HDJ81 Raptor Liner (2 Viewers)

[Douglas S]

Now that this project is (finally) coming to an end, I thought it might be nice to have a little documentation on the whole process.

I've had my HDJ81 for 10 years now, and while it started out as a super clean truck with 115,000km those 10 years of near daily use have definitely made their mark. I was starting to get rust at the bottoms of the doors due to rock chips, a spot on my LHS fender where the trim mounted, and the hood. I also got caught in a hail storm a few years ago with exactly the results you might expect.

I hemmed and hawed over the decision to either respray with standard paint or do something a little different. Ended up deciding to raptor as it just makes far more sense for how I plan to use this vehicle - I don't want something I'm afraid to brush a tree branch with. Cost was about the same as actual paint and I prepped it to the same level I would have for an actual paint job.

So with that said, at the end of August, I pulled it into my recently completed shop (sans bathroom, good work bench, full set of tools - you know, all the things you really want in a shop) and got to stripping it down.

 

[Douglas S]

The front LHS fender was in rough shape, it was bondoed pretty significantly in a previous life (no idea why, it fit back on perfectly after stripping all the bondo off). I decided to pull it so it could be dealt with properly.

Shaved all the holes for the belt molding.

 

[Douglas S]

Sanding, sanding, sanding, sanding. Used rust destroyer in some areas where I was seeing a lot of rocks chips. More sanding.

 

[Douglas S]

Refinishing @yodaTEQ gull wing. By far the worst powder coat I've ever seen. Total garbage.

Lots of work getting the hood smooth

Sprayed the black around all the windows.

 

[Douglas S]

Bottoms of the doors were starting to rust. I bagged the bottoms of the doors and let them soak in evaporust for a week, then rust destroyed and resealed with seam sealer.

Looks like I don't have a pic of these finished - they were sprayed with a colour-matched bomb

Replacement rear quarter window

Take it outside and blow the dust off.

 

[Douglas S]

Spot priming with epoxy primer.

Taping, lots of taping.

More spot priming

 

[Douglas S]

The big day. Was pretty nervous about this, worried about tiger striping. Lots of liner jobs just don't turn out that great. Watched dozens of youtube videos and finally decided I would lay the paint on with an HVLP gun. 2 coats @30psi, with a final texture coat @25psi from about a foot away.

Tint is Toyota 183 – my factory colour.

 

[Douglas S]

Where it's at currently - tape is pulled, waiting for it to harden up and then time for reassembly. Front bumper will be raptored to match the body.

 

[HoustonFj80]

That finish looks great! What size tip did you end up using with the HVLP?

 

[Douglas S]

That finish looks great! What size tip did you end up using with the HVLP?

A 1.8mm tip. Also pulled the filter out of the gun after the first coat to get more material to flow.

 

[White Sheep]

It looks good . I'm a fan of Raptor liner, but not a lot of others are. I Raptor lined mine as well.

 

[Douglas S]

It looks good . I'm a fan of Raptor liner, but not a lot of others are. I Raptor lined mine as well.

It‘s definitely not for everyone

 

[undecided]

you just used regular auto paint to tint it instead of the expensive raptor tints yeah? How much paint per bottle of liner? And how many total bottles of liner did you use?

 

[Douglas S]

you just used regular auto paint to tint it instead of the expensive raptor tints yeah? How much paint per bottle of liner? And how many total bottles of liner did you use?

It’s high quality automotive tint, mixed at 6% by weight. I think I used two full kits plus 1 bottle so 9 bottles total. Each bottle with hardener is about a litre I believe.

 

[undecided]

It’s high quality automotive tint, mixed at 6% by weight. I think I used two full kits plus 1 bottle so 9 bottles total. Each bottle with hardener is about a litre I believe.

Ah dang I was hoping the two gallon kit would be enough haha.

also excuse the dumb question but what is automotive tint and where did you get it? What’s the difference in that and paint? I was hoping to use paint because I have a hookup on free paint from a buddy haha. And when you say 6% by weight you used 6% of the weight of the liner and hardener?

 

[Douglas S]

Ah dang I was hoping the two gallon kit would be enough haha.

also excuse the dumb question but what is automotive tint and where did you get it? What’s the difference in that and paint? I was hoping to use paint because I have a hookup on free paint from a buddy haha. And when you say 6% by weight you used 6% of the weight of the liner and hardener?

I’ll have to check on the specs of the tint next time I’m out at the shop but it came from a local auto body supplier. And yes, used a scale to weigh the hardener and liner and then calculated 6% to determine how much tint to add - this is the best way to keep the tint repeatable.

 

[undecided]

I’ll have to check on the specs of the tint next time I’m out at the shop but it came from a local auto body supplier. And yes, used a scale to weigh the hardener and liner and then calculated 6% to determine how much tint to add - this is the best way to keep the tint repeatable.

Nice. Hopefully I can find some tint around here, I’m leaning towards the TRD lunar rock.

 

[White Sheep]

Not sure if this helps:

https://www.u-pol.com/files/6535/rltrsm-TDS-EN-UK

IIRC there are lines on the outside of the raptor bottle that tells you how much paint/hardner to mix.

 

[Douglas S]

Prepped the bumper and drilled it for a marine shore power input - pan heater/onboard charger. Combined with the Webasto my truck won’t experience a cold start.

I’ve also succumbed to some “while I’m in there” work:
- ps box/pump are out for rebuild, already had a 105 shaft in there
- new front door speakers
- new front door window motors/regulators
- finishing up my drawer system
- tidying up wiring

 

[undecided]

Prepped the bumper and drilled it for a marine shore power input - pan heater/onboard charger. Combined with the Webasto my truck won’t experience a cold start.
View attachment 2531100

I’ve also succumbed to some “while I’m in there” work:
- ps box/pump are out for rebuild, already had a 105 shaft in there
- new front door speakers
- new front door window motors/regulators
- finishing up my drawer system
- tidying up wiring
View attachment 2531101

What bumper is that by the way?