FKAM, thank you for posting this. I too was looking for the cable but this seems easier and just using a normal one and wire it up how I want it for the laptop or other accessories.

As an update with Fastenal, I have finally settled with them. It was a complete pain, but they finally admitted they dropped the engine and paid some money out. Not 100% satisfied, but its over. I will recommend to anyone that ships through them is to make sure the stores on both the receiving end and shipping end are good to go. I will never use the store I picked it up from again as they are complete idiots. The most important part is to have the shipper take pics while at Fastenal with them in the picture as this was the only reason I was able to get anything from them. Also go slow with them and work your way up. I provided only pics from my end at first and then provided the pics Ryan took with Fastenal employees in the background at the end. That got them moving and started the claims process.  

Now to get moving with the engine. I need to order new hoses all around as the banding was over the hoses when Fastenal re-banded it, plus now is the time to do it before dropping it in. Was trying to find the complete kit that Mac Motors had but can't find it on their website and when I called they said to buy them individually. Same for ebay, no complete kits that I could find. So I will be ordering all of them individually. Also need to get an oil pan since they bent the current one. Depending on work schedule and a few friends schedules I hope to be up and running in a month to six weeks may a little longer as its getting hot. Right now its very hot to work in (100 in the shade with the humidity).

Jake,

Glad to hear you at least got something out of them.  Looks like Ryan's thread here has proved itself highly useful again.  Having post pictures equals evidence.

I've decided to go a little different way with the J2 plug.  I'm going to pull out the small gauge internal wires and rewire it with similar gauge to the main line and use the standard positions so I don't have to mess around with keeping track of wire polarity and can use any standard cable.

July 1st has barely passed and the handful of local hmmwv listings have edits claiming to have been registered or whatever blah blah waiting on official title.  So I'm not 100% sure if everything is good to go yet down here in KY but at first glance it looks like it is.  The mrs. and I have talked it over and I'm on the prowl for my second mostly useless MV.  I guess building her barn by myself paid off in more than one way.

From what I've gathered it looks like I need to find a M998A1 with a 6.5L GEP engine, which there is one locally but it seems a few thousand dollars over priced at $15,000 (I like that I can look at the truck in person, test drive it, take it home after purchase, etc).  I'm going to keep eyeing it, but I haven't ruled out waiting on an auction truck entirely yet.  

A few questions;  

1.  How do I distinguish the 6.5GEP over a 6.2 or 6.5gm engine?  If this has already been answered I apologize.
2.  Is a truck with 4speed transmission likely to be a $20,000 rig?  or is it something I may be able to swing for around 15K?
3.  How daggone wide is the truck from mirror to mirror?  I won't have my 2 car addition done until probably wintertime and currently have two teeny 8 foot doors to work with.  The willy's doesn't mind but I have doubts for a HMMWV with both mirrors installed.
4.  What is everyone doing for anti-theft?  I imagine there are simple keyed ignition switches you can splice into the ignition system, in addition to the ol chain and padlock on steering wheel-bit.

My use for the vehicle will be much like my little jeep; with the exception that I can scoot down the 55mph highway to town a little more confidently and safely.  I plan to make 70 mile round trips some weekends to go see the family, friends in satellite towns.  I'd love to go to some local car shows, make Lowe's runs and stuff. I'll probably have a hi-tech soundsystem consisting of what I used in the service; Ipod and battery powered speakers.  Like that one time in El Paso, I plan to take it through a mcdonalds drive thru, but this time I won't be looking over my shoulder the whole time.

I'd bet info and details are probably still trickling down to DMV offices. You're still better off than we are in Ohio...

Depends on what the current owner has done with it and how much you'll have to do to it.

No big deal. This isn't SS.

Know the Difference Between the HMMWV 6.2L and 6.5L Detuned Engines

GEP engine should be new enough it still has the GEP sticker on the driver's side valve cover:

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You could probably find an M1123 at auction under $15k. Put another $5k into it to put tops and doors on it and, clean it up and you're at or under $20k.


Less wide than a dually...

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It helps if you run the passenger side mirror in front of the windshield. With the 7' body and passenger mirror in front of the windshield, you should be able to just fit it through an 8' door.

Personally I use the cable and shift the truck into reverse. Zero problems yet.

There's other stuff you could do like the keyed ignition, battery cutoff, and injector pump cutoff to name a few things. I think some suggestions were posted several pages back.

