Dash – DONE!

It was still a little cool after church but I got out to the shop anyway. I set my saw horses up and laid out the parts to paint. It took me about 30 minutes to scuff everything down. I poured out 6oz of paint and added about 3oz of warm water – seemed to be thin enough to spray. The last time I sprayed this latex paint in didn’t want to spray – I guessed that it wasn’t thinned out enough, so this time it was going to be thinner. It took me about 30 minutes to get a thin coat on every surface of every part and screws/bolts. By the time I was done with the first coat, the parts were dry enough to handle already! I was actually able to pick them up to inspect for full coverage. I am loving this paint more and more every time I use it! I went ahead and sprayed a heavy coat on top of the first. Second coat took half the time. After a little longer drying period for the heavy coat (prob 30 min), I was able to handle them to inspect for coverage. They all looked good, so I let them sit for another 30 or so minutes and moved them over to the tailgate of the truck.

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Reay for assembly

 

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My “new” pintle hitch, chain plate and USMC stamped gas can carrier – DONE!

 

Next up was re assembling everything. It all went back together without many problems. The Dzus clips were a little tight, so when I was trying to screw one of the panel screws down the screwdriver slipped and scratched the instrument cluster – had to touch that up. I found a couple of edges that didn’t get a second coat, so I had to touch those up too.

 

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Lookin good – just need a new light switch and data plate.

 

It’s not perfect, but a LOT better than before! I HATE that blue paint that seems to be EVERYWHERE! I plan on painting the data plate tomorrow to give the dash the finishing touch. I also need to do some stripping and sealing/painting on the battery box while the dash is out. If there are enough hours in the day, I can start stripping the rest of the interior – hoping to get it painted this week.

Parts needed to complete the dash and interior:

  1. Spider wiring harness for the instrument cluster
  2. Light switch
  3. Weather stripping for glove and tool box doors
  4. New fuel sending unit wire and loom
  5. Seat cushions

2 thoughts on “Dash – DONE!”

    1. Yeah – if the weather would cooperate a little more I would be even farther along. I guess it IS winter and should be happy enough with all of the warm days that we HAVE had so far! Was planning to get out there today, but at 43deg it’s kinda hard to get motivated enough to do it!

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