2000 Dodge Ram

DATEC

Member
The latest project I have been working on is a 2000 Dodge Ram 1ton that has been damaged by the northern salting of the roads in the winter. Knowing what was going to end up happening I used this truck and proved the POR-15 product is a total waste in my other post.

I came across a once in a lifetime deal on a factory new frame (from Dodge) for $800 delivered. I said send it and the project was under way.

I started with chipping all the excess weld splatter off the welds and surrounding areas so when Epoxied they wouldn't fall off exposing raw metal. Then cleaning and degreasing and scuffing with red scotch pads and clean/degreasing again. Then came using 2 sprayable gallons of black Epoxy with a 1.8tip gun taking 6hrs to complete. Total coats are no less then 6. I figured that was good enough :).

I let that sit a week inside before moving it out and started putting parts in. Sorry I don't have pics of the frame by itself.

Now the parts are being done piece by piece and once done they are set aside in another garage. The truck is black so the way I'm doing it is just fine and only the finish (orange peel) might differ prom part to part, color is not an issue.

All parts of the project recieve the same treatment Epoxy with flooding in all the tight spots I can get the pattern, I even turn the pattern down all the way to get deep into areas and flood as much as I can.

All parts have their minor pings fixed (nothing bad at all, door dig size) re-Epoxied and wetsand blocked and painted.

The real chore is the new cab. Once that made it into the shop it was completely gutted of the remaining pieces left from guys I bought it from and the work begains.

With no rust at all to deal with all I had were some small dings. Everything was Epoxied through-out this entire job. The underside has 1/2 gallon sprayable grey and the firewall also 1/2 gallon sprayable grey. You can see the under-side after it had dried and it does have a sheen to it which I like. The grey seems to have more of a sheen then the black or red and both the grey and red seem to be thinner then the black but all spray really nice but a word of caution is make sure you cover things that you don't want getting overspray stuck to in your shop, cause after doing all this Epoxy things have overspray stuck to them like my torpedo heater, it looks like it's 100yrs old now.

I'm kinda slow with taking pics of my projects, sorry. I didn't get any of the work on the outside or inside but it was all done with Epoxy both black and red (used as a giude coat) then finished with black Epoxy. The inside had all seems and holes flooded and the majority was put on the floor, the inside was treaded to 1/2 gallon sprayable black. Doing the inside with the black was probably the on thing I might have changed because when putting the inside together was kinda hard as the interior is dark grey and black and the screws are black I needed a flashlight in the daytime to see anything with everything being so dark.

The exterior recieved a final coat of epoxy after all the dings were fixed and all lower areas the are prone to rust recieved no-less then 3 heavy coats (cab corners, rockers and rear panel of the cab). it was let alone to dry for 2 days before it was wetsanded with 400 then 600grt and then the SPI black base was applied and 3 coats of Universal clear.
 
Again I'm slow at getting pics of my projects, I kick myself everytime I don't and have to work on that. I did manage to get pics of the cab after it was set along with the fenders. There was no buffing at this point. The truck came out real clean and retained all the gloss like when I was cleaning the guns after spraying, not all clears do that some fade down or dye alittle after sitting (we call it pukeing). This paint has been sitting over the winter last year in another garage while other work was being done on other parts.
 
While the parts were painted and all sitting in another garage the time came to swap everything from one frame to the other. The motor and trans were the biggest thing to overcome. I didn't realize until I inquired with some people I was getting parts from that together they weigh just a tick over 1ton fully dressed :eek: and I had no intentions of splitting the trans from the motor and risk damage to anything, it is a custom built Billet pulling trans I had built 2yrs ago, stock Dodge trans suck after 3 trannys I said never again. So to get that out I had to call a buddy with a double hook wrecker to help pull it and set it, he held it up while I changed the oil pan to the new one I had bought and applied 6coats of Epoxy last year. I had also replaced the entire front suspention (except springs and stabilizer bar) and rear spring shackles. I also ordered and installed a complete set of prebent stainless break lines from the master on back, new hub bearings rotors and calipers everything. I even added a steering stabilizer to help with the "Death Wabble" issue Dodge is also known for.
The Rust was so bad that I had networked with some good people that sold me new bolts and nuts for alot of the truck (example body bolts were supose to take a 15mm socket but mine were 13mm after the rust was removed :eek:, the rust was baaadd. I went threw 1-1/2 bottles anti-sieze, every bolt, nut, clamp and anything that would touch the frame or body was slobbered with the stuff.
 
The funny thing with all the rust and nastyness only 2 bolts gave me fits and had to be cut but every other one turned out with a ratchet even the rear shackle bolts and nuts turned out with no problem. I can't figure that out for the life of me but I'm sooo glad they did that could have been real bad.

