Giving My Truck Topper A Makeover!

[@ronthompson2366]

Lol... your daughter is darling. Brought back some good memories. Truck and canopy are great. It's all coming together one step at a time. Now is the good times putting all the pieces together and with each you get the " wow " factor.

[@johnpyle8027]

I love your tenacity in working by yourself and work arounds handling bulky large objects. I was in a car accident in 85 and broke my back and have used a wheelchair since then, but I am still a car/truck/tractor/DIY guy regardless. I have built/contracted and rehabbed a few houses over the last 35 years. I finished restoring a 1984 John Deere 430 Diesel Garden tractor about a year or two ago. I used the heck out of the old Harbor Freight engine hoist to get things at a good level for me to get to. I have fabbed a few 3 point implements for it since it has front and rear hydraulics. My next venture is to build a front-end loader for it. Maybe this summer. My icon pic is the tractor. I forgot your truck had that shell! I can't wait to see it lifted with some meats on it. Please please use a wheel that gives you a nice sidewall, no Balonga skins! lol My F-150 has a 4" lift kit with 35s on 17" wheels. It looks good, but if they would have cleared the rotors I would have good old 15s on it. I'm just a middle aged guy old school, you have good taste and I am sure it will be very nice like the others you have done. Keep plugging away!

[@travismiller9213]

I’ve seen that exact same look from my daughter. Hilarious! Nice work on the canopy.

[@richmill6043]

Looking great! You painting skills have gone up an up! Doing your own work and learning do's and dont's has you doing great work on your vehicle. Enjoying your vids! Thanks Austin.

[@austinniemela]

Awesome thank you!!

[@MrDan1509]

That turned out awesome, nice job!

[@johnlynn4945]

Austin, what a great truck and awesome paint. Love your work man! Wish I lived near you (I’m in Jersey), I would love to have you build and paint a truck for me. Thanks for the videos, really enjoy your work!

[@nosam5k]

Looking good! Looks like you have that paint booth dialed in a bit better than in the beginning as well. Great content! 👍

[@austinniemela]

Yeah seems a bit better. Thanks!

[@carni6319]

I'm not afraid of maintenance or mechanical upgrades on my 5th gen 4Runner. But after watching this series, if I ever have it painted I'll be taking it to a pro. What a ton of time, work and money you've put into this. You'll reap the benefits on future projects for sure. Nice work man.

[@monkeybarmonkeyman]

Jess Remember says you get what you pay for so prepare to dig deep if you do!

[@neffwai]

That looks sick bro definitely getting your painting skills down

[@norcoredneck]

I am shocked. You do actually do work other that total perfection. 😜

[@ssampson572]

I was gonna say that touch up will cover it other than that I think you got that paint tuned brother.. you'll learn lil tricks as you go.. you got this one in the bag.. good job bud.

[@austinniemela]

Thanks man!!

[@WeaselBurrito]

3rd brake light is pretty cheap on ebay. Half the LEDs in mine stopped working so I just replaced it a few months ago. And as you found out, they don't come out in one piece. It comes with a wiring tail on it long enough to get down to the bed of the truck.

[@retiredppd]

Ha, I would do that to my girls when they were her age. I would also drive into deep water and stop ,then tell them we had to swim from here. Good times.

[@mrm4155]

Looks good, it’s all comin together !

[@MadjikMan56]

I have the same Snugtop Super Sport topper on my 1st gen double cab. The struts that came on it don't lift the glass high enough so I was constantly walking my face into it.... especially that death trap of a pop lock mechanism. The original struts are Suspa's C16-06874. For liability reasons this is the only strut Snugtop will sell you or recommend. So I did some research on Suspa's website and found the C16-33313. Same body length and same force but 1.6" longer. Now my glass raises at a much higher angle, without any rubbing on the rear frame, no extra force on the mounting brackets, etc. Strut Specs: C16-06874 (factory): Center-to-Center Length Extended: 17.1" Center-to-Center Length Compressed: 10.8" Force: 40 lbs C16-33313 (better): Center-to-Center Length Extended: 18.7" Center-to-Center Length Compressed: 10.8" Force: 40 lbs

[@austinniemela]

Great info! ill look into that!! Thanks

[@MadjikMan56]

@@austinniemela Glad I could offer something in return for that template you emailed me. Cheers!

[@danbarnes7633]

Great work as always. Not sure I would have bothered and just kept the topper off the truck. I want to see you restore a 1st gen 4runner.

[@seancummings6379]

I would definitely like to see what he does with a first gen!

[@joeb9793]

Topper came out nice, but I can’t believe you left those old, leaky rails on the top. In my opinion the job would have come out so much cleaner with them removed. But that’s just my opinion. Really like your videos. Keep ‘em coming.

[@Max-ik9qb]

The white spots are probably contamination in the fiberglass which the chemicals from the paint somehow pulled to the surface. Nice to see you shooting full length strokes! Shell looks awesome. As for re-shooting the truck i'd walk away from that one real fast if it were mine but it ain't so do you brother!

[@user-ft2md2gd4s]

this is looking great. i’m wondering your plans on bumper, wheels, +

[@billocampo1365]

Looking great..what's next, front and rear bumper or did you already built them..

[@austinniemela]

Yeah bumpers and a lift!

[@zombiecrow92]

Idk why but i imagined you'd paint it black. It would bring contrast but i like that color too.

[@chasemcmurray3737]

You should build that white f350

[@CB-hr6zs]

Good stuff bro loving the content

[@austinniemela]

Thanks!

[@diyjeff1838]

Nice work!! Isn't there a special paint you need for fiberglass?

[@tomswindler64]

Great video.keep doing what your doing 👍👍👍😎😎😎

[@bigmackstruckstop9213]

Looking good brotha nice toyota tacoma truck

[@angelorhodes6848]

What type of paint did you use? What brand name paint?

[@wanderingwithpennies147]

Hey Austin, the rails were most likely leaking into the camper and that’s why they put the silicone in. You might have water leak issues in the future.

[@austinniemela]

Yes I’m going to seal them back up

[@phatteus]

I like that you do not have every machine and tool imaginable and yet make cool shit. Nice work. So do you sell this stuff or just have a huge arsenal of vehicles?

[@austinniemela]

Thanks! I sell some of them but yeah I have a car lot as well haha

[@kflo1219]

We call those camper shells in the south…lol tomato, tomáto🤷🏻‍♂️

[@billocampo1365]

How big is your property ?

[@thomashopper3705]

Yessir new vid

[@gamadielsis3727]

How can I contact to fix my truck

[@frediefarmer]

👍🏽🇺🇸👍🏽

[@mg1110]

Would have loved to see those old rails removed... That's something I would regret every time I look at the topper.

[@tradeMark182]

Here

[@thomasmitchell6921]

Please wear ear protection