While waiting on engine parts, hoses, a few other accessories and hopefully some cooler weather, I came across this thread on SS where the guy found a ladder that fits on the tailgate nicely. Decided to look on ebay and found one for $50 so I ordered it. Should be here in a week. Below is a pic of the others guy HMMWV with the ladder.

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This is why it took me so long to remove the front bumper:


The bolt was slightly bent, cross threaded, rusty as heck, and generally boogered up.

Incidentally, if you need nuts and bolts, tractor supply does them by weight. For example, if you want a bunch of bolts, washers, and nuts in grade 8, you put them on the scale and pay by the pound. Grade 8 is like $4/pound around here. The others are less. Not sure how Fastenal does it, but tractor supply is certainly cheaper than paying by the piece at the hardware store.

Yep I use Tractor Supply when I can and they just built a new one 10 minutes away. Only down side is they don't have all of the lengths for the rear bumper and some of the weapons tray lengths. But for everything else, they save me a lot compared to Fastenal.

The heat and humidity finally broke here today so I've been working on the last of getting my truck stripped for paint. About the only thing left is getting the old vinyl lettering and unit markings I redid off as well as some adhesive remnants. Will follow up with a pressure wash with degreaser. Then to take the plunge for the paint.

I'm going to come clean now. I'm doing the base green and black but my buddy Dave is going to do the camo pattern for me. He did such an awesome job on his repaint that it looks factory. I'm just not confident enough in my painting abilities to chance the cost of the CARC and the time to redo any mistakes. So, when you see the final product, just know it won't all be my handy work.

Since I pulled the windshields for painting, I did go ahead and order a couple new windshields and seals from HPG, who had the best price on everything, to replace my hazed windshields and rotting seals. I'd mention too, HPG did an excellent job packaging the windshield glass for shipment. There's no doubt it could have withstood the worst FedEx had to throw at it.



While the weather has been too hot and nasty to get out and work on my truck, I have been tackling another small, side project related to battery maintenance.

I saw on SS a poster mention their local Sam's Club having these multivolt chargers which do 24v for $75. Turns out ordering through the online link and reserving for pick up in club, mine has them for $50 so I grabbed 3 (one for my quad and one for my zero turn as well).




It also dovetailed very nicely with another item I had recently picked up...

I got a good price on one of the lighter duty slave cables:



As you can see, it only has one slave plug on it while the other end is a flat quick disconnect plug.



Interestingly, it looks very similar to the quick disconnect on the charger...



They mostly fit together but that section with the two middle pins prevents it. Turns out those two middle pins are pretty much just for the golf cart connectors. So naturally I redid the plug with a spare quick disconnect I had. Didn't even have to change the pins on the wires:



I'm going to heat shrink the two extra pins and now I can charge through my slave port!

That's not all though...

I decided to make my slave cable modular!

I ordered a second slave plug with a fuse off eBay for $70:



I'll be wiring this spare length of wire with quick disconnect, that I got with the slave cable, to that:



That will let me quickly attach the the second slave plug to it for direct vehicle to vehicle connection.

And also included with the slave cable was this other cable with quick disconnect and ring terminals:



This setup will give me a whole lot of charging and starting options to work with for around only $250, including the Stanley charger, compared to the standard heavy gauge slave cable. Only downside is being thinner gauge, it's not going to be very suitable for prolonged cranking.


Oh and, I also snagged one of these Pulsetech solar chargers for $26.

Connects to the slave port for when I'm not using the Stanley charger/maintainer.

Diff post some pics of your paint!

Ryan seeing your battery charging setup reminded me that I never took pics of mine. Works great not having to remove the seat. Now which seller had the Pulsetech that cheap as I would like to get one for future use?

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Ryan seems to have the best luck finding things. I'm gonna start hiring him to look for things for me.

Is there a tool that joins the weatherproof connections?  Like a plier-like tool that would shove them together?  I bought a couple of new tail lights, but I'd swear the connections are smaller than the old ones and I'm having a terrible time getting them to seat all the way to that indented line on the vehicle side.

I'm having dreaded brake light issues. I think, in addition to needing to fuss with the brake light switch, I might have a line mislabeled on the vehicle side as the brake light comes on (on only the left side whenever the headlights are turned on--I think the taillight signal is going to the brake light filament). Time to break out the multimeter.

My buddy Steve with the 5 ton has that charger. He really likes it.

The Pulsetech was compliments of our mutual contact in North Carolina.

I told him to keep his eyes out for more.



Are you using dielectric grease when assembling them?

