Small weekend project...
 

Ok, so for everyone who wonders why I never paint rc bodies:

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...p/DSCF3275.jpg
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I shaved the antenna, and the various holes that are behind the lighning nameplates on both fenders.

Shot the black on friday night, but had to wait till today to tape up the boss style stripes. All that is done by hand and eye, just have to look at it from all angles till it looks right. I will get some finished shots when I get it out of the booth tomorrow morning. Stripe color is a blue pearl mixed with clear base, so it will change color depending on the angle the light hits it.

I would have painted the entire truck, but I figured it would take a while to get it all ready. Both bumpers and the tailgate have been painted already, so I just have the roof and bedsides to do. Going to do some small flames on the grille slats and around the tailpipes (they come out on the pass side in front of the rear wheel.

Truck is a 02 lighning if anyone wondered. Soon to have a ported blower and 16psi worth of boost. Also have some drag radials to put on, after I paint the wheels. Lookiing at the full Hotchkis suspension too...

Forgot one pic, this is the front of the paint booth! It is Canadian too, HAHAHA. Pity they went out of business, best booth made at the time, has full heating capabilities too. Great for the winter!

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...p/DSCF3274.jpg

Wow, looks nice!

Can't wait for the finished product!

Thanks, should have the pics tomorrow morning, hope it is sunny.

Sweet...in doing what you do, I don't blame you for not wanting to paint ANYTHING...nice job Linc!

Thanks, I am a bit burned out on fooling with cars, but I have alot to do to this truck... Full audio/video setup to do, lots of performance work, and then I have to get it tuned...

I would assume this is a customer's truck...I have always admired auto painters/body men for I know full well how much time and effort goes into a great paint job...

I've said it before but I'm jealous! I've always wanted a lightening

Nope, it is my truck.

I would recommend it for anyone who needs a fast vehicle that can be used to do some work every now and then. I am surprised how much I have used it as a truck. Have had 4 wheelers and lawn mowers in the bed, as well as the zx12r too. Had ac units, lumber and drywall in there, and plenty of car parts!

Heres a few more pics, sorry about the quality, my camera is older and it is not too fond of sunlight!

Just need to color sand it all and buff it out. Might leave that till I get the bedsides painted...

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...p/DSCF3288.jpg
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Nice work Linc. I have helped on some projects with friends, just helped with sanding and stuff, but know how much work it taked to get that level of look accomplished

Yeah, getting a black car straight is a job, luckily the truck was in excellent shape when I got it. Only 2 dents on it and they were both on the doors. The frp bedsides don't dent... Since the weather is nice and I can ride my motorcycle to work I may just do the bedsides and be done with it...

Looks like next saturday will be spent polishing it out!

Can we get a shot of the truck as a whole? BTW: looks great.:great:

Sure, let me put it back together and clean it up a bit and I will take a few longer shots.

Looking forward to it. :lol:

Looking good Linc! Those Lightning's are nice trucks too. What is going to get done performance wise besides the ported blower?

Well, currently it has an airaid intake, c&l elbow and a custom exhaust. 40 series flowmaster 2 in 2 out muffler with the rear cats deleted.

Plan to get the blower ported (or buy a new case), 6lb lower pulley, new belt, tr6 plugs, and a full tune on a dyno. I will be buying a programmer for it, forgot what brand (the dyno shop uses a certain brand and that is what I need).

I have some nitto drag radials, and plan to get a set of long traction bars. I may lower the truck, but not much, like a 1-2 drop. I drive it daily, so I can't go too extreme with the crappy roads here in LA.

After all that I should have around 500hp at the wheels. Should be plenty for some stoplight drags. If I can make it launch well... Might get a higher stall converter, but that is not on the top of the list.

Looks great linc, how about a shot under the hood? Paint looks good but in a truck like that I wanna drool over the motor

Nothing special under there, looks like a lightning motor with a k/n style filter and a natural al elbow holding it together. Lots o wires and tubes.

