FitchVA - The Fugly

[FitchVA]

i just picked up this "gem" a week or so ago. i only have a 1.6 mile drive to work, so i really wanted to get a beater to put the hard miles on instead of my nice(er) white 98 xj. the plan is to drive it back and forth to work, parts hauler, and trash runner. it'll be getting a few upgrades, but all for looks - and as cheaply as possible.

stock specs:

1989 MJ
short bed
231 TC
Auto
d30/d35 (stock 3.55 gearing)

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album115/IMG_0960.jpg


plans:
* fix some dents
* fix the paint
* fix the suspension
* freshen up the motor

[FitchVA]

the wheels that were on it SUCKED. mostly bald and looked like they belonged on a go-cart. and because i'm a pack rat, i still had my old eccos from the white jeep. the tires don't have much tread on them, but they are better than what was on it. plus, they will work for temporary.

before:

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album117/IMG_1005.jpg

after:

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album117/IMG_1009.jpg


edit: also in this picture in the foreground to the right is the d30 that's fresh and ready to be put in the green xj.

[FitchVA]

well i fingally got around to pulling the ugly ducklying into the shop.

first thing addressed: the boo-boo'ed fender:

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1527.jpg

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1528.jpg

it's nekkid!

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1529.jpg

now it's just the worng color and has the wrong emblem

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1533.jpg

i will be hackign the front fenders off just below the headlight buckets/bezels to accomodate a wraparound bumper.

[xjtrailrider]

If you need end caps I have a full set of 97+ textured caps and valence, no bumper though. I picked up a set of "new" smooth finish for big red for $135 last week.

[FitchVA]

i apprecite it, but i'm not gonna use a stock bumper. i'll be making the wrap around bumper.

[FitchVA]

yesterday i got the pinstriping off of the replacement fender, removed the badges, and fixed some dents. almost ready for paint

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1540.jpg

[rubican!]

man i love those trucks. Cant wait to see it put together.

[xjmudman96]

nice chrome mirrors steve! :p

[FitchVA]

they won't be chrome for long ;)

[FitchVA]

not much progress. the plan was to paint the MJ "John Deere Blitz Black" - it's a flat/satin black that looks really nice when done right. a coworker's father works for a paint supplier and was going to get me some for a good price. but my coworker has been dragging his feet so i haven't been really rushed to get stuff done. but i need to go ahead and get some paint down before it gets too cold. so i've decided to hold off on the Blitz Black until next spring so I can have plenty of time to do it right. in the mean time, i'm just gonna spray bomb it. i picked up the paint tonight.

the plan was to have it sanded, taped, and prepped for paint in the morning. but me being me, took forever to strip down the important bits. so i didn't even get a chance to sand. but here are a few shots. not much different, but a little.

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1550.jpg

and here's a closeup of my roof repair. it's still not perfect, but miles away from what it was.

before:

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1538.jpg

meow:

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1552.jpg

[RUparrothead]

Have you considered the $50 paint job?

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2331682&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1


There's a lot of info there. I *considered* this for the j10, but decided to go with OE paint from a professional shop.

The 'Manche is looking good. As I mentioned before, I'd love to have one of those trucks.

[FitchVA]

i read throug that thread a year or so ago and if my memory serves me, you get good results, but to get them, you have to do a TON of really thin coats and do a lot of sanding. if this truck was in better shape, i'd consider a better paint job. but a good paint job would be "lost" on this truck ;)

[RUparrothead]

Yup, 2 coats then wetsand. 2 more then wetsand. 2 more then wetsand, 2 more then wetsand, then polishing compound. It's cheap, but VERY labor intensive.

[hadfield4wd]

The darker the color the more mistakes you will see. You need this sander for a smooth finish.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_36636_36636

[FitchVA]

The darker the color the more mistakes you will see. You need this sander for a smooth finish.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_36636_36636

are you gonna use that on your xj to smooth out the wrinkles? :rotflmao5:

[FitchVA]

UGH!! what a hum-dinger past couple of days. i will fully admit to doing everything seemingly the worst way possible this weekend. first, i didn't buy and really agressive sandpaper because when i was going to do the Blitz Black, i didn't want to risk leaving scratches that would later have to be sanded out after the prier was on.

so needless to say, it took for-fraking-ever to sand down the paint. i'm not sure what kind of paint the PO used to cover the factory, but the parts that weren't peeling up were flipping tough as nails!!! lol took me all day saturday to sand it down. i think i started around 10 am and it was around 9 pm when i closed up the shop.

looks like the bed at least was a pioneer

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1555.jpg

how it sat this morning after the first whipedown today (sunday). the bed is darker only because it was the last thing i wiped down. the driver's side door was the first so it was dry at this point.

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1557.jpg

i read a trick to get better results was to warm the cans up in a bucket of hot water. my only hot water source was inside the house and all of my buckets were kinda dirty so i went with a cooler. it actually turned out really well because it kept the water warm all day

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1558.jpg

after a day much longer that it should have been

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1559.jpg

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1561.jpg

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1563.jpg

today took so long because of 2 things:
* my choice of masking paper
* my choice of masking tape

i don't get a newspaper so i bought some paper to mask off the glass. unfortunately, it was way way too thick and no tape i had would keep it down w/out it peeling up.

i chose to use some dollar general masking tape to hold all that on. THAT CRAP just doesn't work. i should have known better. once the first attempt at masking fell, i pulled out the expensive/good stuff. fighting with all of that probably cost me 2 hours.

i stopped when i did because i needed to do some laundry for the week. i'll finish up the color coats later this weekend hopefully. but hopefully all of this prep will pay off when it's done.