If not, they're a lot easier to assemble with it.

If so, it can also make it somewhat tougher to get them together. When using it, I've found that sometimes air gets trapped down in the fitting and makes it tough to seat the plug. Squish the female end around and twist the male end until you hear the air pop out.

Quick tip for using a Slave Port when you have only clamp type cables:  Take a 1/2" socket wrench extension 3" is plenty long enough and insert it in the center of the slave port and you can connect the Positive cable to it, of course the Ground can go to either the engine block, frame, battery, etc.
We have jump packs with (2) 12V batteries inside and a split receptacle like the one you're using in the charger set up: one plug gives 12V and the other 24V
You can take a couple of those Lunchbox "Jump Packs" and start a 24V truck, even a really big Diesel even using just one on one battery...24 volts does a LOT of work, but doesn't play nice if you short it out.  

Every time I take something off, a bolt shears, or a speed nut breaks, or I uncover something else that needs to be sanded down and painted. For example, I thought I'd replace my front turn signals with aluminum-bodied ones (one of the old ones had been torqued down so tightly that the plastic body actually cracked, moisture got in, and the entire connection rusted away on the left side--I mean, the wire was literally connected to nothing because everything had rusted away). Well, the metal panel on the inside of the hood was in bad shape thanks to this, and I had the privilege of the swap taking a second day because I had to sand, paint, and wait for drying. I know it's a 25-year-old truck, but I had high hopes with it coming from an aviation unit. Guess they don't run the same way in the guard that they do on the active side.

Complaining aside, since I bought my two-man, I have planned to get it set up completely (bought from the auction without a top, rear curtain, blanking panels, etc) and then make it convertible to a 4-man on the fly. I have visions of going to pick up something that requires the cargo area allowed with the 2-man, and, after dropping the cargo, picking up a couple of passengers without going into the garage for pieces or spending a whole day making the change.

Just started the process of going back and updating all of my Photobucket picture links so my pictures will work again.

I'm up to page 4...

Let me just say that the blanking panels suck. After having the truck for a week or so without them, I got used to how convenient it was to reach into the bed or jump into it without going to the tailgate. After installing the panels, it's nearly impossible to reach what I want from outside the truck. I'm continually going for the tailgate. I had thought of getting the panels with the smaller, bottom-hinged panel. That would certainly make some things easier to reach, but that would only be items that are stored on the floorboards (you still couldn't reach anything in the actual bed). That's assuming, of course, that you've installed the rear seat backs in the "bed floor" mode (even if you haven't, you'd have to be a contortionist to reach anything not right on the seat). I also had to undo the insulation piece in the rear seat area for the driver's side rear passenger to get the seat back to stow in the bed floor mode.
I've seen an odd half-door here and there, but they always seem very expensive. I'm thinking of converting my panels into half doors via a vertically-mounted piano hinge. Of course, I'll also have to remove or modify the part that acts as bed floor and the rear attachment point and add a latch/handle.

Another thing, the 2-man bulkhead (forms the forward part of the truck bed) sucks, too. Firstly, mine doesn't seem warped or bent at all, but I'll be damned if I can get the brackets and bolts to line up. I currently only have the top brackets bolted in and even that was a pain. Course, I haven't figured out the bracket to body connection of the lower brackets. There doesn't seem to be a captured nut and the parts manual doesn't list a regular nut (and it's over the trans tunnel, so good luck getting a nut on that). Either way, with the bulkhead in place, I can't get the rear seat backs in and out of bed floor mode. Another modification will be required.

Last thing for now, (I have to split my message up because, as a 'new' user, I can't go over 2000 characters), the troop seats are not a self-contained add-on. Got a set. Came with mounting hardware, sort of. There are six plates and at least twelve bolts, nuts, and washers, that the kit says you are supposed to re-use. My truck didn't have any of them, so my installation is stalled while I try to figure those out. If you decide to install a set, ask me about things I learned just getting the support bracket bolted to the B pillar. Also, now it is hard as hell to do anything with the 2-man top because of the troop seats. I was thinking of cutting each side (and installing a hinge) where the C pillar would go so that they could fold out of the way for the 2-man to 4-man changeover. Maybe way down the road. Maybe for now just cut and remove so that the two rear passengers can sit in the regular seats. Guess it would end up looking like some weird GMV set up.

Admit it. You love it! We must have a masochistic streak...

