Prince Valorum's 95 626 Build Thread

ZE build money being spent on an expensive paint job for your winter truck. I don't get it. But i also don't get the whole truck thing. Regardless, I'm sure it will look really nice when it's all done.

How do they get the OEM decals off? I assume you just sand them off when prepping for paint?

It's not the paint that's expensive, it's all of the rust repair and prep that is! It's not just a winter beater, I could have gotten one if that's what I wanted. I use it a ton, and plan to even more after it's got the V8 :D

Josh has some fancy rubber wheel thing that he used to take the decal off. I liked the decal, since it was so 80's, but it's seen better days.. like 20 years ago!

Damn, my garage looks dark as hell. lol

And hot DAMN Wes, that torpedo heater works flippin AWESOME! I turned it on, went back out there 10 mins later, and it was totally comfortable in there! Metal temp was still a little cold, but I can work with it. It just smells like Kerosene out there now. lol

Got the Acetylene today too, so I'm gonna get the rest of the bed bolts out, and then get the side glass' out.

Yeah, for your eyes, the garage is fine, but it's like a cave for the camera, haha. I needed a tripod, but I didn't bring one.

Cool, now your car and garage smell the same! I'm still waiting for a response from Energy Suspension about whether or not those bushings will work. I've had great experience with their customer support in the past, so I bet I'll have an answer tomorrow.
 
Push comes to shove, I doubt you'd really need them. Or, at the very least, we could bolt the bed down and you can drive the truck until you/we figure out or find something.
 
It's probably just for noise and vibrations, but if possible, I'd rather have them, if for no other reason than to soothe my OCD. :D
 
Ah. It's really nothing more than a big, rubber washer. If you could find a length of rubber to cut some new ones out, tha'd be the ticket.

Drilling/cutting rubber is an incredible PITA though...lol
 
I don't think it would hold up that well to this application. It's weird stuff that needs to get cooked in 450* salt to form sponge rubber, although we also did dense.

Wow, I bet that dude has an epic mullet with all of those cars! That's quite the collection for sure!
 
Piktars??

Got the cab sanded down, the passenger rocker pulled out, and the antenna hole shaved on the new fender today. :)
 
Go ahead, Emeril!

Got some bad news though, one of the lines on the sending unit sprung a leak. Not sure how, but it's pretty rusty, so I'm sure it wouldn't take but a touch for it to happen. :(
 
Got some bad news though, one of the lines on the sending unit sprung a leak. Not sure how, but it's pretty rusty, so I'm sure it wouldn't take but a touch for it to happen. :(

Well I'm glad it happened now instead of when I'm towing. I was planning on replacing those lines, I just didn't do it yet. And left to my own devices, it wouldn't get done.. :\

I always wondered how they shipped items like fenders. Apparently they come in boxes that look like the goodies inside!
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How the box is secured
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Rockin out with the new Fender!
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Test fitting the new fender
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New tailgate
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Glass out
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Omg, heat is the best thing ever!
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It kind of messes up the paint a little bit
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Other side of the heated area
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Old tailgate
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We eated our Wheaties and took the bed off by ourselves!
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All nakie!
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Not a whole lot left
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Hood stripped and bondo on a big dent
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Josh stripped the old bondo from a previous repair and put new in its place
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New patch welded in a rotten hole behind the rear driver side
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Grinding down the welds
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Always srs bsns
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Cleaned up
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The old rubberized frame protectant did a good job in some areas. I stripped it all with a wire wheel, and the black paint still looks like new. In other areas, not so much, but it all seems to be very solid
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Yep, the floor isn't textured, that's all junk I wire wheeled off
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Frame de-scaled
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Grade A patch work. The old tab rusted out, and if the patch had a hole in it, you'd never know which one was the one that was replaced.
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Sanding down the bondo on the rear passenger corner
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Just like Dexter's kill room
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All ready for primer
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It got dark, we worked about 10 hours on it.. It looks so tiny with all of the parts off of it!
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Full house! (or cave, obviously the stock flash wasn't cutting it and I didn't bring my external)
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Well I'm glad it happened now instead of when I'm towing. I was planning on replacing those lines, I just didn't do it yet. And left to my own devices, it wouldn't get done..

And at least we can tackle it with the bed off, instead of having to drop the tank!

Sucks that it's not very drivable now until it gets fixed though. Maybe fire it up to drive it up on the trailer. It spews a little non stop stream. lol
 
Awesome pics and awesome work, guys!

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This is hilarious. Let me guess, he was singing Journey too.
 
very awesome!!! ...makes me think i should've spent a little more time on rust holes...i'll probably do more with them in the spring!

what color are you planning on? i like this one now.
 
Haha, thanks guys! I don't think he was singing Journey when I got that pic!

Kevin, the new color is Sandstorm from the newer FJ Cruisers, plus blacked-out chrome!

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I can't wait to take this picture with mine when it's done! :D (notice how the FJ has 3 wipers, I love the quirkyness of it!)

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Josh doesnt work for Valvoline does he? Just wondering cuz those are the same exact work shirts the ASMs and SMs wear :p
 
Haha....naw. They ARE just about the most common color scheme for these uniforms. I always see other guys out there wearing them. lol
 

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