4x4 Fender installation

This weekend I really wanted to get that fender completed, so I got with my buddy Dennis to see if he could meet up to paint it.  I got the paint matched on Friday and then met up with him Saturday.  We didn't have a paint booth or anything, so just set it outside on a table and went at it.

I let Dennis do most of the painting since I wasn't familiar with paint guns.  I've always just rattle canned anything that I painted.  I did put the last coat on though so I could say I contributed, lol.

It would have been an awesome idea to have masks

Since we were outside some freaking bugs and whatnot kept getting on it.  It ended up with a smattering of grit and other crap in it, but I'm planning to wet sand the bigger stuff down and then will just leave the rest.  As long as it's the same color I'm not really worried about it being super pro.  We put about 4 coats on it.  I left it at Dennis's house to dry, then he dropped it by my house Sunday morning.


I  went out and bought some new bolts to install it with (the OEM ones were very rusty and I sheared one of them).  Then set the fender up temporarily just to see what it looked like.

New paint is quite a bit shinier than the old, but a good color match

I didn't get to do much else with it Sunday (busy day), but after work Monday I got to bolt it in place.  The bottom edge of the fender near the door didn't quite want to line up right.  I decided I'd worry with that later.  I got the rest of the fender lined up (though it was a big of a pain, I think it got slightly warped during storage) and tightened in place.  One of the new bolts I bought was defective and sheared off, but I was able to get hold of it from the bottom side and remove it.  I bought 5 extra bolts/washers just in case something stupid like that happened.


Installed the blinker, the bumper endcap, windshield cowl, wipers, and cowl vents, then went for the fender flare.  Since this fender didn't include the clip things that fit over the screwholes (and the old one didn't have them either) I had to use screws/nuts to hold it on, but it turned out well enough.  The mud flap was a huge PITA on this side just from all the jankiness of the wreck the truck had been in previously, but overall turned out well.