rattle_snake's random shop projects v0.1

[zmotorsports]

COOOLLL pictures Justin.

I've never been a boat guy (or Ford guy ) but I can very much appreciate old and pristine anything. It shows passion and drive in my mind. Like I always told my son, anyone can sign on the dotted line and be driving a new whatever, but it takes someone with some know-how and passion to drive older stuff and keep it pristine. Your Bronco and boat are fine examples of that. Great job, especially for 20-years ago.

My uncle, who owned a small auto repair shop down the street from my parent's house, had a 1972 Firebird tri-hull that he had purchased new in 1972 at the local boat and travel show. He purchased it less the trailer, got the specs and built a very nice tandem axle trailer that he went and picked up the boat at the factory with. He had it pained to match his truck at the time which was a 1968 Ford F250 two-wheel drive with a 390cid engine and 2-barrel FoMoCo carb and C6 trans. He had "tweaked" it a bit and it ran well.

I didn't know much about it at the time as I was only a few years old when all of this took place. However, by the time I was in junior high school (about age 12) when I really got bitten by the gearhead bug I started working on small engines and would go to his shop in search of various parts to get old lawn and garden equipment running so I could flip them.

He always seemed to have something of his he was modifying or building after hours and I became hooked. After we finished up work on the farm I would ride my bike to his shop and watch and learn as he was building things or modifying them to his liking. I remember him still having that truck and boat and he would tell me how he acquired them and what he had done to them while he worked and I either watched or handed him tools until I got to where I could help. I remember when he pulled the old powertrain out of the Firebird Tri-hull and installed a 351 Cleveland and Penta outdrive. I had never seen such an undertaking and was mesmerized by it. He was building the motor mounts and modifying electrical and fuel systems to support the new powertrain and I just couldn't get enough of it.

He had that boat, trailer and truck well up until he was in his 70's and gave them to his grandson when he got out of boating but I remember when he built his 1974 FMC motorhome with all of the mod's he painted it to match the boat and trailer and it was something to see going down the road.

Sorry for the detour or hijack Justin. I just love seeing old iron when they are well cared for and used.

 

[Trapps]

That Bronco though...

 

[PugetDude]

We need a Thread- "things you wish you'd never sold"
Justin's Bronco would be first up.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

We need a Thread- "things you wish you'd never sold"
Justin's Bronco would be first up.

While I agree, that's also a full thread of depressing thoughts

 

[rattle_snake]

COOOLLL pictures Justin.

I've never been a boat guy (or Ford guy ) but I can very much appreciate old and pristine anything. It shows passion and drive in my mind. Like I always told my son, anyone can sign on the dotted line and be driving a new whatever, but it takes someone with some know-how and passion to drive older stuff and keep it pristine. Your Bronco and boat are fine examples of that. Great job, especially for 20-years ago.

My uncle, who owned a small auto repair shop down the street from my parent's house, had a 1972 Firebird tri-hull that he had purchased new in 1972 at the local boat and travel show. He purchased it less the trailer, got the specs and built a very nice tandem axle trailer that he went and picked up the boat at the factory with. He had it pained to match his truck at the time which was a 1968 Ford F250 two-wheel drive with a 390cid engine and 2-barrel FoMoCo carb and C6 trans. He had "tweaked" it a bit and it ran well.

I didn't know much about it at the time as I was only a few years old when all of this took place. However, by the time I was in junior high school (about age 12) when I really got bitten by the gearhead bug I started working on small engines and would go to his shop in search of various parts to get old lawn and garden equipment running so I could flip them.

He always seemed to have something of his he was modifying or building after hours and I became hooked. After we finished up work on the farm I would ride my bike to his shop and watch and learn as he was building things or modifying them to his liking. I remember him still having that truck and boat and he would tell me how he acquired them and what he had done to them while he worked and I either watched or handed him tools until I got to where I could help. I remember when he pulled the old powertrain out of the Firebird Tri-hull and installed a 351 Cleveland and Penta outdrive. I had never seen such an undertaking and was mesmerized by it. He was building the motor mounts and modifying electrical and fuel systems to support the new powertrain and I just couldn't get enough of it.

