Dennis1188
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 13, 2009
- Messages
- 117
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- West Lafayette, Indiana
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 96 Sport, 4.0 OHV
1996 Sport
Picked this up for a few hundred dollars.
Had many, many problems but thanks to this great forum I was able to repair everything myself. A special thanks to Monmix, Ped5stang and especially to BroklynBay.
OK, I was happy with my purchase but upon doing some checking I noticed some rust under the plastic trim. I took the plastic trim off and discovered most of the metal had rusted away. Both rocker panels had to be replaced and the doglegs had to be manufactured because they to do make replacement doglegs for the Sport Edition.
PS
Learn from my very stupid mistake. When grinding the rocker panels you will need to protect everything from the sparks… including the windows. I had to replace the windshield because while grinding, sparks were hitting the windshield and etching into the glass resulting in a freaking mess that could not be cleaned off or even polished off.
All in all it was a fun learning experience that took about two months.
Total spent was just under 2,500 including what I paid for the truck.
This was the good side. The other side was much worse and the fender edges were also rusted out. No photos to show but I almost gave up at that point even before I really got started but Monmix gave me hope that it could be done and come out fairly decent.
Removed all the interior rust and gave it two coats of rust reformer paint and later finished it with two coats of black.
Took EVERYTHING out and debadged the exterior.
Decided to shave the useless rear wiper..
Rust all gone and I forgot to mention the hood also had plenty of rust near the front.
Decided to Dye the leather seats in black. I worked many years in a leather factory so I was familiar with the process of changing the color of leather. It is not PAINTED black. I bought my supplies from this company and the process was not that hard.
www.leatherworldtech.com
The dyed chairs have been tested with a clean white rag and the color does not rub off but I already knew that.
The paint job was done by Maaco and before anyone freaks out read the reason why I decided to go with Maaco. I went to a couple of body shops and was quoted a price of SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS to get a great looking paint job. This truck is just not worth it… period. If your going to spend that kind of money, why on earth would you spend it on a beater truck?
Anyway, the paint job from Maaco is OK… far from perfect but acceptable and worth the 600 bucks I paid to do the complete color change including painting inside the doors. It comes with a 2-year “warranty” against any defects.
Color: Bright Island Blue
I decided to go with an all black interior and I will disagree with the few people who think that an all black color scheme will make the interior hotter in the summer.
I removed all the parts and spray painted them with Krylon Fusion paint made for plastic… three coats. Obviously, even with three coats you need to be a little careful but for my use it will hold up just fine.
The carpet is new and required a little very careful cutting to make it fit correctly.
Decided not to put back the rear seats leaving me plenty of room for cargo or my security force.
My Security Force... "Don't even think about it".
New headlamps on front and rear.
Picked this up for a few hundred dollars.
Had many, many problems but thanks to this great forum I was able to repair everything myself. A special thanks to Monmix, Ped5stang and especially to BroklynBay.
OK, I was happy with my purchase but upon doing some checking I noticed some rust under the plastic trim. I took the plastic trim off and discovered most of the metal had rusted away. Both rocker panels had to be replaced and the doglegs had to be manufactured because they to do make replacement doglegs for the Sport Edition.
PS
Learn from my very stupid mistake. When grinding the rocker panels you will need to protect everything from the sparks… including the windows. I had to replace the windshield because while grinding, sparks were hitting the windshield and etching into the glass resulting in a freaking mess that could not be cleaned off or even polished off.
All in all it was a fun learning experience that took about two months.
Total spent was just under 2,500 including what I paid for the truck.
This was the good side. The other side was much worse and the fender edges were also rusted out. No photos to show but I almost gave up at that point even before I really got started but Monmix gave me hope that it could be done and come out fairly decent.
Removed all the interior rust and gave it two coats of rust reformer paint and later finished it with two coats of black.
Took EVERYTHING out and debadged the exterior.
Decided to shave the useless rear wiper..
Rust all gone and I forgot to mention the hood also had plenty of rust near the front.
Decided to Dye the leather seats in black. I worked many years in a leather factory so I was familiar with the process of changing the color of leather. It is not PAINTED black. I bought my supplies from this company and the process was not that hard.
www.leatherworldtech.com
The dyed chairs have been tested with a clean white rag and the color does not rub off but I already knew that.
The paint job was done by Maaco and before anyone freaks out read the reason why I decided to go with Maaco. I went to a couple of body shops and was quoted a price of SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS to get a great looking paint job. This truck is just not worth it… period. If your going to spend that kind of money, why on earth would you spend it on a beater truck?
Anyway, the paint job from Maaco is OK… far from perfect but acceptable and worth the 600 bucks I paid to do the complete color change including painting inside the doors. It comes with a 2-year “warranty” against any defects.
Color: Bright Island Blue
I decided to go with an all black interior and I will disagree with the few people who think that an all black color scheme will make the interior hotter in the summer.
I removed all the parts and spray painted them with Krylon Fusion paint made for plastic… three coats. Obviously, even with three coats you need to be a little careful but for my use it will hold up just fine.
The carpet is new and required a little very careful cutting to make it fit correctly.
Decided not to put back the rear seats leaving me plenty of room for cargo or my security force.
My Security Force... "Don't even think about it".
New headlamps on front and rear.
