Chef's A2 (lots of pictures)

[Chef]

My M151A2 (motor pool) resto:

Before any major work:




I had to replace the passenger front fender. I used a NOS AM General one.:












Re-assembled after painting:




Current appearance after markings, stencils and radio instal:

[Jay Mallari]

Wow! Very nice camo job Chef. What paint did you use?

Jay

[Jetnoise400]

That looks SWEET!!! Nice job!!!

[mrdibbles]

I respect how hard it is to do good camo... I can't do it to save my life. Something about random patterns that cause my brain to freeze.

[Chef]

Thanks guys!

I tried to do it as close to the way the military would have as possible, even going so far as to cut corners as the guys in the motor pool did back in the day. I painted it OD (24087) in the engine compartment while the power pack was out then re-installed it and covered it. Then I painted the inside of the tub and following that, the outside.
After that paint had cured, I scuffed it with a scotch-brite and painted the camo pattern using the diagram in the manual and period photos. I left the engine compartment and inside the tub in OD as the military did, not masking either when I sprayed the camo. I on purpose over-sprayed into each area (around the fuel tank, the edges of the dash, the heater and battery box and I propped up the hood about a bit so a little overspray would intrude into the inside of the engine compartment) just as the photos I looked at showed.

The OD (24087) I used was custom color matched at a local paint store. I had them match it to a air cleaner top (from a different, earlier 151) that has never been repainted. I used that part because it is large and because living under the hood precluded any fading from the sun and the color is the same brightness as the day it was originally painted.
The paint was DuPont Centuri. A single stage commercial automotive paint. It only comes gloss but I bought a flattening agent and added that to knock it down to semi-gloss.

The camo paint I got from "military vehicles magazine" about 8 years ago. It came in a kit of 4 colors (6 quarts, 2 ea. brown and green and 1ea. black and tan) and you could mix or match what colors you choose. I paid $68 for the kit including (lower 48) postage. The company is called:
The Right Stuff
15 Locust Street
Salisbury, MA. 01952
e-mail: cf7901@aol.com

I don't know if they are at that same address or if they are still in business but I will say that it is good paint. I used the Dupont Centuri reducer and hardener without any trouble. The paint covered very well and I only used about a quart of the green and brown for the entire job and about 1/4 of a quart of the tan and black. There is plenty left for me to paint my M416 to match.

[SEABEE62]

JUST REAL NICE....How long did it take you. cb

[Chef]

I've had it in unrestored condition for years, working on mechanicals, wiring, parts hunting but I do not have my own garage or compressor or welder. When I got a job at a shop that would let me use the facilities after work hours, then I could finally do some serious body work on it and try to finish it. So actual body work time from the condition seen in the first pictures to the last was 3 months of combined weekends and 2 hours a night on weekdays.