He had that boat, trailer and truck well up until he was in his 70's and gave them to his grandson when he got out of boating but I remember when he built his 1974 FMC motorhome with all of the mod's he painted it to match the boat and trailer and it was something to see going down the road.

Sorry for the detour or hijack Justin. I just love seeing old iron when they are well cared for and used.

Cool stories Mike thanks for sharing. I too like to see vintage stuff still alive. Old cab-over campers, work trucks and so on.

That Bronco though...

Thanks, it was a fun project for the time I had it but also plenty of up and downs. I learned a lot and built a lot of skills.

We need a Thread- "things you wish you'd never sold"
Justin's Bronco would be first up.

I guess for me the Bronco isn't really in that category. At the time I sold it I was ready and it went to a good home, another engineer who had plans to take it to the next level. I was burned out fixing transmissions and knew any more money put into it wasn't going to be returned. Bronco had no rear roof, cage, seatbelts or provisions for a baby and 2 yr old.
My older daughter right around 37" tall. She is 15 now about to start driving.

Me watching baby#2 while removing transmission yet again. Don't tell Mom.


I had a 2000 F250 7.3 that ended up being the vehicle taken on camping trips, it had more room, comfort, reliability, A/C, ect. And I had gotten into motorcycles and was more interesting in riding tails, where i could see 4x the scenery in the same amount of time. Even as babies my kids loved boating so the new to me 1998 23' Baja with a big block 454 making the right noises brought much more enjoyment that the bronco did. I paid cash from sale of bronco and old boat. Then bought the cab over and could lake camp in comfort during summer heat. We did a ton of trips with our little ones but it only took a few years before I needed a non-practical, cool vehicle, and bought the supercharged 2004 cobra. Told the wife I needed a commuter car (instead of big diesel truck) but didn't take long to get it to drag strip on slicks and nitrous.

When I was searching for my current project vehicle (72 F250), I wasn't really interested in early broncos, guess I had already fulfilled that style and wanted something different. Lots of lifted money pit broncos from mild to wild. Considered a 32 ford or similar but initial investment was too high.

While I agree, that's also a full thread of depressing thoughts

I do wish I still had my 1987 mustang GT that was stolen out of my driveway. Somehow I managed not to kill myself in it, did a LOT of stupid and dangerous thing in it, outside of drag racing. But the Cobra is better in almost every way for what I want out of a hot rod today. Some day it will go to finance next stage of the 69 mustang my dad and I build in the 90s, when it becomes mine.

 

[zmotorsports]

Me watching baby#2 while removing transmission yet again. Don't tell Mom.

That's funny Justin. My son and I had a rule in our shop from when he was young enough to be out in the shop with me. That rule was "what happens in the shop, stays in the shop". Unfortunately my son didn't quite grasp the concept, OR his mother was just really good at dragging things out of him, but suffice it to say he had a bucket mouth and nothing was sacred.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago when he got married we would joke around about that when he would come over to work in the shop and I saw a lightbulb come on with him. Last year he got me a small tin sign to hang in the shop that has that exact saying on it.

 

[Bears Fan]

Playing catch up, had to back a few pages to see what you were up to! that outdoor sink and cabinet look awesome. The ole' Ford is looking great, can't wait to see the finished paint job! Great work

 

[PhantomEB]

One thread here I always have to stop To read.

bet with your skills now, you would love that bronco back, eh?

 

[rattle_snake]

Playing catch up, had to back a few pages to see what you were up to! that outdoor sink and cabinet look awesome. The ole' Ford is looking great, can't wait to see the finished paint job! Great work

Thank! Sink is super handy really happy it is finally done. Just had to be patient to get pavers done first.
Cleaned up some small tailgate parts for paint and it was nice to have space to work at. Hot water is nice.

One thread here I always have to stop To read.

bet with your skills now, you would love that bronco back, eh?

Yes and no. Glad I went with the '72 pickup. The compact bronco will always be more capable on the trail but wanted something more multi-use.

