Kevin began his metal sculpturing quest with dedication and determination of creating the worlds most beautiful Ford Ute ever to be built. The body was stripped down to bare metal and then evaluated. There were some areas that needed extra attention but for the most part, the body was in pretty good condition. The Ute's profile was altered by chopping and raking the roof 3 inches in the front and 2 inches in the rear. Not wanting to turn the rear window into a mail slot, the original height was preserved by taking the 2-inch chop from underneath the rear window. The doors were cut off at their bottoms to allow proper clearance of the front fenders when they were opened. A pair of custom rocker panels were fabricated and fitted between the doors and custom-made fiberglass running boards were grafted. The body was channeled 3 inches. The four-way opening hood was welded, shaved, and smoothed at the top. Then the sides were cut off, allowing the top portion to be hinged and the sides to be removed. The hood sides and front inner fenders were louvered for style and function. Kevin cheese grated 4 inches off the bottom of the '36 Ford grille, then massaged it back to shape to fit between the front fenders. The Rocky Mountain door hinges deliver both strength and precision pivot points as the doors open and close. A pair of Bear Claw latches maintain a continuous grip when the doors are closed and release freely on command. Kevin created a wooden buck to form the aluminum tonneau cover. A pair of aerodynamic Prowler side mirrors provide Paul with plenty of rear peripheral vision.
After numerous man-hours of body mods and preparation, DuPont sanding primer was applied. Kevin performed endless hours of block sanding to achieve perfectly straight and smooth body surfaces. After the final block-sanding session, Kevin applied a DuPont sealer coat to the primer. The Ute body was then rolled into Gerald's paint booth while the doors, hood, side skirts, and tonneau cover were hung and laid on fixtures. Kevin wiped down the surfaces with DuPont degreaser and tack rags. After masking and draping the body and hood side skirts, Kevin prepared the first DuPont color, Chrysler Prowler Silver, which was applied to the lower portion of the body, fenders, doors, and hood side skirts. Then the DuPont Lime Green broad pinstripe was masked and sprayed. This was followed by the DuPont Mid-tone Gray graphic line below the green, and finally the Amethyst purple was applied. After letting the colors cure, Kevin then applied eight coats of clear, wet sanding between each coat to acquire endless depths of the colors.
A custom fabricated one-piece,...
A custom fabricated one-piece, aluminum tonneau cover, is activated remotely by a handheld key fob.
The one-piece smoothed bed...
The one-piece smoothed bed eliminates the tailgate. A set of four 2000 Corvette taillights were inserted into the custom cone-shaped pods. The bed rear panel corners and edges were radiused while the bedside panels angled to the same profile angle as the rear fenders. The license plate was frenched into the rear bed panel while the 18x2-inch polished stainless steel exhaust tip was notched in under the rear bed panel.
A very stylish custom wraparound...
A very stylish custom wraparound fiberglass dash houses A/C vents plush white leather panels are accented with gray fabric inserts.