Finally finished up my rebuild of a 1962 LU4 for my 1963 non-winch truck.
Sourcing the pieces wasn't too big of a deal (except for the bumpers!) but the rebuild was easy enough with the exception of the issues I had with the main shaft being out of round.
Still, feeling good after getting this done today. Now on to the PTO and the PTO shaft.
Anyone know how I can patina the winch and bumpers to match my truck?
I did see an old Dodge "Pilot House" truck that had been owned by an artist who painted on the patina (and painted on "rust"). It was an artfully done job.
I was faced with the same issue when I added the winch to my truck. "Brutus" was a little self conscious of his nose job:
Nose Job (winch) sm.jpg (151.9 KiB) Viewed 900 times
The mismatch was taken care of about 6 months later when I was run off the side of a narrow dirt road and into a ditch by a truck coming the other way. Brutus got in an argument with a utility pole, damaging the bumpers, radiator, and most of the sheet metal on the front end. (The left Fender and cheek were OK.) I hated to lose the patina, but had no other choice than to have the front end repainted as we were piecing things back together.
Accident 4 sm.jpeg (121.58 KiB) Viewed 900 times
Back together. Front end repainted.
Back Together Again1 sm.jpg (156.92 KiB) Viewed 900 times
I really liked the patina, but couldn't see trying to distress the new front end to match. At any rate, I'm going to have to get some repairs done on the cab one of these days, and suspect I'll need to repaint that once those are done as well.
Found a picture of that old pilothouse truck (Dodge 1951 B2B - or so the advertisement claimed).
All of the patina is just painted on. An impressive job. Even standing fairly close to the truck, I assumed it was real. Someone spent some time studying wear patterns on old trucks before taking the paintbrush in hand.
IMG_3072.jpeg (145.48 KiB) Viewed 900 times
If you were going to try something similar, you might need to start with a lighter shade on the winch and bumpers.
I'm not sure if there is some chemical way to bleach out the new paint a bit? I suspect that modern paints work hard to resist that sort of effect.
Last edited by John Mc on Mon Feb 27, 2023 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
John Mc wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 5:44 am
The mismatch was taken care of about 6 months later when I was run off the side of a narrow dirt road and into a ditch by a truck coming the other way. Brutus got in an argument with a utility pole, damaging the bumpers, radiator, and most of the sheet metal on the front end. (The left Fender and cheek were OK.) I hated to lose the patina, but had no other choice than to have the front end repainted as we were piecing things back together.
Poor Brutus!
My patina comment was a bit tongue in cheek, I suppose. The only remedy for new paint is get out and drive, so that's what I'll be doing!
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