Did you get all new aluminum lights with internals or just the aluminum buckets? If you need internals and aren't going to LED lights, I've got 2 good incandescent internal assemblies I pulled out of the aluminum housings that came with my ECV hood. You can have one or both if you need them for shipping. I've got no use for them but they were in too good shape to just pitch.

That should work out. You'd just be leaving the C-pillar off and couldn't run a 4 man top.

Yep, half doors are not cheap since, as of right now, the only source are surplus special forces ones or custom built ones. No one is mass producing half doors yet. I do know folks have used the blanks to build half doors but I can't offer you anything beyond that on actually building them.

As for the type of nuts, bolts, and washers check TM 9-2320-280-24P-2, section 402-1, page 274/1020. Should give you the dimensions of the fasteners.




Almost forgot... Since I've torn down the body for painting, if anyone wants the reproduction taillight buckets I had in my truck they're up for grabs for cost of shipping. They've only been on my truck for a little bit so they're still in really great shape. Only downside is your lights might not sit as flush in them as they would with actual factory buckets so, you'll need longer mounting bolts for the taillight housings. Just don't use them if you plan to install the factory jerry can carrier.

You made me curious about the buckets. I can't get photo-kicked-the-bucket to behave and let me upload photos now, but I went outside and took a few. My truck came with plastic-bodied tail lights. They sit more or less flush with the buckets. I bought a pair of aluminum-bodied tail lights to replace those. I've installed one already (but I get to uninstall it in the near future because I went back and bought new buckets).  I compared them and noticed that the aluminum one sits further out in the original buckets, but only the upper half (because the upper half has a second layer of metal the surrounds the red plastic lens that the all-plastic version does not have). I just compared the uninstalled aluminum light in the new bucket and see that it fits the same. So, now I'm wondering if this marginal sticking out (the same with either bucket as the difference seems to be with the tail light itself) is enough to interfere with the jerry can holder.  

And thanks for the offer with the light guts, but I bought whole assemblies hoping to avoid light issues for a while.

ETA: Got it working for now, I think. Here,
You can see how the new light fits in the new bucket. If you look at the other photos, you can see it seems about the same.

Yeah, you're better off abandoning Photobucket. I was going to get an ImageShack account but found open source album software to let me host my photos on my own server.

You should be okay with where that one sits. Mine was a lot worse:

Whew! At least one thing goes my way (the tail light buckets).

On another note, I figured out one of my brake light issues. As I suspected from the behavior (it seemed that the brake light was always on, on the left side when the service drive position was selected; and never on when service drive wasn't), someone swapped the vehicle side metal tags around (or boogered up the wiring upstream, or both). The wire with three numbers on the vehicle side should only have one number. One of the ones with one number should have three. The proper labeling should be 460,461,22 on one of the wires and 21 on the other. When I took the old light off, I saw that the three tag wire was connected to three tags. When I put the new light on, I hooked three to three without closer inspection. Today, I found that the vehicle side for the three-tag wire said 460,461,21. Looking even more closely, I saw that the 460,461 where still joined as a solid piece and the 21 was separate. On the light side (both old and new light), 460,461,22 is all one piece. Someone, nefariously or incompetently, mixed up the numbers. At least that part is right now. Unfortunately, some of my vehicle side rubber boot connection protectors have crumbled away. Where can I get new ones? Also, it is a b---- trying to adjust that switch with only one person trying to see a faint brake glow reflected in the headlight of a vehicle parked behind the hmmwv.

ETA: I think I finally have it adjusted. Maybe there is something I'm not thinking about, but I don't understand why the linkage between switch and brake pedal doesn't have a threaded section in the middle that would let you fine tune the set-up without undoing the mounting bolts for the switch. I think I'll make my own replacement that is exactly that way.

After installing the new tail light, went for a drive. Afterward, found that the lights were inop. Opened the lens, and found that the bulbs in my brand new tail light were only rated for 12v. Ugh. Gotta order some bulbs, but I'm going to look for the led direct-swap-in bulbs.

On another note, since my truck didn't come with the factory hardware that would have been installed in the wheel well area, I went down to Lowe's to pick up some metal plates that I can use under there for mounting the troop seats. I'm guessing that the originals were intended to help prevent tear-throughs of the aluminum body when mounting a heavy, steel contraption in the bed.

