2021 Ram 1500 Classic Regular Cab 2WD 5.7 Colorshift paint build

[Froddoyo]

Hello friends! I'm new to the forum but have been browsing without an account for a while, cool forum you guys got here!
I just got myself a new RAM 1500 Classic 5.7 2WD Express and within 24 hours I already brought out the tools.
I have worked in the autobody trade for 12 years and primarily refinishing (painting) for 8 years!
I have forever wanted to get a 4th Gen reg cab ram, lower it and make the thing just absolutely insane looking.
I don't have any plans on any motor modifications, only cosmetics, I don't plan on any racing or going fast AF. (plus 395 hp in a reg cab short box is good enough for me)

plans so far with the truck

-insane colorshifting paintjob blue to purple to gold, 3 coats of clear, looking like glass.
-replace smooth hood with a sport hood (sport hood already painted and ready to be bolted on)
-replace halogen headlights with factory style projectors (already acquired, had broken tabs, easily and strongly fixed with 142 fusor)
-replace halogen tailights with 5th gen HD tailights and paint bezels
-rip off the factory rear bumper and weld in a roll pan from Grant Fab
-lower truck with belltech 2/4 (might do a 3/4, I feel like the 2/4 has too much squat to it) and use IHC suspension relocation brackets
-SRT replica 22 or 24 wheels?
-replace center bench seat with a center console (not an option from factory on regular cabs nowadays)
-color match mirrors and door handles
-shave fm/am antenna, shave tailgate ram emblem, full side debadge

 

[Froddoyo]

The Hood.

alright so before I even got this truck (it was a factory order during chip shortages so it took a while) I got a sport hood in great shape from a friend.



I could have gotten the hood from factory but it was a pretty expensive option, got this hood for 850 CAD, I can also sell my current hood as a brand new take off


small dents (I know its hard to see, typical white)

there was about 3 rock chips like this.

gotta love that thick dodge primer, nice for blocking out minor dents.




feathered out some rock chips

 

[Froddoyo]

Sealer coat


Two coats of black base.


5 coats of chameleon base (Will be sharing the product and formula in the next post)


3 coats of PPG 550 envirobase clearcoat. turned out like glass!! hardly any dirt nibs too, I was thinking of cutting and polishing the truck but honestly with how smooth this clear is coming out it might just be diminishing

 

[Froddoyo]

The color.

Throughout my years of painting, Ive always seen these color shift chameleon paints as super expensive, but the truth is these large paint companies like PPG, Sikkens, ect. just charge WAY to much for it. I stumbled across a source that sells them for reasonable prices. paintwithpearl.com
now, I will say, at first I was very disappointed in the vibrancy and saturation of these pearls. they seemed super washed out and milky, but after dozens of sprayout cards and testing I found a way to make them really pop

The t4024 in the formula IS NOT t4024, It's just a measurement for the chameleon pearl powder!


if anyone else plans on doing this with waterborne paint, it works great, BUT DONT PUT WB HARDENER IN UNTIL YOUVE PRE MIXED THE FORMULA!!!!!!! the WB hardener will make the pearls clump together. you *can* shake the crap outa the mix to get it to un clump.
skip the hardener stage, stir it well, then put the WB hardener after.


blue on the face


purple on the flop


and gold- only if you point towards the sun and look at an extreme angle. theres a little bit of coral/pink in between the purple and gold

 

[Froddoyo]

The inside of the hood was painted Crystal flake black (PXJ) before the outside was painted (for anyone possibly wondering)

 

[Froddoyo]

Bumper and Grill


(man those glass flakes look like rock chips, they aren't I promise hehe) these sport bumpers come factory with these little license plate bracket dimples. In Alberta Canada we don't use front plates so these are nothing but an eye sore so lets fix that


sanded the inside and surrounding of the dimples real good with 180 grit sandpaper and filled them with a UV activated putty
I used UV putty because you can sand it down and paint over it without needing to prime, its non porous


400 grit stepped up to 500 grit with a small wooden block, while sanding the remainder of the bumper it was upgritted to 600 on a orbital sander and 800 by hand, followed up with a gray scotchbrite pad.
The dimples above these ones sanding out in the clear super easily.




grill is nothing special, just took out the factory honeycomb inserts, sanded with 600 orbital on the flat areas, 800 by hand, followed up with gray scotchbrite pad

 

[Froddoyo]

I blended in some black over the shaved license plate dimples, then chameleon. truck is already black so no need to put down a black base on the entire thing.
these pictures were taken when 2 coats of base was applied. 5 coats was applied before clearcoat.

Alright clear coat time- 3 coats of envirobase 550 Clear.

 

[Dredger]

I'm really enjoying that color! I can't wait to see it completed. Thank you for sharing this project.

 

[Froddoyo]

door jambs







I masked the inside of the doors for overspray. usually not necessary but I plan on adding extra sound deadener, I don't want any dry crispy overspray under the sound deadener

 

[Froddoyo]

Decided to also take apart the front grill emblem and give it some two tone paint. I'm hoping the black Ram and the body matched inside will pop well.







