab, and tailgate today. All the other pieces are going to have to be done after the truck gets rolled out.

Redneck Spraybooth - I've seen better paintjobs done this way than some that come out of "professional" shops


Epoxy Sealer


Basecoat


After 8 hours sweating like a pig in my paint suit, my clear turned out like crap. It's glossy (looks great from about 50 feet), but its not smooth and I even got a little crazing in the second coat (I was most unhappy when I saw that). I went to the paint shop, and apparently I had too much time between coats, it was too hot to spray, and I needed more reducer. So I picked up some very slow reducer because the weather is only supposed to get hotter, and I need all the time I can get before it starts to dry. Now I get to sand it back down and respray the clear.

More pics will come when I get it lookin' good.

I finally got clear sprayed this morning.




There's a really fine line between excessive orange peel and runs on this particular stuff. Not forgiving at all. I had my old man spray it this time, just because he has way more experience than I do, and he got several runs trying to get it to lay out smooth. Next is sanding out the mistakes and going after it with the buffer (the best part about base-clear, easy to fix).

Now that the truck is out of the "spraybooth" I can get the smaller pieces in and sprayed, then it all starts going back together.

More paint!!! I finally got all the smaller parts done. We used a Valspar clear on this stuff and it sprayed nice. Apparently people either love or hate Omni, and I'm in the hate crowd. It's going on the shelf and probably won't get used until all the other clear is gone.


Once I get the buffing done, the fun begins...
I didn't take this truck apart, so I don't know which bolts go where. All the bolts are in one tray, and none are labeled. A few are obvious, but the rest are going to be fun to figure out.

Bonus points for anyone who can name all the other cars visible in the pictures (hint: they're all GM).

a possible c10 (could be k10) 72 chevy, a c20 72 chevy (blue and white), a 69 to 71 chevy, a corvette and not too sure about the brown one on the far left

Pretty good considering the pictures. Its actually:
a '74 Nova hatchback

a '69 Corvette

a '72 K20

a '71 C20

and a '72 C20 (with the '70 style grille)


I made some progress with the ranger too...
The whole cab is wet-sanded, and I got a good start on buffing today. I even got to put some of it back together.


Now I need to go buy headlight bulbs because I could only find one when I put the housings in. Probably going to pick up some silverstars if the price isn't way out of sight. And someday I need to find some lights for that lower valance. I'm thinkin' aircraft landing lights for those long, lonely night drives. And as for that insane wheel gap, I'm getting some almost new 235/70R15's. Parents want shorter tires for the 'vette, so I can get them for way cheap. I measured, and the gap should be about half of what it is now.

It's starting to look like a truck again, but I still have a lot more buffing to do.



It looks like it's gonna need a little time on the frame rack now too. Too bad I didn't catch it before. I guess that explains why if a tire spun on me, it was always the right.

It's all buffed, cleaned, emblemed (if thats a word lol), striped, and lettered.







Next is tires, foglights, bedliner, polish those rims and get some tires, and then I move on to the interior.

Awesome! looks great