The visor was prepped by scuffing and a white primer.
We had managed two trips to the trails on Memorial Day weekend and July 4th weekend, both with mechanical failure. The second trip has transmission problems, so it's back to troubleshooting that system.
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While we wait on transmission parts, we returned to painting this beast. We taped off the full design so that we could see where everything would be and where the colors would overlap.
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Kurt made some adjustments on his original design.
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The tailgate would be replaced eventually and was already so broken up by the spare tire carrier that he decided to leave it white. But there would be a stripe of black at the top to cut down on glare in the rear window.
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Even the roof was taped off.
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Once all the adjustments were made, the areas to remain gray were taped off using paper.
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The roof would have some gray as well, while the cap shell would remain white.
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The windows were masked off for spraying.
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The visor was prepped to be sprayed white to match the body.
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Back outside for paint. Now we have to deal with bugs as well, but at least we have more daylight hours to work in.
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Ready for the black to be sprayed. White would go on last.
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The black areas were sprayed in.
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This is not how we normally paint a vehicle.
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Even the cowl section would have something to break up the panel.
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The inside of the visor was sprayed black to prevent glare.
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After looking at the design for a day or so as he started taping of the black areas, Kurt decided that the driver fender needed a bit more black. He used a touchup gun as this was a small area.
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The Bronco was taped off again, this time leaving both the gray and black areas covered.
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Only the areas to be sprayed white remain uncovered.
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The cowl would have just those two small spots of black.
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The black is all taped off. Now we have to wait until tomorrow for the final white and clear stages.
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While we waited, Kurt assembled the visor lights.
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Back outside for the white.
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At least the weather held for getting the spraying done.
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This has got to be the oddest taping off job we will ever do.
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Kurt sprayed on the white paint. We used the Duplicolor Paint Shop premixed black and white, with primer gray. The paints are not too bad, if a bit thin. The clear is not good. We used it on the hood and it just was not shiny enough. The main body will get the FinishMaster house brand of Smart for the clear.
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That is a very lumpy paint job.
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We left the stainless off the wheel arches until after the final paint.
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Kurt had to touch up the spots where the paint peeled back or bled past the tape.
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The roof design. The whole vehicle is ready for clear now.
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The passenger side ready for clear.
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Finally in clear. That was a lot of taping and unmasking overall.
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A better shot of the passenger side.
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So other than paint, we thought the Bronco was ready for some trail time. It's Memorial Day weekend, May 2016. We had been through the engine, transmission, rear diff, brakes, and a few minor systems. It should be good to go.
Boy were we wrong.
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Kurt found the spotlight during yet another trip to the local pick-a-part salvage yard. The grab handles were added to help short people get into this tall truck. The visor was bolted on for the last time.
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It's now January of 2017. What happened between Memorial Day 2016 and now is covered on Mechanical pages 3 & 4. Meanwhile, during one of our many trips to the local salvage yards, we found a replacement step for the passenger side.
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To add better trail proofing, a mesh was added between the plastic grill and the radiator. Since Kurt couldn't find any that he liked, he made one out of the steel door to a server rack that someone had thrown out.
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