Plum ugly sentenced to be shot...

[Camper Special]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I think we are beholding to you for sharing your pictures and progress.

[FREEHAND]

Thanks guys I appreciate it! For now the bumper will get painted when I paint the rest of the truck. It was a pretty easy job, took me about 3 hours start to finish (even with a lunch break in there).These two relatively small mods front and back have really helped to tighten up the look of the truck a lot and I have been able to do them with almost no expense, so that's a good thing! I'll post some more pics when I get the roll pan sides made and welded up to see what the finished product looks like.

[390bump]

if you want a tip... straight primer wont hold up very long... mix in a bit of compatible black paint with the primer.

[FREEHAND]

Will do 390, Hopefully it won't be in primer for too long and I'll be able to get into a coat of UV resistant topcoat sooner than later. I really like the "sheen" of SEM trim black so I am shooting to be able to do that before long.

[pincheweddo]

Thanks guys I appreciate it! For now the bumper will get painted when I paint the rest of the truck. It was a pretty easy job, took me about 3 hours start to finish (even with a lunch break in there).These two relatively small mods front and back have really helped to tighten up the look of the truck a lot and I have been able to do them with almost no expense, so that's a good thing! I'll post some more pics when I get the roll pan sides made and welded up to see what the finished product looks like.

You can save a ton of money using Valspar Anti Rust Armor (at Lowes) and a foam roller for paint. If you take one of those body panels down to Lowes they will match the color on your truck so you can keep the plum.

[FREEHAND]

Thanks pincheweddo I'll have to look into that, looks like it'd be good for the frame and back side of panels. I think I'll stick to black though...

[FREEHAND]

Got some more work done, heres the finished roll pan. Not a bad end result for "recycled" parts.

IMG_20140411_101545_180.jpg

IMG_20140411_101556_930.jpg

Before welding it in...

IMG_20140411_101810_800.jpg

[FREEHAND]

And after...

IMG_20140412_150549_273.jpg

IMG_20140412_152013_547.jpg

IMG_20140412_150537_497.jpg

[sargentrs]

Nice clean look!

[FREEHAND]

Its been a while since I've posted but I have finally been able to get some more work done. I ended up pulling the front end and replacing the radius arm bushings and the axle pivot bushings (that was a job). I cut the front coils to lower it about 2 inches in the front and flipped the front leaf spring shackle in the rear to get the back end out of the clouds. It looks a million times better than it did and that was an exciting step in the right direction. Now I just have to make a set of steel angled spacers to weld on the leaf spring pads to get the 17 DEGREES of pinion angle correction I need. After that it'll be drive-able and one big step closer to being done. I'll try to get some pictures later this evening.

[motzingg]

wow nice work on narrowing the bumper. totally one of those 'why didn't i think of that' things!

my bumper is 'going black' eventually, too, i'll have to borrow that idea from you when i do.

[pedro69ford]

im a big fan of the flareside,your doing a jam up job freehand,keep those pics coming.

[Heirloom]

NIce work man. Keep it up!

[sykanr0ng]

If you want a rather flat black that will last longer take a look at John Deere Blitz Black it is a farm/construction equipment paint so it is meant for outdoor use.

[FREEHAND]

Thanks for the compliments everyone, its reassuring in the middle of a build. My truck is a far cry from a lot of the amazing ones on this forum and its nice to know others can see in it what I see. Motzingg the bumper "chop" was actually very easy to do. It didn't take long and the after effect is really stunning, I couldn't believe how much of a difference it made. If your looking to do something that is an easy afternoon job, inexpensive and has a lot of bang factor that's the way to go. Sykanr0ng I have heard of that john Deere paint somewhere else an I think I might give it a try, seems like that would just suit this project to a T.