 

[rattle_snake]

Another old unrelated paint related pic, of my high school sweetheart, 87 GT. After graduating college and getting a reliable set of wheels, a 1999 mustang GT, my 87 become a dedicated race car and went on a serious diet. I painted the engine bay and did a full wire tuck. Manual rack, electric fan, water pump. HVAC delete.


Car went 12-ohs with 75 shot. Wouldn't hook 150, got stolen before I got that sorted out. But back then need cage to run 11.99. Bone stock 5.0 with 150k, Tremec 3550, 3.55 gears.

 

[rattle_snake]

Hosed some color on the old truck. Guess I should have done a spray-out first, but just went for it.


Doing partial mask for white allowed overspray on the cowl, and ended up with a texture, Dooh! I did what I could to mitigate at the time and moved forward. Figured I would make more mistakes and perhaps this wouldn't be the worst aspect of the job.


In the shop with cool-white lighting the color is more olive drab (lime drab?). Not as close to original color as I had hoped.


Even with 50% dulling agent added, paint is slick and shiny when new and clean.


Bottom of hood looks nice, evidence of battery explosion is gone.


Next day I fired it up and backed out into the sun to re-asses color match. Note large tree full of pollen in background.


Looks 'limey' with metal flake as intended. So on with painting the rest.

 

[slodat]

Looks great, Justin!

 

[Mr.zippy]

Looks close to the original color, but not exactly the same. However, I like this version better! Very nice!

 

[rattle_snake]

So on with sealer on the rest of the panels and little parts, although I'm sure I will find some more things that need paint later.


Ended up using almost the whole gallon of sealer. put down 2 coats, and color over the top an hour later. Put in 9 hours on Saturday, waited till 3p for sun to go over and painted non-stop until 6. Spray, refill, repeat.


Rolled everything into shop, had to drive kids to activities.
Wish I would have masked the inside of the door with cardboard or something and sprayed the whole inner surface, but with panel on only the internet and I will know.


Fender sectioning came out OK with real paint on it.


touched up the cab to firewall area with black paint. Could have done all green but had undercoat on it, plus wheel well will look all black with fender on. Also cut in under door sills and reinstalled steps.


Spent some time turd polishing and cleaning hardware. Used etching primer, sealer, and top coat like the rest. Not powder coated level OCD (bar raised by @lilscorpion) , but should fasten stuff still.


Had a few oz of paint left so I went back and fixed some snafus from 1st round of color. Nose of hood and sill plates had light coverage and had one spot of tape that shouldn't have been there.

 

[rattle_snake]

Looks great, Justin!

Thanks. Was a stressful day but happy with results.

Looks close to the original color, but not exactly the same. However, I like this version better! Very nice!

It's not too far off in the daylight but not going to work as a touch up. Although that was not really the expectation, matching 50 yr old paint of a different type.
It's a little darker color, more brown/yellow which doesn't sound good but I do like it, it has a little more robust, grown-up feel. Definitely has that 70's vibe and isn't like anything else driving around.

 

[zmotorsports]

Turning out pretty damn nice Justin. Looking forward to seeing it assembled. I like the little details like painting the fasteners. I used the same cardboard trick when painting fasteners and clips.

 

[Bears Fan]

Looks awesome!!! Color sand and buff it, then you won't want to take it off road

 

[rattle_snake]

Turning out pretty damn nice Justin. Looking forward to seeing it assembled. I like the little details like painting the fasteners. I used the same cardboard trick when painting fasteners and clips.

Thanks Mike. It is rewarding to look as the painted pieces and know it's a down hill slope from here. Long way to go, but can putter and not worry about weather or timeframe.

I was concerned about having enough paint. I used about 3/4 of the base color, so have enough to do the rest of the inside of the bed. But it needs a restoration like the rest. Old failed seam sealer, rusty gouges. Floor is beat up even after I used sledge to fix what I could. Plan to put rubber mat in and paint the sides and gaps. Have to tackle that and fuel system before re-installation of bed on chassis

Looks awesome!!! Color sand and buff it, then you won't want to take it off road

Thanks! It's single stage so this is it other than wax, and hearing the brush do some AZ pinstriping.