Sanded the chrome very well with 320 sandpaper, and sanded the black plastic with 800 sandpaper and a red scotch brite pad
primed both pieces with black epoxy primer (which can also be used as a sealer if over reduced a bit)


sorry for blurry pic. sprayed PXJ (trucks factory crystal glass color) base coat then two coats of 550 clear



one coat of the pxj black base followed with 5 coats of the chameleon mix, just like the rest of the truck, two coats of 550 clear.

will update this with a picture of the emblem reassembled and back into the grill.

 

[FamilyWagon]

Very interested to see this one. Especially the suspension

 

[Graygoose]

exciting, welcome, this will be a good one to follow!

 

[EdGs]

Looks awesome so far.

.....and a ton of work, too. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Froddoyo]

Passenger fender fm/am radio antenna shave.

pfft. what is this, the 1990s? lets get that big ugly antenna up on outa here!




Always remember to disconnect the battery when welding on a vehicle!!!


all blanketed up for protection


working in a body shop has its perks! found this old fender in the scrap bin. this way the patch i cut out will be the same metal thickness and also the exact same type of steel.



placed the piece behind the fender and lightly dusted through the hole with black spray paint to get a template


doing a butt weld on this. kinda scary and difficult. but i want the filler to be as thin as possible.


before welding on the antenna patch I decided to do some practice welds on the donor fender, also nice for dialing in the welder.
Literally haven't touched a welder in over a year.


yup shes been a while, but hey, at least I know my limits now.


I did the process VERY SLOWLY. waiting lots of time between stitches. with this thin metal heat can warp it extremely easily.






It turned out not bad, actually better than I expected. the panel did warp (shrink) a little bit above where the patch was, about 30 minutes of careful hammer and dolly work, stretching the metal back out I got it where i wanted.
not gonna lie, kinda nerve wracking doing it on a brand new fender, but maybe thats a good thing.


feathered the paint back a bit with 100 grit (I always feather the paint back before grinding and filling, just works better for me) and then grinded with 32 grit before using short strand fibreglass filler.

 

[Froddoyo]

sanded fibreglass down, the original plan was to use body filler over the fibreglass but I managed to get the fibreglass into the spot I wanted my body work to be so I used putty instead.


things went "smoothly" hehe. putty here is very thin so we shouldnt have any issues with cracking in the future.



for the backside of the weld I cleaned up the area, wiped the weld with a acid etch wipe and then brushed seam sealer over it. this should keep it from rusting. I might spray something over the seam sealer as well.




3 coats of primer. typically we do 4 or 5 but I want to do less so it shrinks less. I anticipate I will burn through quite quickly with only 3 coats.
I will more than likely be re-priming it. sometimes you can get it straighter that way anyways.

nearly impossible to pick it up with a camera so you'll have to take my word for it. the body work turned out really good. nice and straight, of course a sanding block and guide coat will reveal the real truth

 

[Froddoyo]

The Roof. Nothing too much to say about this one. I removed the pillar moldings, the rail moldings, third brake light, satellite antenna (will be color matching that antenna as well)
blocked the roof with 800, this won't really fix any factory waves but helps to smooth things out a little bit. followed up with 800 on an orbital and grey scotchbrite on the edges.
5 coats of chameleon base (no sealer, base directly on sanded clear) and 3 coats of clear.









here is the badge I was working on before, while putting it together I scratched the outer bezel of it, Touched up that area with black and re-clear coated the rest.

 

[British Bulldog]

So I understand this is a BRAND NEW truck, straight off the sales rack?
Wow. You have some balls, fella! Talk about skill and professional work!
My truck is black Pearl same as your original and the finish from factory is garbage so I can see as you have the skills you have nothing to loose at all.
Beautiful!

A very jealous 2021 owner lol !!!!!!

 

[British Bulldog]

How can this NOT get Truck Of The Month, or even YEAR????

 

[Froddoyo]

color is freaking beautiful in the early afternoon sun.




Here is the painted badge in the grill. The color matched background looks suuuuper clean!


The Satellite fin was super easy to disassemble. 5 torx screws on the backside.


I didn't prime and de-texturize the antenna, I wasnt too worried about the fin being a bit textured. its far from the eyes anyways.
sanded with 600 by hand, run over with a red scotch brite, adhesion promoted, Sealed with black epoxy, 5 coats of chameleon, 2 coats of clear.
I will be de-texturizing the mirrors, door handles, and tailgate handle when I do those.

 

[Froddoyo]

Third brake light


Sanded thoroughly with a gray scotchbrite, adhesion promoted and sprayed 2 coats of ec520, let sit over night
sanded with 800 by hand, and gray scotchbrite, light coats of PPG envirobase 50/50 t490 & t407 base coats until desired tint level
masked for two tone
1 coat of black, followed with 5 coats chameleon, 2 coats of clear.


I did a similar border mask color match on my dodge dakota tailights, minus the tint.

gives it a cleaner look.

for the tailights I plan on getting 5th gen RAM HD tailights, (yes those fit 4th gens, they share the same bed)
I plan on doing a similiar masking like the photo below *EXAMPLE PIC*