Here's some pix of the hardware I picked up:


The plates are just standard zinc-coated and I'll need to drill out some holes for the 1/4-20 bolts to go through (I had to pick up grade 8 fasteners at tractor supply since these factory items were also missing from my truck). You might notice that the longer plates back near the tailgate are also about twice the thickness of the others. The only bolts included in the hardware kit that comes with the troop seats are the ones for the support bracket on the B pillar and the two larger ones that mount in area where the C pillar would otherwise mount. I just realized, since I wasn't picking up bolts for this area, that I forgot to get a plate for this area.

I also picked up an angle piece to use for mounting a license plate. I was pleased to find that the holes on one end are more closely spaced that at the other end. These closer holes line up perfectly with the c channel piece that protects the connections for the tail light. No need to drill holes in the body. Also, I was thrilled to find that the holes at each end are spaced just right for the holes in a license plate. Yay.

I took pictures with the labels up in case any of y'all need to go get any of these pieces. Hope it helps someone.

I have an idea for the one funky bracket pictured. I'll let you know if it ends up working out.

Those Simspon tie down plates are not strong enough and will flex. The originals are thick, beveled at the edge to fit and prevent damage from tearing through. You might be able to get away with stacking several together or there might be a thicker channel piece on the metal aisle at lowes where they have the threaded rods, channels, and scrap type pieces of metal. Or if I remember correcty these are cheap from Mac Motors. See pics below of the original.

Also in the pic, the holes are close to the beveled edge, not centered.

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Well, darn it. Guess that was a waste. Thanks for setting me straight, though. I'll see if I can get the real deal.

ETA:  Got any part numbers or NSNs for those plates?

I think the part number you are looking for is 12339009 and you need 6. Less than $5.00 from Mac Motors. Can also be used later on if you go with a 4 man top.

Go to page 275 of this manual.

Thanks very much. I'll order them tomorrow when they open. Already sent them an email.

You can order straight from their online store, just a $20 minimum. A lot of people originally thought they were gov sales only, but they are not. I have placed several orders via their website and usually they ship same day. One of the better companies and I know the parts are real unlike kascar.

Ok. Now that I've ordered those, where can I get reinforcing plates for the antenna mounts? Mac Motors site isn't exactly user friendly if you don't know the part number.

Those are a bit harder to find... Last I saw there was someone selling reproductions on eBay but I don't see them up there now.

I've been using large, layered fender washers (2 per bolt, bottom larger diameter than the top) with no problem. Can't recall exact sizes...

Im going to be running actual Army matching units with the 9-10ft antennas tied forward. Is this the same you're running? I was just a little concerned that washers might not be enough there.

ETA:  Also, what's the purpose of the rubber gasket between the mount and the matching unit? If it's an isolator, why is there a grounding strap from the bottom of the matching unit to the hmmwv? Course, mine don't have grounding straps. One more thing to order. What size are they?  And, do you need two gaskets if you use the gps mounting plate? One between antenna mount and gps mount, and one between gps mount and matching unit?

Stuck glow plugs. Worst thing ever.

I had my full size MX-6707 installed and tied forward for about two weeks and didn't notice any excessive flexing. I was keeping my eye on it for sure. It did flex some when I let the antenna snap upright on it's own to see how it held but, I don't think it was any more than if you were using the plate.

I'd imagine so long as it's got a large surface area covered and is of sufficient thickness, you'll be okay.

Also, I found the seller of the plates. Not sure why my last search didn't find anything. Had to find the completed listing and then look at the seller's items. He mentions he will sell them outside of eBay, probably for a better price.

Reinforcement plates

Well, he didn't give a discount, but I should have two on the way shortly. Then, I can finally mount antennas. Might be ready to take a picture or two this week. Right now I'm doing the usual, waiting for paint to dry on something else I took off the hmmwv.

Yep that is lower than he was originally selling them for. I have one original and one from him. They are kinda of a tight/odd fit as there isn't a lot of clearance in that area. They defiantly provide a solid mounting for the brackets as compared to washers. No flexing at all.

Scuffed and slapped some paint on the angle bracket. It's a perfect fit without any extra drilling, but I'm thinking that I should've put it on the other side because it's closer to the battery over there.

ETA: arrrgghhh! Finally got around to trying to mount the other troop seat and it's another right instead of a left. I never even thought to check them when I got them. Hopefully the seller will make it right, though I just have a feeling he won't.

Really? No flexing? I was going to make due with my washer setup but maybe it's worth picking up a couple of these...

Photobucket killed your pic.

I'd set yourself up an account on Imgur or ImageShack.

Yep, no flexing. I will try to take a pic when I get home tonight. Its a really tight fit, ties in other bracing and provides a solid backing plate.