Close inspection reveals all the repair/modification locations and complete lack of blocking. But I met my goal. I think I can appreciate just how much more work it would take to get it to the next level. A lot and then some. See @TimeWarpF100 or @MP&C and others work here for that.

 

[rattle_snake]

Was able to get all the hanging items of paint rack, and rack out of the way. Got hinges and one door hung, and started to find some coverage issues in right side jamb and upper door window frame. Left side is close enough, but going to touch up both sides and re-spray both door skins. Was same story with hood that was hung upside down. Where I could see well came out good, but areas I had to get down on ground and spray up not so consistent. Once cured easy to 'feel' if result is smooth or rough from inadequate amount of paint.
Plan to wait until rest of inside of bed is ready for paint and do everything at once, whenever that will be. Bed inside needs seam repair and so on.

 

[demetri94]

Hosed some color on the old truck. Guess I should have done a spray-out first, but just went for it.


Doing partial mask for white allowed overspray on the cowl, and ended up with a texture, Dooh! I did what I could to mitigate at the time and moved forward. Figured I would make more mistakes and perhaps this wouldn't be the worst aspect of the job.


In the shop with cool-white lighting the color is more olive drab (lime drab?). Not as close to original color as I had hoped.


Even with 50% dulling agent added, paint is slick and shiny when new and clean.


Bottom of hood looks nice, evidence of battery explosion is gone.


Next day I fired it up and backed out into the sun to re-asses color match. Note large tree full of pollen in background.


Looks 'limey' with metal flake as intended. So on with painting the rest.

Truck looks really good! I like the color combo too!

 

[LXCam]

Kickass Justin!, she's coming together nicely bud.

 

[Boosted1]

Looking good.

 

[lilscorpion]

There's something awesome about parts hanging after a fresh coat of paint. Isn't paint like $1M per gal right now?!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

My uncle had a similar shade of green bumpside we named Kermit...

It's coming along pretty darn good, I'm anxious to see it all together!

 

[PugetDude]

Really like the color, Justin
I'm calling it "Green with Envy..."

 

[Mr.zippy]

Very nice! Now if only you could color match the boat to the truck……..

 

[zmotorsports]

Looking good Justin.

I don't know if this will help or not but I noticed when you were painting that you had the doors hung upside down. Whenever I would paint components I always hung them in the same orientation as they would hang on the vehicle to ensure any metallics or pearls were properly orientated which can/does effect hues and tones.

Also, you mentioned about coverage when spraying. I'm not sure if you heard of these terms or are familiar with the way the spray guns are designed but most of them have provisions to either use an "over-grip" or "under-grip". I'll try to explain and if you want pictures I can try and remember to get you a couple tonight.

The under grip is when you grip the gun more by the lower part of the handle, near the air hose connection, using the ring finger and pinkie more so and the index and middle fingers operating the trigger. This position is useful when reaching out over a hood or roof where you really need to extend your reach. I would also wrap the hose around my arm and over my shoulder extending down my back. This allows me to extend and contract my arm and then my other arm reaches behind my back and feeds or pulls the hose to keep consistency on the hose and keep it from dragging or looping down below your reaching arm.

The over grip is just the opposite, where you grab the gun by the top near the hanging point of the gun and you place it in the webbing between your thumb and index finger and operate the trigger with the middle finger or ring finger more. This position is used when walking the sides of the vehicle and reaching down under the body panels where line of sight is obstructed and can point the gun easier to these areas without having to kneel down or crawl around.

I hope that all makes sense and if you want me to take some pictures tonight I would be more than happy to. If you already knew of these grips then I'm sorry to hijacking your thread. I know when I learned these grips it greatly improved my coverage issues and especially helped eliminate dragging the hose through the paint on roof or hood.

 

[TimeWarpF100]

Hosed some color on the old truck. Guess I should have done a spray-out first, but just went for it.


Doing partial mask for white allowed overspray on the cowl, and ended up with a texture, Dooh! I did what I could to mitigate at the time and moved forward. Figured I would make more mistakes and perhaps this wouldn't be the worst aspect of the job.


