OFFICIAL NC FOOD TRUCK BUILD W/PICS

Lookin good bud! I haven't been able to hop on much have been doing lots of moving to my new place. Took me two trips alone just to move all the stuff related to the food truck business. I think i've got more than 10' behind my seat.. more in the 12'-14' range. My hood is 7' planted in the center of the (passenger) door side and i've got plenty of room on each side. I don't think i am able to put up pictures yet.
260 bones for a new carb. sounds great right about now, and maybe doing some more engine work. My father never drove the truck around very much, but it's got some very rattly suspension and it backfires pretty often resulting in some minor jerking of the truck.
I am getting the drivers side exterior of my truck airbrushed soon. I am trading my buddy some of my labor in helping him build his trailer and he is giving me a fully airbrushed truck (with expense of paint on my end of course).
Yes.. i have too much time on my hands.. and this 120 degree heat in the truck 10 hours a day is getting to me. Keep up the good work!

6 hours - wow, Looks good though.
 
What is your process? I know a little about polishing things - my other business is granite and I have re-finished all the stainless that went into my trailer.
 
If you use emery or sandpaper then steel wool or wool bonnet with grit polishing pastes on a variable speed angle grinder, flexible 7" backer http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-variable-speed-polisher-sander-92623.html should make it quicker. The trick is to remove all the scratches from the previous grit before moving up. Most of the tools and supplies you should be able to get at Harbor Freight. The grit to start depends on the starting finish. Too low and you are removing too much aluminum - too high and you will be wasting time so experimentaiton and having several grits available is important.

im using 600 grit on the rough spots, then jumping to 1000 grit for general oxidation removal, and 2000 grit for polishing.....
then im using the white polishing paste from turtle wax, and finishing it all off with a good use of mothers mag/aluminum polish....
 
lol, the 2000 grit itself polishes it to a pretty nice shine, but the mothers really sucks out all the residual oxidation and makes it sparkle..... the rivet heads are almost like diamonds.....
 
im sure theres an easier faster way to do it, im taking any and all suggestions!!

im wet sanding with all the different grits of paper except the 600 where i run across remnants of paint
 
lol, of course it rained on and off all day so i didnt get anything done, but it was a good lazy day after the last few days

So if you want to wet polish you may want to look online (ebay) for a wet polishing set-up meant for stone polishing. You can get a variable speed polisher that has a center water feed. They will be electric but have a GFI breaker. You can get velcro backers which may come with the tool but would be 4" backers. I think Harbor freight has velcro backed sanding discs and you may need to cut a hole on the middle for the water to feed but that would be much faster than anything else.   http://cgi.ebay.com/granite-Tile-Saw-Stone-counter-top-Wet-Grinder-polisher-/230544019039?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35ad7e8e5f

bad Chicnscoop, lol..... teasing me with new toys like that, lol....
actually, it was great advice, and got me to looking around.....
here is what i came up with, all in all it will run me about 200 bucks to buff the ol' girl out, plus a ton of elbow grease!..... not a bad deal when you consider that painting(even with the free labor) would run me around 700 bucks just in materials......
so going this route, not only will i have the most unique van in and around my area, but i will save a few hundred bucks over painting, not to mention the never ending flip flopping back and forth on paint colors and schemes is a thing of the past.....
here are the weapons of choice, im now sitting and waiting for the UPS guy to show up :) .......





 
these polishing supplies are surprisingly cheap......79 bucks for what you see above, i figure i will need a few replacement wheels, they are around 6 bucks or less each....
i am estimating 140 hours to complete the job(based on professional time estimates i found on line) so theoretically, on paper anyway, when i finish this, if i do it right, i will have added approx. 6000 dollars value to the ol' girl.....   

soooooo..............moral of this story is....
im retiring my little palm sander back to wood working projects, and saving the mag polish for the red head, lol

With all of the time and work you are doing to the outside of the body, I cant wait to see how the inside turns out!

im going to go for a minimalist approach inside, stainless work tables wrapped around the three walls.....
prep table centered between dual service windows, large bright windows so customer can see drinks being made, and sandwiches being prepped....
a large aluminum sheet awning that will conceal an 18" exterior "bar top" when everything is closed up(bar top will fold up and in)
 
of course, like has happened a half dozen times in this thread so far, that is subject to change/modification at any given time, lol 

