Draker Posted May 11, 2020 Report Share Posted May 11, 2020 Looks great Gene! 1 Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted May 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2020 8 hours ago, Lockleaf said: Love me some lace paint. I've done a coupe of motorcycle gas tanks up that way. Very nice. Glad its getting painted after all the trouble you've had getting to this point. Thanks Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted May 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) so i have a snug top fiberglass shell that is gonna be painted the metallic silver and the painter made a suggestion about adding a roll back sliding roof onto it since it sags in middle or come up with a bracing to resupport it flush. he has the sliding roof on his madza mini truck canopy but his has side windows and mine does not, he says it will bring some light into the bed interior that he is doing as well when i open it at car shows so that way people can see inside of it . or he will continue with the cab roof design on the top of shell. thoughts please Edited May 13, 2020 by gene knight picture of snug top 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted May 13, 2020 Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 Personally I would not cut a hole in the roof, I would internally brace it to hold its normal shape and continue the cab roof design. I personally think that these trucks look better without a canopy but we are not all the same, and canopies have there uses. 2 Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted May 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 1 hour ago, wayno said: Personally I would not cut a hole in the roof, I would internally brace it to hold its normal shape and continue the cab roof design. I personally think that these trucks look better without a canopy but we are not all the same, and canopies have there uses. Thanks Wayno Quote Link to comment
Chopper Jim Posted May 13, 2020 Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 No to the roll back rag. Brace it and call it a day. If you need light at a show, add interior lighting. Continue the roof design in & out. Give people a reason to look inside. Chopper Jim 3 Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted May 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2020 thanks to all who voiced their thoughts. besides i don't think there will be anyone riding in bed and i will have the rear glass propped open at shows for people to look inside and i like idea of some interior lighting even though most are shows are during the day except for the occasional cruising event at night here in phoenix or at westgate football stadium Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted May 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 so i decided NOT to do the roll back rag top on the canopy for my 521. thank you for those who responded. i figured the OG snug top shell would loose value if hacked up and in the future if i decide to sell it the value would be worth more uncut, besides the paint can be sanded down unlike reapplying new fiberglass to fill in big hole in center top 1 Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted May 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2020 (edited) so the painter got with me today and the center of roof on shell is sagging on outside NOT inside due to age and being out in the sun prior to me getting it the 1st time, when i found it the shell was sitting on a mazda truck in a junkyard here in hell/phoenix so initial thought was that we would brace it up from the inside but it is double layered fiberglass and inside is fine, its the outside that is damaged and it is really textured by whoever decided to paint it with white house paint and it was originally red, but whoever painted it they did not prep/sand it and looks like they painted it outside under dusty/windy conditions so the painter says it will take a lot of time/labor/materials to get it smooth to paint and he would be afraid that the way the streets are here in phoenix which are very crappy that it might recrack the shell top that would be repaired with resin/fiberglass bondo. i have seen his work before during and after so i trust his opinions so it might be best to rethink the rollback ragtop as previously considered. i have thought about scrapping the idea of using that shell and buying another since it does not have side windows but i have to check on prices before we go any further. i might use it on my datsun bed trailer instead if i find another shell at tom's camperland here in phoenix where they have a variety of new and used shells Edited October 16, 2020 by gene knight Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted June 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2020 (edited) so went to see updates on my 521, might install some side windows and small plexi - glass pop out windows on the sides of shell Edited June 13, 2020 by gene knight Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted July 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2020 so i have some lexan that will be used for side windows on shell and 35x50 canvas ragtop will be added also before final silver metallic paint on shell 1 Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted July 3, 2020 Report Share Posted July 3, 2020 On 5/12/2020 at 9:25 PM, gene knight said: so i have a snug top fiberglass shell that is gonna be painted the metallic silver and the painter made a suggestion about adding a roll back sliding roof onto it since it sags in middle or come up with a bracing to resupport it flush. he has the sliding roof on his madza mini truck canopy but his has side windows and mine does not, he says it will bring some light into the bed interior that he is doing as well when i open it at car shows so that way people can see inside of it . or he will continue with the cab roof design on the top of shell. thoughts please normally I'd say this is a low maintenance back yard... lol 1 Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted July 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2020 so went to see how my painter guy and his family are doing during this pandemic and they are doing good, with the hot temps over 100+ i don't expect him to bust his ass and over do it on my truck, but today he started working on the snug top shell by cutting out the roof section for the canvas rollback sliding ragtop and i got some lexan to use as side windows and he cut the sides for them to be installed as well. as soon as canopy is painted then its time to wrap the underside with crushed velvet material prior to installing lexan/ragtop. can't wait for it to be done. Top Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted July 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2020 well i finally got the headlights i wanted on ebay and they have metal tabs on back of them so i had to adjust 1 of the tabs on each headlight. i got them from octane lighting on ebay and they are the 60/55w H4 bulbs Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted September 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2020 (edited) so here's the update. the tailgate had to be reworked cuz whoever had it tweaked the left corner of tailgate and did some rewelding on it and maybe reason why it was not lining up with bed corners when installed and then had a bunch dents and dings that needed repaired then when it came to using filler and sanding around letters had to use fingers when sanding them instead of sanding block, so painter sent me a video today of the letters being custom painted then on monday will use the vinyl datsun letter stickers to mask them off before he paints it plum crazy and then remove stickers prior to the clear coat, the canopy was worse than we thought but now it is smoothed out on top and in primer then it will be painted the same metallic silver that the cab roof/a pillar/back of cab is already done in. once that is done then it will be mounted/secured to bed / accordian boot installed between back of cab/canopy then the interior inside done and then finally the sliding ragtop/lexan side windows installed Edited September 20, 2020 by gene knight Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted September 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2020 (edited) tailgate done and painted so next it is to finish the canopy by painting it metallic silver then once that is done 1 more final stage of clear then of cut n buff the whole truck, then do the interior for the cab and bed/canopy, install the sliding canvas ragtop and lexan windows and delivered in 2 weeks Edited September 25, 2020 by gene knight 2 Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted October 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2020 (edited) canopy painted today silver metallic and will take a few days to cure, then 1 more round of cut n buff the whole truck, then it is on to the upholstery session , and delivered by the 12th Edited October 1, 2020 by gene knight Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted October 1, 2020 Report Share Posted October 1, 2020 Awesome you are finally getting to see some real progress on this. 1 Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted October 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2020 Final cut n buff then Interior work on Friday and Saturday Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted October 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2020 Looking forward to getting grimace back this week Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted October 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2020 (edited) here is my tailgate decided to go with the faded sunset look on the letters. i think that is what it is called Edited October 16, 2020 by gene knight 7 Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted October 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2020 (edited) B4 pic of canopy and updated pictures still need to install the black velvet diamond pattern material onto canopy inside b4 installing the side lexan windows the metallic silver matches that cab A pillar and roof/back of cab around rear window area Edited October 16, 2020 by gene knight 6 Quote Link to comment
gene knight Posted October 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2020 i have a picture of canopy on grimace but file it slightly larger than the 4mb allowed to post need to compress it so i can post it 2 Quote Link to comment
pidge Posted October 16, 2020 Report Share Posted October 16, 2020 Looks great so far Gene. Nice job. -Pidge 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted October 16, 2020 Report Share Posted October 16, 2020 Cant wait to see it finished... 3 Quote Link to comment
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