Redneck Truck- Paint & Modification

I started this project with a stock green 96 Dodge Dakota. Nothing redneck about it, but with a full bed liner paint job and a few mods i get redneck comments and looks constantly

Modification list:
- Full truck bed liner paint job
- Expanded metal grille
- Hood pins (rednecks love hood pins) 
- Floodlights
- Shaved door handles

The first thing i did was take off all the vinyl on the side of the truck as well as the fender flares and bug deflector. I used a flatbar and a scraper for the vinyl. The flares and bug deflector just have a few screws holding them on 
 
Since im using bed liner to paint the whole truck sanding was minimal, just enough to scuff the clear coat so it will stick well. 

The bed liner i used was Duplicolor Bed Armor  made with kevlar. It came with a 1 gallon can of bed armor, a roller and brushes.

Once the whole body of the truck is scuffed up and free of any sanding dust or oil, roll or brush on the first coat. The great thing about this paint job is that no matter how you put it on its almost impossible to do it wrong because the end result is an abrasive finish. i did two coats just to be safe, I also bought a can of sprayable Bed Armor for hard to reach areas.

Overall this paint job only cost $120 and it gets alot more looks than any stock paint

Rednecks love hood pins, of course there was no real need for these until i cut out all the latching and hood release, but they look awesome and there easy to install. The only things needed are a few measuring tools and a drill with a 1/2 bit

Step 1 - measure and mark out the placement under the hood .

Step 2 - Drill your holes under the hood first and bolt on your hood pins.

Step 3 - Close the hood and mark where the hood pins will come through.

Step 4 - drill through the hood and everything should line up when you close it.
 
Step 5 - Install the plate over the hole in the hood and adjust the height of the pins so the hole for the actual pin is level with the plates when you close the hood  

Adding cables to hold the pins is optional but being a redneck i have tons of galvanized cable laying around and i think it completes the look

This was an easy  install just cut to fit once the old plastic excuse for a grille is out and use a couple self tapping screws to secure in place rather than messing around with clips 

The floodlights were simple as well measure where you want them, drill a few holes and they just bolt on 




more mods to come soon