HUGE weekend for me,Welded up some flat-stock to the tailgate on each side where the owner had cut out the gate and left 2inches of gap on both sides, this actually worked alright and went well as it almost looks like some bracing from the factory. THEN I ended up having off Friday and was able to drop off, pick up the trailer from the sandblaster same day! That was the way to go, they did a amazing job and everything was perfectly prepped for painting. The guys said it had maybe 10 coats of old paint over the years on it and I never would have gotten it off sanding it. Anyway had a buddy of mine let me use his garage for the weekend and we got to work, Since its freaking zero degrees in Baltimore right now the first issue before anything was heating up his garage, with 5 space heaters, and in " True Baltimore Fashion" we used 3 Crab Steamer Boilers to get the temp up to 65 degrees. Still not great but it wasn't going to get any better then that. From there we used filler primer to fill pitts from glass blasting, and then regular ole Gloss White Rustoleum to match my Tacoma.
Glass Blasted:
After 2days of painting and warming back up the place the white was setting in nicely and we began to beeline the rest. I Opted for Herculiner as I couldn't justify another 300$ for Linex even though I love my truck bed Linex'd. We did the bed, tongue, underside bed and frame, top rails, and the rails for the RTT. First time painting with a gun, and working with bedliner and even though we made a mess, I like to think it turned out alright! The front got a little messy, but will be covered by a tounge box anyway. Ran new lights and wire harness as well. Also used some basic cable to allow the tail gate to function like a real tailgate and not just fall right down. Still need to flip the Lunette and install the factory support leg and take off the aftermarket trailer jack.
May not be as nice as some other builds on here, or nearly as professional, But it certainly has come along way from the day I picked it up:
