Tailgate repair & recolor by a novice.....on a budget

[Spook50]

The stud gun / dent puller is an excellent tool. Only a C-note at hoorroorFright?, I may 'need' to get one myself, to reduce the carpal tunnel and other mobility issues associated with hammer and dolly, sanding blocks et cetera.
Epoxy paint will definitely seal up the panel, looking good!

Yeah about $100 even. The new (to the location) manager at the one near me gives me 15% off too as an unofficial veteran discount, so that works out pretty nice LOL.

Priming now. Waiting about 8 minutes between coats but pics coming later tonight. It's looking GREAT for someone who went in knowing next to nothing about sheet metal work. The final painted product will tell how well I did....

 

[Spook50]

Meant to post these last night, but decided to stay up late with my daughter and watch Stranger Things since she had been asking about it, so posting now after letting the first couple coats of actual paint dry enough for more coats. Last night was final sanding, cleaning and priming.

Exterior side sanded and ready for wipe down with wax & grease remover (as my son strolls by).

Interior side after wipe down and now ready for primer after using ear plugs to protect threaded holes (license plate screw holes I'll just clean out with a thread chaser [NOT a tap] after paint and use a bit of anti seize to protect against rust).

The cleaner I use. It applies very much the same as mineral spirits but evaporates completely and without the oiliness that mineral spirits can leave. Lint free rag with a small amount poured over it was more than plenty to fully clean the tailgate. This one quart could likely take care of the entire truck as I go panel by panel to paint it. It goes a LONG way, and only cost about seven bucks at the local Wesco/KC outlet.

The primer I used. I don't have a spray setup and couldn't invest in one at this point (along with having done no research beyond initial cost), but these cans worked amazingly well for rattle cans. I realized after spraying the interior side, that being an epoxy it needs to be applied slowly and somewhat heavier in layers, rather than my norm with spray paint of multiple thin coats and building up while still tacky. I did this on the exterior side to much better results. I'll use this on any panels I'm able to actually remove from the truck, but likely won't on anything that has to stay in place to paint (roof, potentially doors, quarter/cargo panels).

 

[Spook50]

Primer applied!

Interior side.

Exterior side. There ARE a few flaws that don't show in the pictures, but the fact that you have to be pretty close to see them even with the primer that does show them exceptionally well (ha) tells me the outcome should look pretty good given what I'm going for.

 

[PanhandleFJ]

Primer applied!

Interior side.
View attachment 3117464


Exterior side. There ARE a few flaws that don't show in the pictures, but the fact that you have to be pretty close to see them even with the primer that does show them exceptionally well (ha) tells me the outcome should look pretty good given what I'm going for.
View attachment 3117465

Are you sure you're not an undercover body man? It looks really good.

 

[Spook50]

Are you sure you're not an undercover body man? It looks really good.

Nah, just was lucky enough to have the time to take it slow and fix the mistakes I made along the way. It'll definitely be nice to drive my own 62 again though after driving my mother's 4Runner for a month

 

[Spook50]

The painting began yesterday. I'm doing a combination of rolling and brushing (rolling the large areas and brushing for the details and contours). I'm using a 4" foam roller for that portion, which is mainly the exterior side. The interior side was all brushed. For paint I used a 3:10 ratio of Rustoleum flat black and Rustoleum Professional gloss yellow to get a nice OD green color. I would've liked it just a hair darker, but any more black when I experimented before left it looking more gray than green. The mix of flat in with the gloss gives it a nice matte finish. I also cut it with about 45% paint thinner so that it self levels well and mixes easily. Caveat is that this means it takes several coats for a nice uniform cover. The pic is after four coats, just before applying a fifth "for good measure" coat. Something else I noticed is that you have to CONSTANTLY keep mixing the paint or the black tries to separate out. I'm not sure if this is because of the difference in formula between Rustoleum's standard and Professional lines (but they are both oil based), or due to mixing a flat with a gloss. Not a paint expert here, so anyone who has a good though on this please chime in. Ideally I would've liked to use the Rustoleum Professional for the flat black too, but it was NO WHERE to be found locally in anything other than a full gallon, and when I'm only using 3oz. at a time, that's just a colossal waste of money.

Pictures of the exterior side will come once it's done and all cured.

I need a new pair of tailgate stays also, or to see if I can "repair" the spring on the right side unit that's been slack for years.

 

[poptart]

Get it @Spook50. Results look good.

I need to pick up a better welder. I got a quote to get some rust spots/bubbles repaired on the rear wheel arches and it was about $2200-2400. Cheaper than I thought but still annoying, especially since I'm positive one of the PO had previous repairs done.... poorly. Unfortunately all I have is a hobo freight flux core gun and I'm positive I'm just going to get frustrated blowing holes in sheet metal and with the splatter.

 

[Spook50]

Get it @Spook50. Results look good.

I need to pick up a better welder. I got a quote to get some rust spots/bubbles repaired on the rear wheel arches and it was about $2200-2400. Cheaper than I thought but still annoying, especially since I'm positive one of the PO had previous repairs done.... poorly. Unfortunately all I have is a hobo freight flux core gun and I'm positive I'm just going to get frustrated blowing holes in sheet metal and with the splatter.