No disrespect meant and I really mean that but I built my Grill Zilla with an aluminum deck and it is impossible to keep clean and shinny. And even more difficult to admit I bought chemicals from a ton of suppliers that promise to clean aluminum with just a spray and pressure washing and not one of them work as advertised. So I finally found another company that swore up and down and had a video to boot that would clean aluminum pontoon boats in a heart beat. I was so impressed I made arrangements to become a distributor. Then I went to our local fire dept and offered them a deal on 50 Gal barrels, but then the product arrived and it just doesn't work as advertised. So both deals fell apart.
I also own an 18 foot Bass Tracker and another 17 foot aluminum boat and polished the 17 footer with the best quality buffer, wheels and compound. And after one week in the weather it looked like I hadn't touched it.
Paint the van or use vinyl and cover it is my heart felt advice.
And that advice comes from a guy that is adicted to stainless steel or anything shinny. LOL
If you doubt that look at the inside of my trailer and grill zilla.
www.DrofBBQ.com
Inside of the trailer is near the top (5th frame down) and grill zilla is very near the bottom.
Take my advice as you will with a grain of salt or to heart but it comes from experiance.
Jack




And here is another one of my creations "It had to be stainless steel and or aluminum....LOL


 
Good Luck

i appreciate your comments...lol, your not giving me that warm fuzzy feeling inside!!
how do they keep airstreams looking so shiney and nice all the time??
am i just not privy to the midnight buffing party so she looks great the next day ??
 
your the second person to tell me this...first has a show bike and is constantly griping about how hard it was to keep looking good.... i thought he was just being anal.....
would a once a week wash and buff be enough to keep it looking good??.... i figured at least weekly washes and even if painted, monthly waxes...
 
i never planned on "set it and forget it" as far as upkeep went, but is it really that hard to keep it looking good??  i figured water spots would be my biggest enemy....

that btw is one sweet looking rig you have!!
we have a huge classic car/muscle car/ricer crowd around here and part of the idea behind the glitz and glamor was to create a circuit of my own between the different crowds, and a big shiny box with chrome side pipes and rumbly exhaust would sort of fit into any one of them...... that and having the coldest fresh squeezed lemonade available in the middle of a parking lot on an august weekend on a near 100* day seemed like a no brainer to me.......
 
hhmmmmmm.......decisions decisions......  

How do they keep airstreams looking so shiny and nice all the time?? Am i just not privy to the midnight buffing party so she looks great the next day ??
 
That's a great question, and I don't know the answer.
 
"a big shiny box with chrome side pipes and rumbly exhaust would sort of fit into any one of them.."
 
And I agree it's an awesome idea. I'll do some research on the Airstream thing.
Jack
Ok here is a video on polishing an airstream http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVRzG5tp7B0
Note he said 200 hundred hours to polish this unit.
Here is a company that will do it for you $$$$$$$
http://www.youtube.com/wa...Mc&feature=related

yep, ive seen all those videos....
heres the one that convinced me to go for it....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lptbhUHhfhE&feature=related
and yea, lol, that airstream is a bit longer then my van, so their 200 hour estimate was one of the factors i used to come up with my 140 hour estimate...that and i wont be doing my roof, it will be painted reflective white for heat control
 
i think im going to go ahead and go for the polish, but i noticed no one on there says anything about how long it lasts!! and i have heard several different stories about clear coating and polyurethane going yellow after just a year or two 

all the estimates ive found are around 8 hours per linear foot, so i am 14 FOA for a total of 112 hours, i rounded this up to 140 hours due mainly to my inexperience with polishing...... this is 3 1/2 weeks worth of 8 hour days (x5)...... so i think saying a month is going to be just about right.....
thats also how i came up with the 6000 dollar value to this aspect of the project
in reality i figure it would add 2,500-3000 to the value of the truck when finished, i dont think paint would be much more then 1,500-2000 worth of value, and thats after costing around 1,500 to paint it (my friends discount)
the polishing is going to cost me about 200 bucks total materials, so a much higher return ratio there....
the difference lies in the amount of elbow grease involved, polishing looses on that account, but under my current situation (laid off) i dont have much else to do right now but keep the grass cut....

Your my leader in signing up for all that work. LOL But I imagine it'll be worth it in the long run. If for no other reason the attention you'll get at events. I just hope it's easier to maintain than some of my stuff. I never mind the original work in the buffing it's just two events later and it looks like I did a half ass job that makes me crazy.
Speaking of maintenance I wonder if the thickness or some of the make up of the material makes a difference in the buffing and longevity of it holding a shine? 
 
Honestly if I had a trailer that looked like the videos and found in a month or two it started to look dull I'd put it in my garage and never pull it.  Those units look awesome when those guys get them done.
 
