Replaced The Beater Truck Today

Nizmo- Good on you for finding the right part(s) at the right price...and the right shop too! That sounds like a lot of win to me.
 
Starting on spring and summer truck "projects" so to say! The stock headlights were faded and trashed beyond belief. The dealer sanded and sprayed something on them at one time, but made it worse over time. For under $115 shipped to my door a set of TYC assemblies did the trick. Why didn`t I refinish them? Simply the passenger side was cracked somewhere and getting moisture. Not spending hours of labor and money on them when one is bad.

Passenger new, drivers is the old:

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Complete:

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I have a set of LED bulbs on the way as well. Kinda controversial in the auto world, but I`ll try them. Fog lights are a set of Sylvania Fog Vision 9145 halogens. They are excellent in the fog and snow!
 
Soooo the truck goes to the bodyshop tomorrow. Had a large hailstorm here with golfball sized hail. The tree blocked most of it, but yot the hood and fenders. Grandmothers Jeep unfortunately got "destroyed" as she was at the store and they had larger hail.
 
So sorry to hear this news. It’s hard enough to keep that “new feeling” with a vehicle and then to have something like this happen. Body shops these days can be amazing.
 
Nizmo said:
Soooo the truck goes to the bodyshop tomorrow. Had a large hailstorm here with golfball sized hail. The tree blocked most of it, but yot the hood and fenders. Grandmothers Jeep unfortunately got "destroyed" as she was at the store and they had larger hail.
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Nizmo --
So sorry to hear about the hailstorm doing damage to yours and your Grandmother`s vehicles..

Hopefully a lot of the damage can be repaired with paintless dent repair.
I have seen this work do some amazing things in the hands of real pro`s..

Good luck with all this, hope you guys are still all safe and well up there in PA..
Dan F
 
Thanks guys. Just one of those freak things that happen. The local dealership in town "lost" all their vehicles, for sale and employees. As soon as the storm ended I was on the phone with my agent and made a claim and appointment for the shop. Also got my grandmother to do the same, although she is using a shop closer to here so no telling how long it will take. We both have the same agent so that makes it a little easier to help her out. Unfortunately the damage is extensive and the Jeep is not worth that much. Don`t know what road I`d go down if it`s totaled as she turns 86 this month and her driving days are close to over. I suppose I`d help her lease something. Kinda tough being the only male figure around right now...
 
Nizmo said:
Thanks guys. Just one of those freak things that happen. The local dealership in town "lost" all their vehicles, for sale and employees. As soon as the storm ended I was on the phone with my agent and made a claim and appointment for the shop. Also got my grandmother to do the same, although she is using a shop closer to here so no telling how long it will take. We both have the same agent so that makes it a little easier to help her out. Unfortunately the damage is extensive and the Jeep is not worth that much. Don`t know what road I`d go down if it`s totaled as she turns 86 this month and her driving days are close to over. I suppose I`d help her lease something. Kinda tough being the only male figure around right now...
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Nizmo --
My siblings in Texas go through this hailststorm disaster routinely, almost every year.. You should see what it does to roofs of houses... Ugh...

All the Dealerships along the freeway by the Airport have all their vehicles hammered almost every year..
Somehow, they all get through it..

I am sure that if you are a good PDR person, in San Antonio alone, you get very rich.. :)

The guy I used exclusively in Bellevue, WA, was excellent - so good, that even if I knew exactly where the dent was before, when he was finished, I could absolutely not find it!! It was gone..

Hopefully your vehicles will be made better and all will be ok again..

My dear Grandmother, and my Mom, her daughter - "Angels in the shape of my Mom".. I miss them both so much all the time.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzIcVQx6UnY&list=RDBzIcVQx6UnY&start_radio=1

Take care, my Brother...
Dan F
 
Truck is dropped off an in the hands of the bodyshop. The guy thought I was just there to get an estimate and go from there, but I told him fix it and call me when it`s done. I`m not running back and fourth almost an hour each way, lol.

Just about every panel is affected along with the windshield will need to be replaced as the hail put a bunch of pits in it. Some panels like the hood are getting replaced, some PDR, and some conventional repair. I`m honestly not bothered by it as they have several good painters. Kind of a funny way to get rid of the faded paint on the roof. They will be going with BC/CC and not single stage.
 
Nizmo said:
Truck is dropped off an in the hands of the bodyshop. The guy thought I was just there to get an estimate and go from there, but I told him fix it and call me when it`s done. I`m not running back and fourth almost an hour each way, lol.