[hadfield4wd]

That ladder is even a little tall for you.:D


Looks good that's alot of work.

[FitchVA]

hardy har harrrrrrrr :P

getting the roof and the hood is/was a paaaaaaaaaaaaaain to get straight

[Scrambled]

Looking good Fitch.:2thumbsup:
Yeah sanding can be a PITA.
I love those Commanche's

Later
Sean

[RUparrothead]

looks good steve. What type of primer is that? Any issues with it "clumping" from the spray bomb, or did the warm water help it out? More info man....I need more info :2thumbsup:

[FitchVA]

it's just the wal-mart rustoleum automitive primer. it went on very well. the horizontal surfaces (hood and roof) were the hardest to get. the cans didn't seem to want to put out a good pattern when turned. i tried to hit them with as close to a 90 deg shot as possible so the cans were on their side. i already tested out the color and the krylon cans seem to do much better in this position than the primer.

the cooler full of hot water really helped. my test sample w/out the warm cans had some spatter issues, the same can after being warmed fixed that issue. i did have 1 can go bad on me and left some clumps. the can just stopped working about a 1/3 of the way through it. it still had lots of paint left in it, but it just stopped spraying. that's when i noticed the clumping. but i went over the area lightly with a shop towel and the clumps went away.

i used my faithful pistol grip doo-hicky that i've been using for years. it clips onto the cans and helps with finger fateague. but this is the first time i've done this much painting in 1 sitting. i ended up stopping by home depot on a lunch run and picked up a better version that allows you to use 2 or 3 fingers to pull the trigger as opposed to 1 like my old one. after the 1st coat, my 1 finger "gun" flat wore out my fingers on both hands.

i'll try to remember to get some more pics tonight after work

[FitchVA]

well i got the paint done tonight. well the body at least. i still need to paint up the flares and other trim pieces.

started with 1 light coat

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1564.jpg

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1565.jpg

aaaaaaand after 3 coats:

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1568.jpg

it's a tad bit darker in real life.

here's a pic of the hood. this does not do justice on how badly it turned out. i think i'm going to take it off and repaint it with it vertical.

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1576.jpg

some tips:

if you don't wear one of these the entire time, you're just stupid. and don't think that those thin paper ones are doing anything helpful enough.

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1569.jpg

spray can pistol grips - USE ONE.

here's my old faithful. i've painted a ton with this, but because you can only use 1 finger at a time, it'll wear you out in no time

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1572.jpg

i picked this one up because it had a larger trigger but i never used it because it couldn't hold the cans firmly enough:

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1573.jpg

i would HIGHLY SUGGEST spending the $7 and getting this. it's much easier to pull the trigger and you can use 2 fingers at once. and it really clamps down on the cans. it worked so well that the only time i had to switch hands was when i needed to change angles, not because of fatigue.

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1575.jpg

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1566.jpg

tape: for the love of pete - buy the good stuff.

i hope to trim the flares and finish the trim painting later this week or this weekend.

then it's time for lift and tires! :wings:

[xjtrailrider]

Looks good Steve:thumb: I think I will paint my new winch bumper with the tan camo to match my lower panels. I'm thinking about the Logans Metal Products Bumper.

[Scrambled]

I've painted quite a few cars over the years even a few bikes and jeeps. Looks pretty darn good for a rattle can job Steve. Where did you get the rustoleum spray gun attachment? I use the older one finger style alot for touch up on the crawelr and the go-carts. That other one sure would save on some fatigue!

Later
Sean

[FitchVA]

thanks guys. the gun was picked up at home depot. it was right with the spray cans.

oh, one other tip - if you go the route i did and soaked the cans in warm water, make sure to whipe them down well and shake them away from whatever you are painting. i didn't do that once and got a drop of water on the pain. no biggie because it was still a primer coat, but it could have been worse.

[Scrambled]

Yeah hot water trick I learned years ago doing model cars RC etc. Works pretty good doesnt it.
Thanks for the info bro.
Now back to Steve's regularly scheduled program.:thumb:

Later
Sean

[RUparrothead]

I thought she was going to be painted black? The khaki looks good, but I was expecting a nice black finish. Just curious as to what happened there?

[FitchVA]

I thought she was going to be painted black? The khaki looks good, but I was expecting a nice black finish. Just curious as to what happened there?
to save from retyping...

not much progress. the plan was to paint the MJ "John Deere Blitz Black" - it's a flat/satin black that looks really nice when done right. a coworker's father works for a paint supplier and was going to get me some for a good price. but my coworker has been dragging his feet so i haven't been really rushed to get stuff done. but i need to go ahead and get some paint down before it gets too cold. so i've decided to hold off on the Blitz Black until next spring so I can have plenty of time to do it right. in the mean time, i'm just gonna spray bomb it. i picked up the paint tonight.

[RUparrothead]

to save from retyping...

Oops. I remember reading that now. My bad.

[FitchVA]

got the trim parts sprayed and mounted. did the flares, all of the grill pieces, and the wiper cowl cover all flat black

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1587.jpg

http://fitchva.com/jeep/gallery1/albums/album129/IMG_1589.jpg

[xjmudman96]

that is one sharp lookin mj:2thumbsup:

[RUparrothead]

not bad at all!

[hadfield4wd]

Nice Steve. But why the wiper cowl in black? All the ones I have seen are body color.

[FitchVA]

yeah they usually are. i had a friend in HS that had an early 90's mustang. i remember that his car had a black / off body color whiper cowl and i kinda liked the way it looked. so i figure i'd try it. and if i didn't like it, i'll only have to live with it for a winter. ;)

[hadfield4wd]

Nice job though.