My M37 Restoration Thread

[scrapdaddy]

Just catching up, and I have to say, you're doing a great job. Keep it up!

[JStinson]

Update/Paint Adventures

I've been wrestling with my paint dilemma. What paint dilemma? Well, I'm glad you asked.

I bought 3 gallons of Majic brand OD green. It was a joke. The only thing OD about it was the label. So, I mixed a few different darker shades of the OD and finally found one I thought I liked. I sprayed it on and found I hated it. So I tried a darker shade. Hated it.

So, today I took a piece of the NOS heater kit to use as a paint sample and went to Home Depot. They couldn't do it with the paint I wanted. So I tried O'Reilly's. That particular store couldn't do it either.

Then I went to Sherwin Williams. He had the right type enamel paint and managed to mix a batch that matches to about 95%. It was quite impressive.

It cost 40 bucks. The next cheapest option was Rapco's correct Gillespie paint, which would have cost about 75 bucks a gallon after haz mat and shipping.

Really glad I found a good paint source. Will try to spray some on tomorrow and see what it looks like.

[jrodjared]

Man I am glad I bought the Gillepsie paint when I did at the Gilbert show! $37 a gallon. I didn't realize they get so much after the shipping?

[JStinson]

Man I am glad I bought the Gillepsie paint when I did at the Gilbert show! $37 a gallon. I didn't realize they get so much after the shipping?

Yessir, you did well. Rapco charges $35 for a gallon of paint. Then you add $23 for haz-mat. Then they add $2 for some unknown random extra shipping charge. THEN you add $14.99 to get it to my house. Blamo, $74.99 a gallon.

Absurd.

[Kaiser2boy]

J.S.

Is the paint you ended up with a flat finish or a semi gloss?
I ask this because I did the same as you running around trying to find OD paint.
I ended up by accident at Wal-Mart and spotted a can of paint that was just right for me . It is a zero reflectivity or ultra flat od paint . The best part was it was only $14.00 a gallon. If you find your self in a Wal-mart ask to see a color chip of CAFE NOIR. DUTCH BOY OUTSIDE PAINT FOR METAL. Dont ask me why they call it CAFE NOIR. As far as my French goes it means black coffee.
I cant post any photos here but I would be more than glad to send you via email a photp of my M37 so you can see what it looks like.

[JStinson]

J.S.

Is the paint you ended up with a flat finish or a semi gloss?
I ask this because I did the same as you running around trying to find OD paint.
I ended up by accident at Wal-Mart and spotted a can of paint that was just right for me . It is a zero reflectivity or ultra flat od paint . The best part was it was only $14.00 a gallon. If you find your self in a Wal-mart ask to see a color chip of CAFE NOIR. DUTCH BOY OUTSIDE PAINT FOR METAL. Dont ask me why they call it CAFE NOIR. As far as my French goes it means black coffee.
I cant post any photos here but I would be more than glad to send you via email a photp of my M37 so you can see what it looks like.

It's a satin. My email is jwes478@hotmail.com. I'd love to see your truck.

[Gordon Maney]

If you are not a subscriber or premium user, you can link to photos at a remote host, such as is the requirement at other forums. You need a photo hosting account such as Photobucket or Smugmug, that sort of thing.

[Bruce]

Everyone Wants 2 See It

J.S.

Is the paint you ended up with a flat finish or a semi gloss?
I ask this because I did the same as you running around trying to find OD paint.
I ended up by accident at Wal-Mart and spotted a can of paint that was just right for me . It is a zero reflectivity or ultra flat od paint . The best part was it was only $14.00 a gallon. If you find your self in a Wal-mart ask to see a color chip of CAFE NOIR. DUTCH BOY OUTSIDE PAINT FOR METAL. Dont ask me why they call it CAFE NOIR. As far as my French goes it means black coffee.
I cant post any photos here but I would be more than glad to send you via email a photp of my M37 so you can see what it looks like.

Try the link or send it to JStinson or my self? Another option is always a good thing. I went w/Gilespie as It was 37$ by picking it up myself. 14$ a gallon sounds really good!

[Kaiser2boy]

If you are not a subscriber or premium user, you can link to photos at a remote host, such as is the requirement at other forums. You need a photo hosting account such as Photobucket or Smugmug, that sort of thing.

I have photobucket and tried it but they seem to limit the size of pictire you can post. I loaded one up and when it showed up it was about an inch square like a thumbnail.

[Gordon Maney]

I have photobucket and tried it but they seem to limit the size of picture you can post. I loaded one up and when it showed up it was about an inch square like a thumbnail.

You are saying they limit the size? This forum software has no size limit on remotely hosted images.

[JStinson]

OD Paint-Finally

I'm finally satisfied (mostly) with the paint color. I wish it had a tad less sheen to it, but the color is fantastic. Hopefully it will be a little duller after it cures completely. I'll check tomorrow.

Remember, it was still wet in all these pictures.

[JStinson]

Hope you don't mind, Kaiser2boy

Kaiser2boy has a beautiful truck. Hope mine looks this great soon.

[W_A_Watson_II]

JStinson,

Beautiful! I love the work and detail. they do make matte and flat clear coats if it stays too glossy.

Merry Christmas,
Will

[Kaiser2boy]

No problem, I tried several times to post a photo with limited luck.
You see the color and finish on the truck , that is Dutch Boy Cafe-Noir extreme adhesion outside metal paint.
$14.00 a gallon at Wal-mart. I think it is one of the only items NOT made in China in the store.

[Kaiser2boy]

You are saying they limit the size? This forum software has no size limit on remotely hosted images.

In all fairness I am not sure if the limit you but I posted two experimental photos of the same thing and one was sized at 200 kb and one at 1000kb , they both showed up as a thumbnail size. I may be missing some trick but I think I read the instructions right. I did not see any option to load up a bigger format. I am not worried about it because I dont do much posting of photos other than via email.