Just about every panel is affected along with the windshield will need to be replaced as the hail put a bunch of pits in it. Some panels like the hood are getting replaced, some PDR, and some conventional repair. I`m honestly not bothered by it as they have several good painters. Kind of a funny way to get rid of the faded paint on the roof. They will be going with BC/CC and not single stage.
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Great news, Nizmo !!!
Wow - you are going to get a really nice result from all this mayhem in the sky!!!
Bet it will really look nice !

Loved those huge, bright, fog light bulbs you installed! I need to see if they make a size for my `09 Grand Cherokee..
Thanks for the tip !
Dan F
 
Nizmo- Oh gee, so sorry to hear about the hail damage!

Sure glad to hear you have such confidence in your body/paint guys.

I agree about leasing something for your Grandmother, FWIW the oldest/most feeble driver I know simply loves her new Mazda CX-30.
 
Trucks going into paint early next week so I should have it next weekend. Hood got replaced which has to get painted and the roof is getting painted as the paint cracked when they popped the dents. It`s a win for me as the old single stage was so faded and chalky looking. Not that I couldn`t have buffed it, but one less step for me. The rest of the "dents" popped out. Gonna suck to have to wait a couple months to put a coat of sealant on the truck, but atleast the most troubled areas I`ve had are going base coat/clear coat. Not worried about matching issues; if they can match the metallic gray on our Camry, I`m pretty sure a solid color is good.

Also to my amazement they`re not totaling the Liberty, so not sure if that`s a win or not, but atleast we don`t have to search for a vehicle to replace it.
 
Nizmo- Sounds good with regard to your truck, hope the Liberty turns out OK.

You gonna use OCW on the fresh paint while it cures?
 
Accumulator said:
Nizmo- Sounds good with regard to your truck, hope the Liberty turns out OK.

You gonna use OCW on the fresh paint while it cures?
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You talking about the wash or wax? Either way, it will just see light washing for a couple months. Right now since the two most "neglected" areas of the truck are now being repainted I`m seriously considering ceramic coating the truck. The sides need a quick polish, although I`d do the whole truck, but most of the labor is done for me. Like I`ve mentioned before this truck sees all the elements and my life has gotten busy, so if I can get a couple years out of a coating, I`m game. Although I`m really liking the warm glow Collinite 845 did to the hood on my GTI I did as a test spot. Agh, too many choices. I know I`m spending too much time on an 11 year old truck, but I`m always getting compliments on it.
 
Nizmo said:
You talking about the wash or wax? Either way, it will just see light washing for a couple months...
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The Wax. It works fine on still-curing repaints and lasts/protects *MUCH* better than a glaze.

If you really *can* get years out of a coating, I would sure consider it. I`m all in favor of your spending less time on, well...any of this stuff.
 
Got the truck back last week and it turned out real good. To my amazement they even used an OEM Toyota hood, another plus to my insurance for approving that. Decided it was time to order some new decals as the 80`s painted on graphics were cool, but over the years they were faded, trashed, and outdated. So after several hours work this is where we`re at. Still waiting on my TRD logo to come in, but that`s it.

Preparing for removal:

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After an hours work, some oven cleaner, and polish:

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Before of the door:

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Letting the oven cleaner do its work:

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Removed and polished:

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Done:

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Yea the Toyota 4wd sticker looks a little outta place, but I like it.
 
Nizmo said:
Some were saying that on the Tacoma forum too, but I felt it was a little too plain for my liking.
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Understood...TBH, some of my debadged stuff does indeed look "too plain" and even to me! The S8 just doesn`t look as good with all that gone compared to my wife`s A8 that still has the rings on the trunk lid. But I`m all about easy of care, and will gladly lose the appearance benefit to avoid having to work around that stuff. But you`re right about how it can be overdone in the aesthetic sense :o
 
Bedside decal complete!

Getting ready (also can see the mess my neighbor made to the roof of his truck sanding it down, goofball...):

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Removed and bedsides polished:

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Complete:

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Since I`ve had practice the process went real quick. I decided to polish the whole bedsides to save myself some time later. Decided to try something a little different this time, AZ had Griots Complete Compound and their microfiber pad. All I gotta say is why haven`t I tried microfiber pads earlier!? Super quick and cleaned out inbetween sections with the air compressor with ease. The "compound" was super easy to work with and cut through the oxidation and ghosting on the single stage. Topped off with Collinite 845. Pictures don`t do it justice, but it`s real slick!
 
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