In the shop with cool-white lighting the color is more olive drab (lime drab?). Not as close to original color as I had hoped.


Even with 50% dulling agent added, paint is slick and shiny when new and clean.


Bottom of hood looks nice, evidence of battery explosion is gone.


Next day I fired it up and backed out into the sun to re-asses color match. Note large tree full of pollen in background.


Looks 'limey' with metal flake as intended. So on with painting the rest.

Looks great!

 

[TimeWarpF100]

Thanks. Was a stressful day but happy with results.

It's not too far off in the daylight but not going to work as a touch up. Although that was not really the expectation, matching 50 yr old paint of a different type.
It's a little darker color, more brown/yellow which doesn't sound good but I do like it, it has a little more robust, grown-up feel. Definitely has that 70's vibe and isn't like anything else driving around.

Looking nice to me! I am gearing up for a bunch of painting this spring too! Haven’t done a complete since 2015 on daughters bronco. One before that was 2008 and then bits pieces in between on my truck.

 

[rattle_snake]

Truck looks really good! I like the color combo too!

Kickass Justin!, she's coming together nicely bud.

Looking good.

Thanks guys!

There's something awesome about parts hanging after a fresh coat of paint. Isn't paint like $1M per gal right now?!

Yes, fresh shiny clean parts to play with.
I tried not to shop much for paint. I decided I wanted local support and went to old-school paint house that I have been goin going for 25 years. A gallon of BASF single stage plus hardener and reducer was about $450. All in paint supplies was about $750. All new rubber, clips, gaskets, windshield and so on is another $1000, so I'll have around $1700 total in paint job. Guessing I have 100 hours into paint job so far and another 100 to go.

My uncle had a similar shade of green bumpside we named Kermit...

It's coming along pretty darn good, I'm anxious to see it all together!

This truck is named Kermit also.
Yes anxious to get more parts hung but going to finish rest of paint work first.

Really like the color, Justin
I'm calling it "Green with Envy..."

I like it, as supposed to be Ford paint code 'U'.

Very nice! Now if only you could color match the boat to the truck……..

Oh boy. Well, trailer does need to be painted...

 

[rattle_snake]

Looking good Justin.

I don't know if this will help or not but I noticed when you were painting that you had the doors hung upside down. Whenever I would paint components I always hung them in the same orientation as they would hang on the vehicle to ensure any metallics or pearls were properly orientated which can/does effect hues and tones.

Also, you mentioned about coverage when spraying. I'm not sure if you heard of these terms or are familiar with the way the spray guns are designed but most of them have provisions to either use an "over-grip" or "under-grip". I'll try to explain and if you want pictures I can try and remember to get you a couple tonight.

The under grip is when you grip the gun more by the lower part of the handle, near the air hose connection, using the ring finger and pinkie more so and the index and middle fingers operating the trigger. This position is useful when reaching out over a hood or roof where you really need to extend your reach. I would also wrap the hose around my arm and over my shoulder extending down my back. This allows me to extend and contract my arm and then my other arm reaches behind my back and feeds or pulls the hose to keep consistency on the hose and keep it from dragging or looping down below your reaching arm.

The over grip is just the opposite, where you grab the gun by the top near the hanging point of the gun and you place it in the webbing between your thumb and index finger and operate the trigger with the middle finger or ring finger more. This position is used when walking the sides of the vehicle and reaching down under the body panels where line of sight is obstructed and can point the gun easier to these areas without having to kneel down or crawl around.

I hope that all makes sense and if you want me to take some pictures tonight I would be more than happy to. If you already knew of these grips then I'm sorry to hijacking your thread. I know when I learned these grips it greatly improved my coverage issues and especially helped eliminate dragging the hose through the paint on roof or hood.

Yes that is the lesson I learned. Wasn't a good place to connect wires to hang them right side up but I should have just dealt with it. So plan to re-spay skins horizontal.

Yes understand the grips, that is helpful thanks for sharing.

