Thank you. My paint guy did a heck of a job on a tight turnaround - he got the truck on May 21, had it back to me May 26. Then the crush was on to finish up for Ford Nationals, which was today in Carlisle, PA.

"22NeedsaFace" is a non-profit getting their feet under them in Maryland. It's dedicated to helping veterans struggling with PTSD, TBI, and helping to end the rather scary statistic of 22 of our soldiers taking their own lives daily on average. I never served in the military but I come from a family of veterans - so I've decided to get behind their cause and utilize the platform I have by going to major shows with my truck to help share the cause.

 

That is a critically needed resource for our military . I've not been in the military either as Nam was over just before I turned 18. I have friends who served in Nam and the actions since. It's a shame and a national embarrassment to concentrate on enabling illegals to come into our country while turning their backs on our men and women returning home from war, with problems.

 

It is, and hence why I'm glad to be involved with something that is getting started to do something about it.

Anyhow - here's a pic from yesterday's Ford Nationals event in Carlisle. Didn't place, but, it showed well. More to come throughout the summer as I keep tweaking and changing things.

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For some perspective - day 1 until now. What a difference five years makes.

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I like the tailgate emblem Bill. Way to go!

 

I have to say she looks great. What do you use to keep the paint looking good?

Also your first pic, as soon as I saw it I knew it was carlisle!

 

The secret to the paint is time and patience. In the most recent pix (2 posts above), it got a light round of Meguiar's Ultimate Polish - their fine finishing polish - then a round of their #7 Show Car Glaze, then a simple spray wax. The paint on the bed was too fresh to want to take my random orbital waxer to it, but I generally use Meguiar's "Black Wax" first to get some extra pop.

Yeah, the most recent pix were at Ford Nationals at Carlisle. We'll be heading back for Truck at the beginning of August.

 

Gotta have my "proud papa" moment, so excuse me lol.

Last night, in a monsoon, was the Wheels and Wings show here in Ebensburg, PA. It's the kickoff to the Thunder in the Valley motorcycle rally that brings in 50k to 100k people to the area and the show is generally pretty big. With the rain, it obviously was down last night, but there was still sound competition to be up against. I ended up snagging 2nd place in the truck class, and was also interviewed by the local media. Kind of a big night...

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Good job Bill!

 

Thanks Charlie.

 

So, I keep tinkering. I decided to do some work in the engine compartment beyond just cleaning. Here's a teaser shot:

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What's different than stock, you ask?

- The upper air deflector (front of the shot), battery box, and primary fuse box (right side back) are all sanded smooth, painted with black metallic and clear coat.

- the K&N tube USED to be chrome, it's now painted the matching prairie tan metallic

- the K&N airbox (left of the shot) is painted black metallic with clear (doesn't show well in the pic)

- A couple miscellaneous plates/brackets were painted prairie tan with clear.

On top of that things were cleaned out thoroughly. In this pic, it needed wiped down better though.

I was flat out embarrassed that I couldn't open the hood at Ford Nationals. This is a marked improvement over that situation.

 

Oh, also a bunch of the convoluted tubing was replaced with braided-like type rather than accordion type, and the bolts for the air deflector are chrome with PTM washers. Just trying to find something to add some wrinkle that few others are doing in 4x4 classes. The Lightning guys do this kind of stuff, but I never see that kind of detail in 4x4's.

 

Are you going to eventually going to use cool flex or something similar for all the hoses?

 

I have Coolflex for the upper rad hose, yes. It'll go on for Carlisle - just ran out of time for Bloomsburg.

 

Bill just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed talking with you at Bloomsburg. One product that I might suggest (if I may) for stopping and killing the rust issue on your truck would be Kent inner panel rust proofing. I used it in a couple of body shops that I worked in. Not to mention on my wifes last Taurus when I noticed rust forming around the seams of the rear frame rails. About 8 years later when we traded the car I the rust was completely dead and did not reform. One thing you may not like about it, is the fact that is attracts road dust. This actually helps to make the product work though. And being that your truck is black it may not be as big of an issue as you might think.