10. Jon Wise, one of the body techs working on our rig, is the owner of Trinity Coating Systems in Freeport, Illinois, and an authorized Vortex installer. Since the machine used to apply Vortex is completely portable, he simply brought the machine to Vintage Iron & Design one day and applied the Vortex before the bed was painted and while it was off the truck. Wise began the application by sanding all areas of the inside of the cargo box (shown) and the tailgate where the Vortex would be applied with 60-grit sandpaper. Any bare metal was primed with self-etching primer and then sanded. | 
11. The surfaces where the Vortex would be applied were then cleaned with degreaser. Wire tape was applied near the tops of the bedrails and the tailgate to ensure a straight line. Finally, the box sides and the front side of the tailgate were covered in plastic to eliminate overspray during the application process. | 
12. Here, Wise is beginning the Vortex application process on the new LMC Truck tailgate. The Vortex material is pumped out of the machine at a very low 8 to 10 psi, and it hardens to a slightly tacky feel in about 10 seconds. Vortex can be applied to a variety of surfaces as long as the surface temperature is over 50 degrees Fahrenheit. He coated the inside and upper lip of the tailgate to offer maximum protection. |
13. The bed was next. We chose a dark gray for our bedliner color, but there are more than 250 colors available. The surface texture of the bedliner can be varied from smooth to very rough. We chose a medium texture that would ensure traction for us and cargo even if the surface is wet. | 
14. Within just a few minutes of applying the Vortex, Wise began removing the wire tape and plastic so we could begin preparations to paint the bed. Vortex doesn't require any baking or other special treatment--it just dries. We were impressed at how handsome the bed looked with the Vortex applied. | 
15. The steps and material utilized to paint the cargo box and tailgate were a duplicate of those mentioned earlier to prep and paint the cab of the truck. |
16. After the paint had dried for about 24 hours, the cargo box was reinstalled on the chassis using a bed-mounting kit from LMC Truck. This kit includes eight new bolts and nuts. At this point, all of the new paint was laboriously wet-sanded. This process involves hand-sanding all of the new paint with 1,200-grit wet/dry sandpaper followed by hand-sanding with 2,000-grit wet/dry sandpaper. After all of this, the new paint is sanded yet again with 3,000-grit sandpaper using a DA. All of this sanding is what removes any "orange peel" and it gives the new paint a mirror-like finish. | 
17. Buffing was the next calorie-burner. First, 3M 06062 Perfect It III rubbing compound and a white foam pad were used to remove any sand scratches left by the wet sanding process. This was followed up by buffing using a black foam pad and 3M 06064 Perfect It III swirl mark remover. After buffing was completed we applied a pair of new OEM-style LMC Truck bed panel "4x4" decals. | 
18. The last step in the reconstruction was to reinstall all of the remaining components like the grille, headlamp bezels, and so on. With this job done, the Project Fiery Redhead's new body was officially finished. |
By The Numbers
You're probably wondering how much a detailed, complete restoration like this costs. Well, ours tallied a shade over $10,000. That included all of the body panels and assorted items from LMC Truck ($1,500), the Stylin' Concepts Reflexxion Domination Series cowl hood ($450), Trinity Coating Systems Vortex bedliner ($475), Keystone Automotive refinishing supplies ($1,500) and the Vintage Iron & Design labor ($6,750). Clearly, labor was the lion's share of the cost, but that's to be expected-the team at Vintage Iron & Design had well over 150 hours into our rig. Naturally, your cost could be higher or lower depending on what your rig needs. The bottom line is that our resto proves that there are real-world options for trucks with rusty or trail-trashed bodies.
The Redhead Is Done
After three years and countless hours of wrenching, our work-ready Project Fiery Redhead is completed. In an upcoming issue, we'll recap what's been done to our '92 F-150 and we'll tell you what has worked great and what we wouldn't do again.