James & The Sahara Build Thread

I'd love to know what some of the witnesses to your madness thought at the car wash. True car guys (be it Jeep, or otherwise) would totally get it. The minivan set would be gathering up their children and telling them not to make eye contact with you. Looks like fun, James. Can't wait to see it after paint!

Thank you! Trust me, I got some looks ahaha.

So much better looking with that roll bar padding removed! Proceed!
Have me thinking I should have done it earlier on! Thanks JB!
 
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James, I suggest you need to invest a little bit on a portable rotary wire brush :)
You don't say! Lucky for me the frame is in good condition except for where the skid sits. I may see if I can get away with borrowing a peers. I try to limit which tools I buy vs borrow as my 8x8' bedroom can only store so many Jeep parts/tools. :D
 
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By definition, a build thread can’t ever be smooth right? Paint guy fell through, lousy SOB. Agreed upon a price, was about to hand him the keys and he tells me its 2.5x the labor amount he originally quoted me ($600.00 in labor, I was providing the bedliner). Man I wish I had a garage I’d tackle this tomorrow if I didn’t think it would get messed up outside.

Now I have two options, find a shop that will do the bedliner for me OR buy my own compressor & do the prep myself. Unsure of which option to press forward on. Ideally I’d like to pay someone to do the prep/paint for me, but the only place I know of in town is LineX and they command $900+ for this kind of job.
 
By definition, a build thread can’t ever be smooth right? Paint guy fell through, lousy SOB. Agreed upon a price, was about to hand him the keys and he tells me its 2.5x the labor amount he originally quoted me ($600.00 in labor, I was providing the bedliner). Man I wish I had a garage I’d tackle this tomorrow if I didn’t think it would get messed up outside.

Now I have two options, find a shop that will do the bedliner for me OR buy my own compressor & do the prep myself. Unsure of which option to press forward on. Ideally I’d like to pay someone to do the prep/paint for me, but the only place I know of in town is LineX and they command $900+ for this kind of job.
Good bedliner isn't cheap...I have Rhinolining in my F150, and that stuff is TOUGH. It was pricey, I wanna say 1200 or so, but its WAY better than trying to do it yourself.
 
Good bedliner isn't cheap...I have Rhinolining in my F150, and that stuff is TOUGH. It was pricey, I wanna say 1200 or so, but its WAY better than trying to do it yourself.
I believe my perception of it may be altered as I originally thought this would be a much cheaper project. I’d be more comfortable going with a big brand if they would warranty the liner on a tub (The ones I talked to only warranty their liner on truck beds, nothing else). Just don’t want to pay a ton of money and get screwed on a shoddy job.
 
Defender pro, a spray on bedliner. A guy in the local Jeep club sprayed it on his JKU and 1 year later its holding up way better than most other bedliners I’ve seen. Its expoxy based and extremely UV stable.

Do you have any places that you could rent an air compressor for a day or 2? As far as prep, spray some rust converter primer on the floor boards, scuff the rest of the tub with a red scotchbrite pads, then clean with a wax/grease remover. That should give you enough bite for the bedliner to stick. The key to making that stuff look uniform is to apply it, then drop the air press down and spit texture across the surface.
 
Do you have any places that you could rent an air compressor for a day or 2? As far as prep, spray some rust converter primer on the floor boards, scuff the rest of the tub with a red scotchbrite pads, then clean with a wax/grease remover. That should give you enough bite for the bedliner to stick. The key to making that stuff look uniform is to apply it, then drop the air press down and spit texture across the surface.
How big of a compressor do I need? Do I need like a popup canopy over the vehicle to shield it from the sun/anything falling from the sky/wind.
 
I think a 3hr. compressor would do it and a cheap 10'X10' EZ Up would be helpful to keep the elements off of you.
Wish you and I were closer James...I have an 80 gallon 5 HP two cylinder compressor...It will run anything you plug into it. It just sits, most of the time. I use it a couple hours a night.
You guys can spot a hidden purchase here... ;)

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Can’t believe its only $220 for a quality name brand 20 gallon 4 cfm compressor.
 
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