Jack

im looking at it like this...if it was painted, i would be washing at least weekly, and waxing probably once a month.....
so if i hose her down once a week, dry her off to prevent water spots, and then buff her out once a month, shouldn't be much different then waxing a paint job
 
lol, i say shouldn't..... maybe deep down im saying "hopefully" 
 
i too have wondered about the thickness and different "grades" of aluminum... im not sure what type is/was used to make the air streams, but i know its not much thicker then a pie pan, where as mine is 1/8th" thick...........all the different grades can be polished though, its just a case of longevity and durability once done....
lol, more research is needed

"lol, more research is needed"
 
Boy Howdy never were truer words spoken. That's the point I keep trying to make to new people on Roadfood. And the other point is RESEARCH! Do a search here and read and read and read again.
 
You on the other hand have done your research and have your act together. Your thread will be a major blessing to folks down the road that will bother to do the search to find the facts. Keep your post coming I enjoy them as I'm sure others do as well.
Jack

thanks for the vote of confidence Jack 
 
lol, i was driving the ol' girl this afternoon around 4-4:30ish and as i was coming up to an intersection(driving kind of towards the sun) i noticed the green reflective overhead signs were lit up like search lights!!.... i swerved a little side to side, to "aim" and sure enough, it was the reflection from my hood/grill hitting them..... boy oohhh boy, this may get interesting when its all over and done with, lol
when i say lit up, i mean the reflection was so bright you could no longer read the signs!
i think the strategic placement of vinyl and lettering will go a long way towards keeping me from knocking low flying aircraft out of the sky!!, lol
 
wow, i just thought of that, all this work going into it, and 1/4 to 1/3 is going to get covered back up with vinyl 

Once its done and you do a periodic maintenance of re-polishing a section every so often the upkeep may be easier than it sounds. I think finding a washing soap with a proper ph level will help a great deal too. The wrong cleaner will destroy the shine by eating away at it - etching - while others may make it last longer. Hard to know exactly which kinds of cleaners would be best but you can find the ph level of a product by the MSDS sheet the manufacturer has to provide. These can be found on a products website often but the retailer should have it on hand too.

yea, after the initial polishing, it shouldnt be much more then buffing it out once a month i hope, pretty much the same as waxing a car would be

ok!
half the little goodies came today, some 320, 600, and 1000 grit paper.... lol, the rest(compounds and wheels) is on backorder should be here near the end of the week.....
they did throw in a "tester kit" a couple of small 2 inch wheels with little tubes of the compounds, so at least i can "practice" between now and then..... hopefully if i dont die from the heat i will have some pics up tomorrow of the hood, im going to use it for my test area, lol
 
i picked up a polisher today, and got some tips from the paint guy on getting rid of the last of the etching coat in some places..... ok, are we ready to rumble???, lol

went down to a local plating/polishing company today, and slipped the guy a $20 to show me some tips and tricks.....
boy ! i didnt know enough to realize i didnt know anything, lmao!
 
i learned so much today its not funny..... i took a 90 minute crash course back in the working end of the shop, and soon realized i wasnt getting nearly dirty enough at home to be doing a good job!!!!!
 
now i am confident that i know just enough to be dangerous, lol !!
i will have some pics up tomorrow afternoon of my new test section.... get yer sunglasses out!, lol

ok, heres the test area after using the tips and tricks i learned yesterday 
 

i think shes going to be a right pretty ol' girl :)
i have one from the opposite angle but its too bright to see anything, lol, the sun was blinding the camera
you can just about count the dead ass grass blades in that grill from 6 foot away

So, you are planning to have the entire truck be polished metal? No wrap, decals, etc?

yeppers...
whole truck polished, maybe a wrap on the lower half, im tossing around the idea of black and polished.....
idea is just small decals and lettering, let the truck itself draw the attention

That looks shape there Bruce. lot of work and up keep! But it will draw customers. Good job

lol, now we travel down into the dark abyss that is the under side of your food trucks.... an area not much seen or thought about, so i thought everyone would enjoy seeing these pics of the tear down for my rear end rebuild...
 
up in the air finally ! shop was short handed and swamped last couple of days but we got her up and now the fun begins....
 
 
its kind of weird seeing the axle come out with the wheels still on....thats why the 4x4 guys love these big heavy rear ends.....you wont do this with your classic mustang thats for sure !!......

 
and here we have the belly of the beast, lol..... smells real goooooood back here right now...... rear end oil is horrendous smelling with high mileage and many years of neglect, well, its not the best smelling stuff when new to begin with, lol.....
 
 
i was glad to see that my carrier was in great shape, and inspection of the teeth confirmed the ring and pinion was just simply wore slam out, lol.....

 
heres the new ring and pinion waiting to go in, cant wait to start breaking these babies in 
they will soon be out of site out of mind, but the piece of mind will be greatly welcome, and the added mileage and drivability from going to 4.10's vs the original 5.13's  will be very much welcome !

 

time to go buy a bearing master kit and start getting everything back together!

lol, one of these days i will actually get around to building the food truck part of this project, lol