Oh yeah I avoid flux core unless absolutely needed like welding outside in wind, and I still will never use it on sheet metal. Good way to have yourself hating life with all the cleanup.

 

[Spook50]

I gave it as much time as I could to let the paint cure as much as possible, gave the hardware a thorough cleaning in some mineral spirits in my ultrasonic (it's all so beat up that while the grease and dirt cleaned away, they don't look all pretty shiny new, save for the new yellow zinc bolts I installed it all with). Overall I'm very happy with how it turned out. It's FAR from a show finish, but the metal is all repaired and well protected for many years to come, and the appearance is still that of a good utility paint job. This is one that I'll be able to easily mix and use new batches of to repair any damage at home, or even completely paint any replacement body panels or doors that may have to be used in the event of trail or collision damage.

One thing that happened while stripping the hardware away was the plastic grommet in this hole from the factory was destroyed during removal, so I found a black vinyl grommet at the local Ace with a perfect ID radius for the lock pull. The OD was 7/16" so I had to slightly enlarge the hole in the tailgate and deburr it before priming and painting.

Nice new pretty yellow zinc bolts holding everything on, and I bought a roll of edge trim at O'Reilley to go along the top edge since all the paint had been almost completely rubbed away from the metal over time. I think the plain black actually looks really nice on OD green too.

And back on the truck! I love how it looks and now can't wait to get to work on the rest of repairs and paint. This has been a hell of a learning experience and I'm glad I attempted it on my own because the lessons and experience I gained will only help me in the future.

Forgot to add, all in all I think I spent (including the price of the dent puller kit which I wouldn't have needed if I had thought to use the pry bar trick that @kelly saad described when I welded the patch edge closest to the end of the tailgate) just shy of $300.

 

[PanhandleFJ]

I gave it as much time as I could to let the paint cure as much as possible, gave the hardware a thorough cleaning in some mineral spirits in my ultrasonic (it's all so beat up that while the grease and dirt cleaned away, they don't look all pretty shiny new, save for the new yellow zinc bolts I installed it all with). Overall I'm very happy with how it turned out. It's FAR from a show finish, but the metal is all repaired and well protected for many years to come, and the appearance is still that of a good utility paint job. This is one that I'll be able to easily mix and use new batches of to repair any damage at home, or even completely paint any replacement body panels or doors that may have to be used in the event of trail or collision damage.

One thing that happened while stripping the hardware away was the plastic grommet in this hole from the factory was destroyed during removal, so I found a black vinyl grommet at the local Ace with a perfect ID radius for the lock pull. The OD was 7/16" so I had to slightly enlarge the hole in the tailgate and deburr it before priming and painting.
View attachment 3120787


Nice new pretty yellow zinc bolts holding everything on, and I bought a roll of edge trim at O'Reilley to go along the top edge since all the paint had been almost completely rubbed away from the metal over time. I think the plain black actually looks really nice on OD green too.
View attachment 3120788


And back on the truck! I love how it looks and now can't wait to get to work on the rest of repairs and paint. This has been a hell of a learning experience and I'm glad I attempted it on my own because the lessons and experience I gained will only help me in the future.
View attachment 3120789


Forgot to add, all in all I think I spent (including the price of the dent puller kit which I wouldn't have needed if I had thought to use the pry bar trick that @kelly saad described when I welded the patch edge closest to the end of the tailgate) just shy of $300.

Looks good, so the final coat was sprayed with what? Was it a paint gun? If you already said what it was I'll find it. I like those bolts too. I'm at the step of cleaning and reattaching my break lines to my newly painted chassis. I need some bolts like that.

 

[Spook50]

Looks good, so the final coat was sprayed with what? Was it a paint gun? If you already said what it was I'll find it. I like those bolts too. I'm at the step of cleaning and reattaching my break lines to my newly painted chassis. I need some bolts like that.

@ToyotaMatt is a good source for new yellow zinc hardware. He sent me some a while back that's come in handy quite a few times. Believe it or not this paint was actually rolled & brushed on. I gotta say I'm impressed with the results given what I expected to end up with.

 

[PanhandleFJ]

@ToyotaMatt is a good source for new yellow zinc hardware. He sent me some a while back that's come in handy quite a few times. Believe it or not this paint was actually rolled & brushed on. I gotta say I'm impressed with the results given what I expected to end up with.

I would have never thought to brush on paint but why not. I brushed on the POR 15 paint on my chassis and it self levels and looks nice.

 

[MarkBC]

You ain't a novice no more

 

[Spook50]

I would have never thought to brush on paint but why not. I brushed on the POR 15 paint on my chassis and it self levels and looks nice.

The Rustoleum Professional works really well when cut 45-50% with paint thinner. The local Wesco will do custom colors in rattle cans. If they can mix Rustoleum (I know they're gonna laugh at me if I even say Rustoleum in there LOL) in the ratio I want, it might make it easier to do the panels that I don't intend to remove from the truck.

@MarkBC I definitely learned a TON doing this! Feels pretty good to have accomplished this on my own, and I have a much increased respect for people who do REAL body work as opposed to the "turn n' burn" that the big chain body shops do.