Onuma's '66 1000 (Lotsa Pics)

[Onuma]

Success! I finished priming & sanding and got this panel into the spray booth. Since I wasn't sure what color I ultimately want to paint this truck, I mussed around with the options the school had to offer (AKA the ones I don't have to pay $300 per gallon to use). I took Volvo Dark Blue and a GM Opal Blue colors, mixed them 1:1, thinned them out to the right viscosity, and did a bit of testing with a Sata mini spraygun. The end result is a medium-dark blue with a nice silvery metallic texture. Three base coats. 4:1 clear coat with hardener, twice afterward.

Here's the panel just prior to painting. This is a 2K gray primer which has been guide coated and sanded down:



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This is the same panel after base coat, prior to clear coat:


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End result immediately after painting, before the clear coat fully cured. You will notice a tiny bit of orange peel texture where the lights are reflecting:


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This is the finished product after it has been curing for about 6-7 hours, in different lighting in my basement. Notice the orange peel effect has significantly reduced as the clear coat cured and flowed out more evenly. Also, in this light the paint is slightly darker. Not a problem -- still looks great!:


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The paint used, for reference:


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and



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Yes. The paint is 12 years old; donated to the school by some organization or individual. It can still come out great, despite its age. Proper preparation and mixture will yield solid results!

Thanks for reading so far. I'm enjoying sharing this project with folks who appreciate it

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[TJ's GMC]

Very nice paint on that panal!

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I'm likin that blue! I think with that blue and maybe some silver to do a two tone would be awesome.

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[Onuma]

Thanks! I was thinking the exact same thing with the 2-tone potential.

Originally, I wanted to go with a crystal green such as in the 1960-1963 GM lineup, maybe with a metallic finish. This, however, is turning out pretty nicely.

[TJ's GMC]

It might look like mine. lol I'm going with eastwood blue pearl and a silver on my 66.

[Onuma]

Then you, sir, have good taste

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[jturk]

Looking good, the only way this can be done is slow and steady with both minor and major hic-cups along the way. Looking forward to your future updates.

[Onuma]

This isn't an immediate musing, but I'm considering replacing my engine in the distant future. It seems to run alright (mediocre) when the carburetor is rebuilt & clean. Ethanol gas (10% here in VA) really does a number on it though, so it gets very difficult to start and running smoothly can be a PITA if your carb is gunked up, etc.

For the record, the original engine in my '66 is gone. Someone, once upon a time, replaced it with an 1977 GM 305 V8. Woefully inadequate engine for just about any purposes; 140 hp, not much more torque, and equally lacking gas mileage. No advantages, with the exception of it being easy to work on and having tons of replacement parts available.

Here are the options as I see them:
A.) Deal with the constant degradation of engine & related parts due to ethanol -- This will probably be the most costly option in the long term.
B.) Upgrade key parts of the current engine to be more resistant to modern fuel, and/or provide additional performance. I know for a fact that this block can manage to drink modern E10 or even E85 with the right mods, as well as being capable of pushing out ~300 horses or so. Getting it there may be tricky, but will also save the headache of replacing the entire engine.
C.) Replace w/ a modern gas engine which readily accepts E10/E85 gasoline. I'd pick something GM, preferably GMC, just to keep things within the same family. I know I can find a wrecked Sierra engine on the cheap -- maybe $800-1200 tops -- and in working order. This means it will be injected, of course, but that just takes away the hassles of carburetors and puts in place future injector troubles.
D.) Replace w/ a diesel engine. This completely eliminates the requirement for an "ethanol friendly" engine, which is nice. It also means solid MPGs and a ton of torque, even with a relatively small displacement engine (in the high 4L or low 5L range), and basically guarantees that the darn thing will run forever.

Either way, I have a lot of time to consider my options. Any choice involves a lot of work and a decent amount of money (at least). I like the idea of keeping this truck original, there are already so many modifications, replacements, and other things which were done, that a bone-stock truck isn't even on the table anymore.

Just musings. I'll go back to my hole

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[TJ's GMC]

Heck, 305 V6 runs fine on 87 octane. The low compression of 7.8.1 really makes these engines almost run on water. Mine runs fine with the E10 blend using 92 octane. Run "sea foam" fuel additive in every tank fill and you'll be fine. A new engine isn't "readily able to take E10/85 blends) if they sat for as long as people let their classics sit then you'd have the same issues. Its your choice all together, but a good running 305E isn't hard to find and can be picked up cheap and they run on low octane just fine. With a good tune up cold starts are easy. Mine starts right up every time with out issue...and the cost to replace a carb is waay less than an injection system. My 2 cents.

Edit: The 305 gets a SOLID mph to.

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[jturk]

Well Onuma I totally get what you're saying about all of the problems and I appreciate everything that TJ has to say about the 305 V6 because I went through all of that. What I did was decide to go the modern route. I used a 2005 GM 5.3L Vortec engine. It's the LS type of engine. This gives me fuel injection, pretty good HP & Torque, fuel availability, fuel economy, upgrade parts, and reliability. I also decided to go manual transmission which this engine never had a manual available, so that was a problem all its own. Things to look at would be motor mounts, cooling, exhaust manifolds, wiring harness, computer programming, and either throttle by wire or by cable. I've addressed all of that and my engine has 50K miles and runs great. Saying all of that no matter how you go it's your truck and if you make it your way that's good in my book, so have fun and good luck no matter how you go.