Nothing against the new stuff, but I still prefer looking in at a round air cleaner lid and some valve covers sitting on top of a BB ford... I like paint, so I rarely do any chrome stuff (just seems like a waste of money to me). I will get you some shots of my buddies lightning, he traded an 03 cobra for it recently and the previous owner did all kinds of dress up stuff to it. I guess it looks nice, but not really my thing. I guess I got old!!!

Chrome = excess weight anyway:lol:

Looks great linc!

Pimped his ride... :yes:

I do like pickups for sure, especially when theres a bunch of hot ladies sitting in the back... {/day dreaming}

Then you would love our mardi gras parades!

James your truck looks good .

Thank you Mike, I do try. Just wait till I get it all back together... I will take better pics, maybe with some extra "eye candy"!

Do you have to wet sand it or have you all ready done that ?

I still need to do that. Might spend a few hours on it tomorrw and get that done. Pretty busy at work (yay) so I might have to wait till the weekend. Still want to get the bedsides painted, but I may remove them from the truck to do that...

It looks great now . But after you wet sand it & get rid of any blimishes it will look even better . Do you shoot with a HVLP gravity feed gun ?.

I shoot the basecoat with a hvlp gravity feed gun, but stick to a conventional gravity feed for the clear coat. Spray the clear at 60psi, so it atomizes well. Wastes a bit more paint but you can move faster... Both are sata guns, and both cost well over 600 each. Worth every penny, had one sata for 13+ years and just had to retire it from everyday use.

What is your reason for two different guns, personal preferance or better control for the difference in viscosity of paint & clear coat ?.

I actually have 4-5 guns. One for primer, one for sealer, one for base, one for clear and a mini jet for spot repair/small areas. And I have an airbrush too.

All have different sized needles and all spray a certain type/viscosity paint a certain way. Plus with a gun for each product you do not have to work about contaminating different paints, and you can use a cheaper gun for primer and sealer, and replace those more frequently as they wear out faster.

Nice pick up Linc. What size motor do the Lightnings have?

The have the 5.4 SOHC modular v8. With an eaton supercharger...

Thats right, I have heard about them, they are awesome. My Aussie "pick up" (see my avatar) has the same 5.4 motor but with DOHC. No supercharger but still good for 350hp at the flywheel from the factory. Your truck must have some monster torque.:yes:

Ok, so you have the same motor the Navigator has in... Good motors, I have a 5.4 sohc in my 4 door f150 and it is still doing great at 170k miles...

Very nice! I like the Lightnings minus the stupid tail lights and 2wd. I would ditch those FlowMasters though. Everyone and their brother has them and they don't really sound that good. I've got Magnaflows on my Mustang and they sound awesome (mine are only catback for now, sounds great but no drone at speed).

^+1. We just got these motors downunder 6-7 years ago. Wasn't a fan of the Windsor motors, but these knew ones are like a new age Cleveland motor:yipi:

How is your truck coming along ?.

Swap out those Nittos for Mickey Thompson drag radials. They hook mucho better!!!

I love the way both sound on Mustangs! Kinda favor Flows tho....


Linc: Love those Toyo tires on there! Too bad they changed the design. Im convinced the new ones are built for more comfort than performance....

Ahh they make hook a bit better, but you can get 30k miles out of the nittos, and I do not plan to swap when I want to drag.

The toyos are ok, got them for painting a truck hood and roof, so basically 100 bucks and a few hours of my time. They do not grip as well as the oem eagle tires... When I swap them out I will go back to the goodyears...

Mustakes do sound good, but it is hard to hear them when they are so far behind me...

Still working on the truck, we got super busy at work and one employee had a death in the family so I doubt I will have much free time this week. Last week of the month, gotta get the money in! Had 5 cars dropped off on fri, and I have a motorhome to fix and paint a bit of. Way too much for a week but we will get it done...