Photocrapbucket is crap. I never even embedded that image. I put the link in like I always do. Copied and pasted it. I was surprised when it showed up briefly. It's their error and I think it's a planned thing to get someone to pay for the upgraded account. Well, they can stick it. Half the time when I try to upload a photo, it automatically reroutes to a spam link that says, "You've won a $1000 amazon card."  If I hold the back arrow, it shows a dozen or more pages to try to get back through to get to what I was doing. It just keeps loading pages to take me further from what I was doing.

As promised below are the pics of the antennae brace/backing plate. I originally bought two of the reproduiction plates from the seller on ebay as he is also on g503. While waiting on them to come in, I got a real one (the black one in the last pic) in a set of misc parts I had ordered. The first two pics show the reproduction's plate thickness compared to a typical antenna mount. The third pic is of a reproduction mount painted tan that I installed on the drivers side. And the last pic is of a real mount I got mounted on the passenger side. Since they are one piece they are very rigid and no flexing.

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Thanks for the pics Jake!

I didn't realize they were that substantial. I'm pretty well sold on them.

Just got my troop seat reinforcement plates from mac motors. That was pretty quick.

Installed the right side since that's the only side of troop seats I got. Just spoke to the seller about swapping out the second right set for a left.

#photoplucket_sux

Got the GD8200 mounted and functioning today.

I modified a FBCB2 mount for the docking station.  When I went to mount it, Karma decided to smile today for once.  After playing with a few arrangements I noticed that the holes and rivnuts that were already present in front of the radio deck, matched up to the mount I had purchased.  I wasn't planning to use that part but I thought why not.  less work, don't need to reinvent the wheel and I can always change it later.  Now I know what the holes were used for by the last owning military unit.  But it will probably have to come out when the turret goes in.

My truck was covered in radio mounts (5 antennas I could count) and cables, and lots of holes....  I'm going to try and teach myself how to TIG weld aluminum on the dozens of little holes from all the wire clamps.

Ryan, I know you told me that the antenna connection on the docking station that looked like it would work for a DAGR GPS antenna, won't work.  But while I was thinking of what I was going to do about the internal GPS antenna cutting out when docked, I thought "What the heck lets see what happens".  So I plug in a DAGR GPS antenna to it and all of a sudden the computer picked up sats again.  So it might not be for a GPS antenna, it works.  Karma smiled on me again.  

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I got my antenna mount backing plates but I can't  mount them yet. They're going to need a little cutting down. They foul out against that arch around the tail light.

Hmm... Go figure!

You can also use some 100MPH tape or Gorilla Tape to cover the contact pads on the bottom of the laptop. That's what I did...

Reposting from GD.

Pretty damn cool idea!

I think I finally found the perfect cup holder for anyone looking to use the radio tray headset/mic holders as mounts.

The DMI Universal Beverage Holder

I ordered one open box off eBay at a discount and here's what showed up:




Even comes with a beer can koozie!

You can ditch all the mounting hardware since you'd just be using the holder itself. The slot on the back is more than wide enough for the headset/mic holder.




Just drill a hole in the headset/mic holder and mount the beverage holder to it.

Another shot of it...




Fits a 30oz RTIC tumbler just fine:




As well as a 40oz Ozark Trail tumbler:




Now I just need to pick up a second headset/mic holder for the passenger's side.

I got a later start than I wanted today since it rained about half the day but I set up my temporary painting shelter, filled in some of the spots at panel joints where the filler had broken out with some Sikaflex, and got the truck about 80% masked off. Still need to remove the washer reservoir and finish the rest of the masking. Then it's time to paint. I decided to start with the black on the bumpers and frame since, if I screw that up, it's not nearly as noticeable and gives me a little practice.

I got the black applied to the bumpers, frame, and tire carrier like I wanted to (only a small part of the frame though since time was of the essence). Ended up only getting one coat of green on the body before I ran out of daylight.

Going to start back up tomorrow morning and get the second coat down and then hopefully do the camo pattern later in the day with my buddy Dave.

Spraying the undiluted CARC is a pain. It is extremely thick and takes forever to apply. My undersized air compressor was definitely struggling but, it kept chugging away! The 20% diluted paint goes on a lot more easily, like regular paint.

The hood takes forever to do, especially if you're doing the backside too, but my tan hood is no longer tan!

I can't wait for pictures. For me, I don't think I'll ever get the inside clean enough to paint.