Been reading thru a ton of search treads, surfin' the net, trying to score ideas for when I eventually paint my rig sometime this year, providing momma still approves. Have a few inquiries, and hoping others have already looked into these:
1. Bushwacker flairs for the wheel well areas, vs the stock trim. Saw it on a site somewhere on a first gen, looked good, just looking for pros/cons
2. Bed shell- I kept a white, gel coat bed shell, one that came off of the 93D250 I sold awhile back. New owner didn't want it. I was going to stick to my original black/gold two tone scheme, and being the upper portion of the truck wore the black, made sense to paint the bed shell the same. Any problems with painting over the gel coat?
3. What are other ideas are there to go with instead of reusing the oem divider/moulding dividing the two colors? I know those can be repainted, but those also tend to fade quick over time
4. The chrome- mirrors, grille, bumpers. I've seen pics of those painted. They look good! Just worry about paint flaking off of chrome. To those that have done it, any regrets?
5. The deal that goes over the cab, the visor shade deal. Those things are pricey! Do they help at all with cutting off the sun glare, or just more of a visual bling? Like the looks, just concerned about holes drilled on the cab roof, and the $$.
6. I'll leave this one open for advice on what to look for, request for from the shop, or any thing I should be made aware of in having a paint job done
Thanks, all

 

If you have an original chrome grille with the letters, I would not paint it. Inexpensive reproduction grilles without chrome are easy to find. I would spend the extra cash on one of those and paint it. Intact OEM grilles are becoming very rare and very valuable. You could probably sell an original for much more than what you pay for a reproduction and come out ahead.

 

As for the fender flares, I've never been a fan of the chrome fender trim. But I like the look of the factory plastic flare/trim. With that said, when I was looking I couldn't find any factory ones in decent shape, or that I could afford at the time. So I went with the bushwacker flare. If you are running a stock size tire I think the bushwaker's would look kind of goofy as they extend off the fender a little bit.

 

There we go, I knew someone on here had them bushwhackers on! Thanks, again, Hillbilly! Yeah, I run the Firestone mud and snow tires, can't remember the width. They're an awesome tire, not too noisy on the highways. That truck never had stock tires or rims from the day I bought it from the 2nd owner. Yeah, that looks good. My factory flairs are in good shape, and years ago on the classifieds someone was selling a set for the rears, and I bought them as spares. I could easily stick with those, but really like the depth that the bushwhackers give in appearance, especially painted the colors of the truck. Painting them would be tricky with a two tone, though. Hmmm...
Yeah, good point on the idea of saving the factory grille by keeping it original, as I have the factory one on. It has one crack by the hood latch, which has been saved by JB Weld. The chrome is flaking off of it at some spots, but I could probably have it re chromed. These aftermarket ones w/o the DODGE letters are affordable enough, so I'll keep that in mind if I decide to paint the grille. See, I would have never considered that. Thanks, Besonderes!

 

Hey, Hillbilly, how about a close up pic of the later gen mirrors you got on your rig, especially at the point of connection? Just caught that. That looks good, too. Is the connection solid, as if it came that way factory?

 

Like this?
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...n-pics-150798/

 

Not being able to open the vent window fully so it directs the fresh air [and bees] right at me kills the plan, but that is just me.
I don't run A/C here in VT, so those vent windows are awesome on a hot day.

 

I'll get some tonight when I get back to the shop, I did use the link mknittle posted as reference, and Oliver is correct. Wing windows only open halfway projecting the air directly across the dash.

The mount is solid, but my braces in the door are broken, so at high speed, or in high winds, the outer door skin shakes and causes the mirrors to shake.

As for the flares, bushwacker only sells them in a set of four, for our trucks. So I've got the rear set just taking up space. If ever decide to put a regular bed on I guess I have them.

 

there is a guy over on cf.com that did those mirrors on his truck and can still open his vent windows. he's a custom auto fabricator by trade though, username is Rokcrin, can't find the thread now

 

Same here, I like dodging bees. it keeps me awake.

 

That would be interesting to see. Was he the guy that fabbed them up to mount in place of the factory mirror? I saw a post some where that a guy did it that way but don't remember where I found it.

 

That guy is a really good fabricator. He lives in Winters or somewhere close. about 60 miles from here.

 

Any suggestions/ tips to my other inquiries leading up to a paint job? Only gonna have a one shot deal at this, and don't want to go in newbied, if you know what I mean. Can you imagine paint flaking off the gel coat cab drivin down the freeway?

 

Gyman used a GM style black molding on his crew cab (the orange and black one). It looks factory.
I have one of those Lund visors on my 85 W350. It will block the sun somewhat. But what I find it does a better job is blocking traffic signals when I am the 1st or 2nd vehicle to the line. It came on the truck when I bought it, so it will stay. It does look good, especially on a reg cab. I have one that is made for a club cab/crew cab roof profile, but since my crew has no holes in its roof, I will be keeping it that way. I guess the visor will just stay stashed in the garage.

 

If I were to do these mirrors on another truck, I'd make the brackets look a little nicer. But here is what I ended up with. I also put the additional support piece they sell to stiffen up he mount on he early 2nd gens between the mirror and my mount. I don't know if that made a difference or not.