Tiny & everyone else,

Well, my arms have finally stopped aching and I'm down to just 2 Advill every few hours, but it was certainly worth it. To tell you the truth, when Tiny pulled in, I had serious second thoughts about what I'd signed up to do. After all, I was only armed with a PC, some great products and advice from all of the masters here. I really thought I'd bit off more than I could chew, but I knew this particular color could look great. When we got done, I just couldn't stop looking at it. Thanks to Boss 429, Rockpick and RollingRock (and others) who have really helped me tune up my game. For the rest of you, this should give you some idea as to what you can do with the right products, training and some patience.

 

Looks great! Nice work guys!

 

That turned out great glad to see that! Its crazy that your truck is red as well as mine. Well I just got pics of my detail done. I will post in a new thread so I dont hi-jack your thread! And great job on that truck!

 

You can give them mine if you want

Tiny-- your truck looks FANTASTIC. Great job! Great process, great results... I think I know who cant stop looking at their truck right now!

 

Thanks again everyone for the compliments and again my hat is off to 2stroked.

Ryan - you are correct in that statement... the only thing that really detracts from the overall apperance is the darn nerf bars. After all of these winters they have developed a case of surface rust and they do need some attention or it maybe better just to replace them with some stainless steel ones.

Just so that everyone knows how 2stroked felt after finishing this on Saturday, he basically told me that I would have to leave my truck at his house and that I could not drive it. It sure looks fantastic and I was almost in agreement with him. The only problem is that I live a 45 minute drive from him and that would have been a looooooong walk.

 

I knew it...

Man, it sure is a shame that I dont have the extended cab- I would happily buy those nerf bars off you and pay shipping...But I think they would look stupid with a regular cab. I would happily have put in the time to restore them, too!

Congrats again. BTW-- is the entire Fire Department gaggling at your truck? They usually do when I do mine...

 

Ryan, we had 3 calls on Sunday and each time that we were back at the fire hall there were comments made about how well it looks. One of the guys making them retired within the last year after working many, many years in a body shop. He was very impressed. It looks even better than the fire trucks right now.

 

NICE!!! We just got one tonight for the first time since the 18th... Freaking Domestic Violence (I HATE those...they make me angry, but that is another story)

My truck always looks better than the apparatus, but I think that right before we sell our engine (getting a new one in around a year ), I am going to do a full out detail on it to try to get more $$$ for the Dept. While I am at it (if I have any energy left), I am going to do the brush. Then maybe for the Chief's B-day I will do the Command vehicle... We'll see...

Here is a tip for you, in case you havent thought about doing it-- use Plast-X on the truck's red/whites. I am going to be doing that soon to ours. I did it at EMFD when I worked there, and it made a HUGE difference...

 

Thanks for the tip Ryan.

We just paid off the balance of our newest engine, which is a '98 so we maybe in the market for a new truck. There are a few of us including me that would like to see us get a quick attack based on a F-550 4x4 chassis, rescue style body and a drop in slid unit with 300 gallons of water and foam capabilities. We have several steep driveways that this would be the ticket to use during the winter to get up them. It would also be set up for our first response EMS calls. I have prices from last year and they are in the 70-105K range.

 

My son's an Explorer at our local volunteer fire department. I've been bugging his advisors to let me take a crack at several of their rigs. (I don't want to try too hard. Tiny's truck was 4 hours!) The chief is big on keeping everything waxed, but that's just not enough in my eyes. So, I've kind of offered to do some work for them - with my son's help of course.

You're right about the Plast-X on the lights. It removes light oxidation - which also significantly cuts down on light output. I did half of a volunteer's light bar once as a test. You should have seen the difference in light output. I also follow it up with a good coat of wax or sealant.

 

ooohhhhh.... Sounds NICE!!! Right now, our primary unit is Brush 32. It takes all of our EMS calls, citizen assist, and brush fires. We RARELY get structures, and when we do, we get cancelled enroute (We border 2 full time dept.s)

Anyway, I just re-read my last post... It confused me, so here is what I meant for the plast-X: Use on the red/white LIGHTS. Lightbars and surface strobes somehow seem to get oxidized FAR more quickly than do headlights and taillights...

 

When I did the lightbar on B-221 (at EMFD), I increased light output by around 50%. It was so oxidized... But when I waled away, you could see the filament in the strobe

BTW-- I had to use TW Paste wax for that one. The nasty green crap. But Plast-X works FAR better...

 

whos white F-150 is that in the background??? what are the specs on the rims and tires? got any pictures?

EDIT: nevermind i found it. its 2strokes truck.

 

Yupper, and when you're done, make sure to put a coat of wax or sealant on it to keep it from re-oxidizing. We put a coat of NXT on Tiny's during the detail.

Want even more light output? Check out my gallery and look for the special slotted filters I make for Star lights. Tiny has them in both red and blue for his mini bar. They add a ton more pop to the flash.

 

You know that Plast-X has some protection in it... But yeah, when I had a mini-lightbar, I put NXT on top.

I wish we could do slotted filters-- our lights (those that we havent already converted to LED) are a clear light with the outer cover colored.

Man, I am disappointed... the FD behind my house did a foll-out conversion to LED. So, their white and red strobes on the grill that were INCREDIBLY bright are replaced with not-so-bright LEDs... Same for the single rotators on the back corners... I am a HUGE fan of having all 4 types of lights for maximum warning. I find that each has its time in which it is more effective than the others. (ie: strobe/rotators/LED/Halogen)