This 1990 K1500, Silverado trimmed short bed was purchased new by my wife and her late husband. After his passing in 2005 it mostly sat only being driven occasionally. As with most Chevys of this era the paint had given up the ghost years before I first saw it in 2007. I’m a North Carolina country boy at heart so while I have and still do own a new pickup I’ve also always owned an old pickup which usually is my daily driver. When we married in 2010 I gave my old truck to a friend since we didn’t need two and besides “Old Ruby” as we christened her, was newer and had lower mileage. The past decade Old Ruby has been pretty much my daily driver but about a year ago mechanical problems snowballed and with me working fulltime. I didn’t have the time necessary to do the work so we ended taking it to the dealer to get it roadworthy again. Harry, the Chevy tech took Ruby under his wing and went through the motor, steering, suspension and brakes returning it driving like new. It was a big investment for an old truck at $7,300 dollars but Ruby was family after all.
About this same time Ruby’s headlights had yellowed so badly that no amount of polishing could get them bright enough to drive after dark so I decided to orders some new ones from LMC. Then I thought, “Well if I’m going to replace the headlights I might as well replace the turn signal lights, mark lights, reflects and tail lights, heck it only stands to reason I’d want to replace the grill and Chevy emblem while I’m at it”. Suddenly Old Ruby started looking better so I thought a set of wheels might look good. So a set of factory size Method wheels and Nitto tires were added. I thought she’s looking even better but the paint and the left rear quarter panel damage from a fender years ago still had her looking rough.
My hobby is restoring vintage and antique motorcycles, a hobby I picked up from my Dad but unlike him I had never done a paint job so last summer after retiring I set out to learn and Old Ruby would be my guinea pig. I setup my air and filtration system, did a lot of research then set out to paint Old Ruby. I first straighten the quarter panel damage using a porta power and hammer & dollies. I then sanded her down to bar metal, coated her with a etch primer sealer followed by a coat of “Slick Sand”. A week and half of block sanding had her straighter than she came from the factory. Next I sprayed her with an epoxy primer sealer followed by 3 coats of the factory red (WA-9088) and white Super Sport stripes (YZ-M6466) then 3 coats of Clear Coat. With the exception the “Slick Sand” I used all PPG Omi Plus products. Working on it full time it took me a little over 4 months to complete the project and I’ll say it was probably the most physically challenging thing I’ve ever done. After wet sanding and polishing I reassemble everything and gave it 60 to gas out before putting on the trim and applying a ceramic sealer. I tried to give Old Ruby a late ‘60’s muscle car vibe and I’m happy with the results but I’m even more thrilled to have the work behind me. We look forward to many years of enjoyment with her. All the work was done in the driveway and I’m blessed to have such a supportive wife, thank you Baby.
LMC products used: headlights, tail lights, turn signal and marker lights, reflectors, chrome grill, Chevy bowtie emblem, front air dam, rear bumper cap and molding, headliner, chrome door and tailgate handles, interior/exterior window weather stripping. Chrome rear/bed cab light.