It’s been a long performance road for Project Rust Bucket, our ’89 Dodge D250 with the 5.9L VE-pumped Cummins engine. When we recently made nearly 1,000 rwhp on a chassis dyno, we felt the truck was due for a visual transformation that matched its performance. And that meant paint! While on the hunt for paint shops, we concentrated on businesses that specialized in fleet and utility vehicles, as pricing is usually pretty reasonable compared to vehicle restoration shops. Just down the street from our El Segundo, California, office, we ran across Scheib Paint and Body, in Hawthorne, California.
| total Transformation project Rust Bucket Before Painting
Specializing in everything from basic touch-ups to fleet vehicles to classics, Scheib Paint and Body was willing to work with us to provide a paint package we could be happy with, for a price we could afford. We wanted the body to be reasonably straight but weren’t concerned with every pin-sized ding—Rust Bucket is still a pickup truck, after all. In the end, we got out the door for about $2,500, a pretty good price considering the amount of rust that was on the Dodge.
| total Transformation sanding The Body Filler
Owner Carlos Castellon mentioned that if it wasn’t for the immense amount of sanding, the whole job would have been closer to $1,500. Follow along as our truck is transformed from an abandoned-looking derelict, to something we can actually be proud to be seen in.
Before Paint
Before you take your truck to the paint shop, there are a number of things you can check or replace that will make life easier. Check the body mounts, door hinges, lights, chrome, bumpers, and grille for cracks and breakage. In our case, since we didn’t need perfection (and we were in a hurry), a new tailgate and new taillights were the only additions to the truck other than the paint.
| After the Bondo was applied with a putty knife, it was sanded down to match the surrounding sheetmetal. This process is more art than science, and getting a good, clean look takes a lot of practice.
“When we recently made nearly 1,000 rwhp on a chassis dyno, we felt the truck was due for a visual transformation that matched its performance. And that meant paint!”
Wheels and Tires Make all the Difference
After we got the truck painted, the almost universal response was: “Man, that looks good—but you need some wheels!” Our stock steelies obviously weren’t going to cut it, so we went to Mickey Thompson and picked up a set of cool SideBiter wheels and Baja STZ tires. The wheels are available in 15- to 17-inch sizes, and the STZ tires are available in fitments as large as 33x10.50R20 for those of you who have four-wheel drive vehicles.
| total Transformation mickey Thompson Tires And Wheels