The truck now has the bed installed and is right now getting and alignment. The truck tuned over 3 times and fired righ up without even a hickup and sat there and ran like a champ. When it comes back I will be starting the wetsand buff part.
 
Looking good! I just ordered some spi black base to try for the first time. Have heard good comments on it so I,m anxious to use
 
You will love it. SPI makes the best products bar none, it's kind of a throw-back too when you got a good product from the big boys.
 
Well I finished the truck. I spent last weekend sanding and buffing. I bought all the products Shine said for me to get and give it a try from Chemical Guys. I've been a Meguires compound user and 2" pile wool pads for buffing, I never liked the foam pads because of the selection being limited from my local jobbers and those not working like I would like. Shine also said for me not to skip grits while sanding, I usually go from1000 to 2000, he also said to go finer to 2500-3000. I went and bought 2 sleeves 1-1500 and 1-2500grt, I figured I could get the 3000grt if it buffed harder then I thought it should.

Well after sanding I started buffing with the 6.5" orange foam pad and #32 compound. It did leave a little bit of scratches behind so I switched to the 2"pile wool pad and Meguires and did another spot and that got it to where the foam could easily take over, so I did it that way.

I noticed that it did take more Meguires to do the same area as the Chemical Guys (5-6 dots with a spray of pad conditioner). Everything worked as Shine said it would smooth cutting with the compound w/spray conditioner and easy control using the 6.5" pads. I really liked this stuff form Chemical Guys I'm sold on the stuff.
 
After the first cutting I was excided to do the final step Shine said to do, use the black pad with #36 and that's all you'll need to do. Well I got everything ready, so I thought. Once I was done with that I set everything down and looked it over. I looked real good then I noticed I used the #34 not the #36. Dam... I could have easily left it at that and been good but I figured It was getting late and I would do it next weekend (today).

So today I made sure I used the #36 with the black pad and went at it again. Wow things were getting better you could see where it had taken it another level of clean and glossy. Another thing Shine said is that it cleans up easly with water and it does. It wont stick in those tight areas it just washes out so clean up of the slop is a breeze, really nice.

Now about the SPI black base and clear. I have sprayed countless blacks and they all have (for the most part) a hue/haze of brown, red, blue etc. Not this it is pure deep,deep Black, not hue of anything not even a hint. The blackest black I've shot no doubt.

The clear has a deep shine and behaves like the days of true Emron and Starthane with a deep gloss that you just can't get with the jobbers clears you get today nohow.

It is soo Black and shiny that it fooled my Nikon D50 camera in thinking that it was daylight and dark at the same time. in 2 photos the shop was light enough to not let the flash to go off but the paint was soo Black that the shutter speed went to a night shot (really slow). It looks like a mirror photo but it is everything being reflected no black can bee seen. The one photo I shook alittle then I realized what was happening and held as still as I could.
 
Here are the other shots of the truck. It isn't a show job but a work truck that I wanted to last and look good. I have a line on new rims and those will be next along with bed getting touched up with something like bed liner or something.
 
I want to give a shout out to Shine and Barry. Shine for the compound and Barry for making this work enjoyable and rewarding again. It's been quite sometime that products give the end user a sence of pride and make a stand-out statement. SPI products do just that.

So to Shine and Barry I thank you.

Dave
 
Looks great! I'm planning on SPI black for my 57 Chevy pickup. I can only hope it turns out that good.
 
Thanks. For a work truck it has been turning heads it's kinda funny when people have stopped on the sidewalk to look. Dodges of this year just don't look this new in Pa. I was going to do the bed before mounting it but just ran out of time, doing a job this involved 100% by yourself takes a little time, it's funny how friends can disappear.

You will be amazed at how well this paint goes on. I look forward to seeing the project.
 
Repost of some of the done photos
 

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Looks good.

Reminds me last year I got to say something I've been wanting to say for years. Someone at home depot last year in the same brand vehicle as yours goes right into a concrete filled steel post at about 3mph. When he got out the truck I said if you can't dodge it, just ram it.
Can't make that up.
 
Thanks. It was alot of work but well worth it IMO, you just can't get one with this low of miles pre-emmisions.

I reposted the pics for those new people looking for info on Por-15, which has come up on another forum I belong to.

I will get some current photos of the truck and how it has held up since it was done to show what you can expect to have and how well your project will last. The truck has been outside since done and never waxed and washed once. While that might make some crap their pants because they feel their auto needs to have wax on it before it even leaves the garage so the sun and weather hurts the Finnish. I will show you that the quality SPI offers will not be affected nearly as much as the other offerings of the BIG major brands.

It still looks like the day it was completed and has absolutely no issues what so ever from the weather or sun.
 
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