Looking nice to me! I am gearing up for a bunch of painting this spring too! Haven’t done a complete since 2015 on daughters bronco. One before that was 2008 and then bits pieces in between on my truck.

Thanks. Given our 'spring' is only a few days to a few weeks, it's a small window. I've enjoyed watching your projects, a bit overwhelming but outstanding results.

 

[rattle_snake]

Dipping my toe into a new 'little' hobby, a tenth' crawler. Mind is already going on mini parts I can fab for it, but for now just enjoy and understand limitations. Got this truck from a friend who has a fairly severe addiction and builds a lot of rigs. So it has many modifications he has developed over the years for granite crawling playground here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite_Dells

But can't keep the Toyota looking body, that has to go for something more 'fitting', haha
I have a small pile of extra boulders (rock garden I guess those wheeler types call it) so fiddle with them some to make some lines.


I like that this style of rig is similar to a real truck in terms of drivetrain, chassis.

 

[zmotorsports]

RC hobby is a slippery slope Justin. My son was pretty heavy into it when he was in college to the point of having a mixture of electric and gas in multiple sizes. At one time in the loft of our home I think I counted about 12 at one time. He was even CNC milling his own aluminum frame rails and making his own trailing arms and suspension links on the lathe. He sold everything when he bought his house but he found that they were hard to resist when used ones would come up for sale.

He tried to get me into them for when we were out on trails we could play with them at lunch or stops but I figured my Jeep was probably cheaper to play with than the RC's so I didn't indulge.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

RC hobby is something I've discussed with both boys, one is a little too young for "good" stuff, and the other is getting old enough he wants big toys instead...

RC aircraft have always intrigued me, one more rabbit hole, ya know?!

 

[rattle_snake]

I was warned about the hobby, but I didn't listen I guess.

I have a good friend into planes and helicopters (well and trucks). Just one high end chopper is a crazy investment that can be horrifically destroyed in a fraction of a second.

I had a decent RC boat as a kid and tinkered with cars a bit. Built a gas powered plane with my dad.

 

[ntsqd]

MyInfamousScoutFriend has done a deep drive into crawler RC's as well. Lives on a big hill and has quite the area in the back-backyard to play in. He's tried to get me interested, but I've got too many other things going on right now. We do have a water feature in the front yard that only flows water when we turn it on. I've been tempted to buy an 1/18th or /124th scale crawler and drive it around those rocks. For reasons that are beyond me (probably a Y chromosome thing), SWMBO isn't a fan of that idea......

I still have the Works-Built Schumacher CAT buggy that I got in the late 90's. I bet if I upgraded it's motor+controller and battery to current spec that it would still be competitive in the local scene.

 

[cspcrx]

Color combo is awesome!

 

[rattle_snake]

... We do have a water feature in the front yard that only flows water when we turn it on. I've been tempted to buy an 1/18th or /124th scale crawler and drive it around those rocks....

Funny you say that, I have the same so had to try that out. Also have some rock structures I build to prevent erosion of irrigation inlets that I can play in.

Color combo is awesome!

Thanks, always been a fan of lime green on white.

 

[Ohmthis]

Justin, I’ve been away for a while. Your truck is looking great. I like the color combo and it is a modern “classic” color that will never go out of style with your truck. I too had an 87 GT. I raced it and I learned a lot about how expensive racing is. My last year I went all out on an engine build and new suspension set up. I really wanted to be competitive. First race of the season, the two cars that competed for the points the previous year rolled off the trailer and ran 3/4 of a second faster. I just threw my hands up and ran as best as we could. I never missed it after I left. Your car brought back a lot of memories.

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks Ohm. I guess I wouldn't have picked the lime green if it wasn't the original color, but I like that it is different and 70s. The lime is unlike the modern lime I see on Dodge, kia or Jeeps.

Speed is proportional to money... I don't have the competitive personality so for me drag racing was about fun. I started at 17 and made a lot of passes as a broke college kid, my 87 GT was my DD. My setup was opposite of most, stock motor, built drive line. I was able to put all the power to the ground effectively. I could cut a light and cleanly power shift all gears with nitrous flowing, Good times.