Thread: Tree Crushed 2500HD Silverado Crew Repair

great job!!

Time to get back to work, critters are trying to eat my Persimmons, the few Figs left has bugs trying to breed on them while feasting like at a buffet, the Bell Peppers are melting down with insects all from neglect.

Now other tasks were in front of those above and most are done or close to done now. The daily repairs here and off site keep eating time too.



Here is where I start with the Cap. This crack is broken all the way thru and all the way across. You can't see this part of the Cap once installed so I'm Gorilla seaming this joint back. The Window frame is aluminum and bent. I am not pulling the window out some marine silicone will prevent any would-be leaks from establishing. You just can't see any of this once the Cap is reinstalled.



What a awkward place to repair a fiberglass break. I didn't want to turn it over so I made a dolly/work fixture to allow me to lift and tilt the cap for a more comfortable working environment.



A 12 times the thickness grind to the damage will allow me to build up the fiberglass back to the original level where seen and over build the break where you can see it.



I just set up a makeshift work surface as the long seam needed the fiberglass repair chop pre-wet to stick well.



I built all the repair fiberglass up in one lamination running the air conditioning in the shop to slow curing down for a strong repair.



To eliminate pin holes and ensure curing so sanding won't be a problem I skimmed the tacky fiberglass repair with Metal Glaze. This allows a chemical bond as well as a mechanical bond. The dimple in the leading edge will get a bit more Metal Glaze to straighten out the line.



Ready for primer. The plan is mixing a 2K Urethane High Build primer that will provide the millage needed for a one cut and done primer topcoating. Since I have a HVLP gun that will shoot gelcoat I will use that gun to apply the primer instead of my usual cheap primer gun. Millage is the word of the day on the primer. Now the Cap is out under the canopy where I spray so I can DA sand the rest of the Cap before Priming.

You are the man at these Repairs Rojo...Looking great. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Originally Posted by Jamesdean

You are the man at these Repairs Rojo...Looking great. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

I have it ready to mask up, prime the repairs, and paint just don't have enough media to make a post. Weather permitting I will be painting tomorrow>

Coming along good. If it wasn’t for the itch factor I’d like working with glass a lot more. Easy to see you've done a bunch of this, technique shows. Won’t be long and it’ll be back on the truck all fixed.

This has been a long time coming. After doing all the fiberglass repair work on the cap I still had to fair it out.



Same procedure, used Metal Glaze to fill pin holes, level waves, and correct body lines.



I got it to this point, epoxy primer was shot down when disaster happened. Several places repair work was done it was Fish-eyeing terribly. I quickly grabbed some acetone and washed the problem spots free of epoxy primer. Now I had a contaminated mess on my hands. I shot 5-6 more coats of epoxy primer before leaving it to cure. Today I sprayed the entire cap with Guide-Coat Sanding guide helper. Once that cured I sanded the entire cap again before washing everything down with Wipeout Prep Solvent.



Using a Tack Rag to pickup any remaining dust or dirt on the job I carefully went over the entire cap before shooting the first coat of paint on. The prep work shows by no flaws are visible after the first coat is on.



These 2 pictures are after the last coat of paint was applied and allowed to Flow-out. I'm very happy with the results. Hopefully tomorrow I will be installing this moving me one step closer to being done with the truck repair.

Looking great Rojo...excellence in action.

Wonderful job Rojo. Of course that’s everything you do.