Jen's 03 Sport

[96EXXLTinCO]

my mom was out visiting me and surprised me with a little lincoln flux/mig welder - i haven't played with it yet and don't have the conversion kit for gas, but it'll give me something to work on when the weather starts getting too cold to play outside.

I bought one of those in about 2003 or so, still have it, great little machines. I taught myself how to draw a decent bead with that machine. 2 years later I was head welder/fabricator at a truck shop and building custom beds for fencing trucks. But it all started with that little machine and my garage, and scrap metal I could get my hands on. Once you start playing with it let me know if you need any tips. It takes quite a bit of hood time to really get a feel for it. Make sure you got good ventilation when using that flux core wire, those fumes get thick pretty fast.

 

[jenren81]

I bought one of those in about 2003 or so, still have it, great little machines. I taught myself how to draw a decent bead with that machine. 2 years later I was head welder/fabricator at a truck shop and building custom beds for fencing trucks. But it all started with that little machine and my garage, and scrap metal I could get my hands on. Once you start playing with it let me know if you need any tips. It takes quite a bit of hood time to really get a feel for it. Make sure you got good ventilation when using that flux core wire, those fumes get thick pretty fast.

I'll take you up on tips whenever I get into it.. I grew up in a farm and my dad taught me how to stick weld when I was young, never did it a lot but knew I wanted to get into it someday. So many projects I do seem to need welding fab so it'll be good to learn. I have a lot of reading to do about it still but thanks for the heads up on the fumes luckily my garage has windows and two doors, I'll make sure I have a fan handy to help vent also.

 

[96EXXLTinCO]

Monstaliner update?

 

[jenren81]

Monstaliner update?

not much visible progress yet, but lots of small things adding up; been way too busy on the weekends doing fun stuff and running out of daylight after work and dodging rainstorms. I finished up scuffing all of the paint last night, got the last few pieces of flaked paint off of the roof and need to prime the roof and other bare spots with the magnapoxy primer that i bought along with the monstaliner. hoping to ditch work early on a nice day this week and knock it out

 

[MidnightRebel07]

You're getting more done than I am, looks good.

 

[jenren81]

Finally got to work on getting the monstaliner put on this past weekend... wasted too much of my day doing final prep/masking and started to run out of time on rolling the liner, it was nice out and rain forecasted for the next day so I tried to get it all done Saturday night... got the first coat on the whole truck and two coats on the roof before I had to call it quits, was too tired and it was dark. My shop lights were luring too many bugs and getting stuck in the tacky paint coat.. haha. Since I didn't get the 2 coats on within the window I have to wait over 24 hours to do the rest, so it's sitting in my garage until I get some time.

I snapped a few pics, the first coat isn't supposed to cover completely so you can see pinholes of the pretty fresh new white epoxy primer I put on the roof showing through. The close up of the roof I took halfway through laying down the second coat to show the difference in texture/coverage. The grey color is going to look neat and I'm glad I didn't go for a drastic color change it would've been hell to get every last little detail covered but for a DIY job it's going to look pretty cool when done. Tomorrow or Wed if I can leave work early I'll get the second coat on

 

[Sogsnakebite]

Looking good Jen just finished my buddies truck

 

[gmanpaint]

It's a lot of work, isn't it!

Mad props to you, for going after it like you did.

 

[jenren81]

It's a lot of work, isn't it!

Mad props to you, for going after it like you did.

Lots of work for sure! However I saved a ton of money and it will look a million times better when it's all done. This thing is covered with mud and crap most of the year so the bed liner suits it and now I don't have to worry about scratching up new pretty paint on trails because I don't care

 

[jenren81]

Looking good Jen just finished my buddies truck

That looks good.... I kind of wanted to just do black to make it easier, that turned out well. Wish I had a good place I would've sprayed the liner on instead. Saves a ton of time!

 

[Sogsnakebite]

He's still debating n redoing the green on the upper but wanted two coats all over first, yeah spraying is way quicker I can't imagine rolling it on

 

[96EXXLTinCO]

Looking good, can't wait to see it done.

 

[2TimingTom]

So I got to thinking about this Monstaliner. My bumpers and sliders are painted with a spray on bedliner. It gives them a slightly rough texture. When they get dirty, they don't clean up well.

I'm not the type to drive around a dirty vehicle for any longer than I absolutely have to. Maybe the ole hand wash mit will have to get tossed in favor of a brush with a 3 foot handle.

 

[96EXXLTinCO]

So I got to thinking about this Monstaliner. My bumpers and sliders are painted with a spray on bedliner. It gives them a slightly rough texture. When they get dirty, they don't clean up well.

I'm not the type to drive around a dirty vehicle for any longer than I absolutely have to. Maybe the ole hand wash mit will have to get tossed in favor of a brush with a 3 foot handle.

Or it provides a good excuse to buy a pressure washer........

 

[2TimingTom]

Or it provides a good excuse to buy a pressure washer........

Have one. In order to get all the dirt out you need to sit there and focus the stream right on it.

My bumpers don't have much surface area and only takes a couple minutes. The truck sheetmetal.........

 

[jenren81]

So I got to thinking about this Monstaliner. My bumpers and sliders are painted with a spray on bedliner. It gives them a slightly rough texture. When they get dirty, they don't clean up well.

I'm not the type to drive around a dirty vehicle for any longer than I absolutely have to. Maybe the ole hand wash mit will have to get tossed in favor of a brush with a 3 foot handle.

i've read that the monstaliner cleans up really easily, and if you put on some armor all it shines up nicely as well. the texture is hard to explain, it's smooth to the touch but bumpy. it's unlike any other bedliner i've seen for sure.

 

[jenren81]

took this pic yesterday, the texture looks uneven because there is only one coat on here. hoping to get the second coat done after work. This kind of shows the color a little better. I'm up in the air about painting the front bumper cover and grill surround part that is black here, what do you all think???? I'm keeping the lower part black for sure though. Sorry the pic is so big! Next up will be new satin black wheels, these old ones have to go.

 

[Sogsnakebite]

I bed lined the whole front of mine satin lower gloss upper

 

[jenren81]

I bed lined the whole front of mine satin lower gloss upper

I scuffed it down last night, gonna go with the grey front. If it hate it I have a quart of black I bought too. Hoping weather holds out tonight I need to get this knocked out! Tired of bumming rides to work.

I want to paint the honeycomb grille part black with my krylon fusion, it's faded bad, is there any easy way to take those parts out? Would save me some taping time.... Search function here I come!!!

 

[Sogsnakebite]

Yes the honey comb pops out but I can't remember if you have to remove the bumper skin first , I did mine with the whole front end off the truck