Merrill's 4G64 DOHC.

[Merrill]

You might be wondering why my mu Build Schedule decal has a "DONE" sticker over the Interior section.... Here is why it is on there.

I finished my door cards which classifies the interior as done. I also dyed the carpet black (no pics) for now because I don't want to buy new carpet at the moment. The driveshaft tunnel will have to be modded once phase 2 of the chassis gets done, so depending on how much I have to cut, will determine what I do with the carpet. I may have to have it custom made.

These door cards are 6061-T6 aluminum, 0.063" thick. The process is pretty frigging simple. I'll let the pics demonstrate, but if you have a question - just ask

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Instead of buying the fancy eBay decorator washers, I made mine. There are 2 reasons why I went this route - 1: I don't like the squared edge of the eBay ones, 2: I don't want anyones name/brand on them. I know they are available blank, but I like my style better.

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In case you were wondering how to perfectly place screws into a door that has plastic push rivets in it, here is the answer

Riv-nuts.
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All I did was place them in the exact same location as the factory holes for the plastic rivets. Very simple.

There are a ton of uses for these, and I always suggest (if you are going to use these) buying a good rivet gun. These rivet guns are very specific to the Riv-Nut install. If you are spending 50 bucks or more on a gun, you have most likely bought a good one. The cheap ass ones usually bend, install the rivnut crooked, break on the first use, snap the mandrel clean off, and all kinds of other fails since it takes a lot of strength and force to squeeze one in place (unless it is aluminum). Save yourself the time and money and buy a good one first. You can either buy a few $30 ones, or buy a good one only once for $50.

The armrests were the other part of this door card. It looks pretty silly with nothing there
Again, really simple - if you have any questions - please ask.

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The upholstery was really simple as well. I just used the old door card to make the upholstered pad base.

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Voila!

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I used vinyl instead of leather on the arm rests.... I just couldn't justify the price to wrap in leather... It is a much higher quality vinyl (it's the $20/yard roll instead of the $5/yard roll), so it still blends nicely with the seats.

You may notice there is an insert behind the door handle trim. I had to add this since the new aluminum door card is half the thickness of the factory wood one. This left a gap behind the handle trim that looked terrible. The two inserts are done, and painted, but not installed yet since the truck is at the body shop getting banged out and painted. I'll update later on these.

FINALLY - the truck is at the body shop! It is getting banged out, blocked, and shot with flat white paint. I officially dropped it off yesterday, paid my deposit, and eagerly await the finished result..... I told the guys there that I need the truck back no later than July 1st. so I can finish the last minute pieces before MOD.

Here is all the before shots at the body shop when I dropped it off.

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They have a lot of work to get done on it. This is the first time in many MANY years I have had someone else paint my ride. I am nervous, but comfortable since this shop has been in Vegas longer than I have (and I'm a native ).

This should help explain why I chose flat paint instead of some typical shiny shit....
Take a look at the door card with the logos on it...
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There are ZERO effects applied to this pic. Notice the difference between the shadow and the light. The decals are gloss vinyl, while the door card is flat white. The logos literally pop off the door card like 3D. Since this is a shop truck bguilt to race and promote (as well as work for us), it will be slapped with our shop decals. I want the decals to pop against the paint exactly as they do in the pic above.

The other reason for using a flat paint is simple - I don't want any other ride to be seen when you look at mine. I want zero distractions, reflected landscape, sun blinding bling, or any other reflection visible in my paint. I want my truck to be seen completely in a stack of other cars. Flat/matte paint will do exactly that - show nothing but my truck.

That's all I got for now. As soon as the truck comes back, I'll update the rest and the missing stuff. I welcome all questions or comments, but please - make sure you aren't asking a question I already answered I know some of you read these like PlayBoy (only looking at pics), but I try to give all the info I can here if you would just read it hahaha.

[BradMph]

I know some of you read these like PlayBoy (only looking at pics)

Where are the Boobies?
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Now with the Merrill Performance stickers all over the truck it turns the build into a tax write off for the company and advertises as a mobile billboard. Nice little loop hole to save yourself a bit of cash.