5280's Paint Project

[5280Hawk]

Thanks Nolan,

It is a lot of work. I should have the Front Doors done tonight, and i have Friday off so i will be pulling the back doors, hatch and tailgate and doing all of them at once to try to speed things up. I should be able to get all four sanded and ready for paint by the end of Friday.

[Nolan B.]

Sweet! I can't wait to see the result. Keep up the good work

[5280Hawk]

Made some progress -

First the Front Doors are done! - (Aside from maybe a little more buffing but there's only so much I can take!)





I've been shrink wrapping the parts the keep them safe untill i put everything back together

[5280Hawk]

More progress -

I pulled the backdoors the Tailgate and Hatch -






I have accumulated alot of parts. It will take a while to put it all back together.



I've bagged all the small parts, If I hadn't I'de be Screwed!

[5280Hawk]

I got the back Doors and Tailgate/Hatch all sanded and masked now in prep for paint. I even sanded all the crud/dirt off the rubber gaskets around the windows, so they're nice and black.

My brother in Law came to visit Saturday, so i took a break from painting and he helped me put on a 4Crawler Body Bushing and 1" body lift kit on the 60. It was really easy to do!

A few of the old body bolts were so rusted that they were fused into the bushing sleeve and sheared off when we tried to turn them. Once we got them off, we jacked up the body and i got in there and cleaned and painted all of the Frame body mounts, before we put the new bushings, spacers, and new hardware back in.

The poly Bushings sure look alot nicer in there than the old Rubber ones that came out, and It's only an Inch lift but i think it's pretty noticeable. Now even with 33's there is a ton of clearance in the wheel wells, Probably enought for 35's even though it's SUA.

My Family and I are going to Cali for vacation the end of this week, but I will be ready to go on the paint when I get back!

[cody c]

i am wondering about the primer you are using, is it rustoleum in a rattle can or are you getting it in a can and mixing it 50/50 with mineral spirits?

[5280Hawk]

actually, I only tried using primer on the fenders. I didn' like how it worked. The rustoleum didn't stick to the primer as well as it did to bare metal. The primer I tried was rustoleum automotive primer in a rattle can.

Edit - The guy that started the famous roller method thread on the MOPAR site didn't use any primer,

[cody c]

thanks!! what kind of filler you using?

[5280Hawk]

Quart sized can I picked up at Pep Boys. Thankfully I only have a few small dents to take care of.

[cody c]

perfect, thats what i thought, but wasnt sure if rustoleum was picky and only a certain brand would work.

[brokenparts]

lookin good man...

[brownbear]

I used tie coat priimer from POR-15. Cause I por'd the whole truck. My tremclad stuck well to the tie coats which was sanded with 320 grit prior to painting the tremclad.

[cody c]

thanks BB!

[5280Hawk]

Got back into my project last night since im back from Cali.

Disney's California Adventure has an Old Rusted FJ45 sitting near the rafting ride. I took this photo while we waited in line.



pretty cool.

Anyway, I was looking over my back doors to be sure they were ready for paint and realized that the passenger door- (where there had been some previous body work done) was not straight along the bottom. I took a straight edge along it and compared it to the driver door and the body filler was a good 2-3 mm indented in the center, and the area was probably 8" diameter . I wish i had the funds to just get rid of the door and get a straight one, but nope, it got more bondo. So for all you purists out there that can't stand a little filler - . I used my biggest block sander, and got it flat again. Im much happier with the results, but still haven't got any paint down. I have some more sanding, then masking to do before this round of paint goes on.

[Nolan B.]

That is pretty cool that they have that 45 in the Park. I bet every once in a while some cruiserhead will think, "wow a landcruiser." Me and my family are going to California this summer so I'll have to keep an eye out for it. Anyway, keep up with the good work on your 60. I've been watching this thread and you have done an excellent job.

[5280Hawk]

Thanks man,

I have a couple shots of the Door that's been giving me trouble.

After buying some spot putty and Filler Primer I finally got it where I want it. Looks so much better.




I have Friday off, so i will be painting tonight, (finally) and then starting body work on the actual BODY tomorrow!

[ColoradoLC]

I wish I had the aptitude for body work that you do. My 60 meeds a little TLC in that area. But it looks like she may be on the chopping block soon.

Looking great!

[5280Hawk]

Still chugging along! I've got 4 coats of paint on the rear doors and Hatch.



Getting pretty crowded in there.

I also got some work done on the Body over the weekend. I went around the rain gutter and sanded all the chips, scatches and dirt off the metal, and I also sanded the Bonding/sealant material inside the rain gutter to get all the weathered material off the surface. I decided it was going to be too diffucult to try to roll that area, so i masked it off and sprayed it with a Aerosol sprayer that has a glass jar that you put your own paint into.

I don't know if the it was the sprayer, or the Rustoleum, but it went down really nicely, and looks really good.

[thecrazygreek]

Those little sprayers kick ass... They atomize the paint very well. You can get them at Sherwin Williams. I use them for touch up work.

[Project60]

Nice work! Keep it up and you will be done in no time. Are you planning on doing the body outside or pulling it inside when it is time?

[5280Hawk]

Thanks Buddy,


I'll have to paint it outside. my Garage is too small, I would need a can opener to get around the sides, and the Cruiser Sits too high now to get at the roof.

My game plan for the rest of the Body is to pull it into the back yard next to my covered patio. I will pull a tarp from the patio roof at an angle over the 60 and stake it down to try to keep some of the trees/bugs/dirt off the roof paint. we'll see!

[5280Hawk]

Damn! I just had an Idea, If i paint it in my Driveway - once im Done with a coat I can pull it into the garage to "cover" it.

I can't believe it took me that long to figure that out. Now I really need to make sure it fits under my Garage door.


Update - The Cruiser still fits in the Garage - Barely - but it's going to work. That will be a huge help keeping things out of the wet paint. I was pretty concerned, because even in the garage, after every coat you can see little peices of sh*t (lint and dog hair mostly) in the paint. You have to sand it out between the coats. Outside I would have to be sanding Pine cones out of the paint!

[5280Hawk]

I worked(my job) both Saturday and Sunday, so i spent my day off(yesterday) working on the body. The quarter panels and pillars ect. are 90% sanded, whats left is mostly hand sanding of chips in the old paint.

I took off the Snake Blinders a few weeks ago, and yesterday, afer really looking at my rockers and seeing how chipped the paint was, decided to Herculiner them. I bought a Qt and rolled it on and used a foam brush the touch it up. It turned out pretty dang nice. I also sprayed some of my "Rustomix" on the door jambs and under the tailgate hatch, where there was some worn paint.

I still have a to sand w. 1500 and roll 2 coats of paint to go on the rear doors/hatch. thens final sand w. 2000 grit and buff it.

I figure I can get all that done by Friday and move everything out of the garage. THEN I CAN START THE BODY PAINITNG!!!! Im think I see the light at the end of the tunnel!

[5280Hawk]

Well, I didn't get as much done as i wanted to this week, so I had to finish the doors and rear hatch and tailgate today.

The Body still needs a little more work before paint, but not much. I keep finding little tasks that need to get done before i can start rolling, mostly masking now.

Rear quarter



Cowl and windsheild



lot of real estate!


getting a new windsheild as soon as I'm done with the paint.

other side -



a couple shots of the Herculiner i rolled on on Monday -





I also cleaned out my garage to make room for the for drying time!


I'm having a few well deserved so Cheers!

[Project60]

NICE! Looking forward to seeing the finished product!