No work on the truck last weekend, the whole family went to Atlanta for Furry Weekend Atlanta. This story will be covered later in the Twilight Zone edition.
I took Friday afternoon off to get a head start on the work, with daylight savings time I will have plenty of light to work. The goal was to finish painting the frame this weekend. Earlier in the week I went to Finishmaster to get a fresh can of Hardener. Got that and thought some sort of preparation rinse would help. The technician told me the proper method of use, which was to rub on over a one or two foot area and while it is still wet, wipe it off with a dry cloth. This is because the solvent dissolves the oils, but if you let it dry they will still be there and settle back onto the surface.
The temperature was perfect, so the first step was to sweep up the dust and clean the frame. I rinsed it with water, toweled it dry, and used the air nozzle to blow the remaining water off. Now for the prep rinse which gave me visions of The Karate Kid getting instructions by Mr. Miyagi. I wiped down a small area and it evaporated instantly, so much for collecting the suspended oil particles before they reformed back onto the frame. After some experimentation I found that if I used a very wet cloth in one hand and dried it up immediately with a cloth in the other hand, it worked – “rub on, rub off - Hai Sensei!
Now for my first solo painting job. Everything when as planned, set up the equipment, measured and mixed the paint, put it in the paint cup, tested the spray gun and adjusted it, perfect. Started spraying and everything seemed to be going well, that is until a big drop of paint landed on the frame – where did that come from? Turns out the paint cup did not make a good seal to the gun and paint was oozing out. No problem, I used a paper towel to plug the dike and was back in business.
This is where I find out I am putting on too much paint and am getting sag lines. Basically when you get too much of a good thing, like paint, well it sags. I think you ladies will know what I am talking about. Another round of gun adjustments, spraying farther away from the frame, keeping the pressure up, and life is good. I finished in about two and a half hours, start to finish. Good time, even painted the front axle and other suspension parts.
What about the sag lines? My first thought was to start over, blast, prime, and then paint it again. Ha ha, not really. I had a quick debate with myself over this and used the “nobody will ever see the frame” card, so let it go Alice.
With the frame drying I started working on the brake subsystem. The weather went south on Saturday and Sunday, leaving me to work on the brakes the rest of the weekend. I pulled out all the neatly stored brake parts and started cleaning. It was a highly coordinated three pronged assault, scrape of the gunk, put the parts in the rust remover solvent, and close the deal with the Wire Brush.
I had been a little careless with the wire brush, the few times it caught on the part and went over my gloved hand, nothing happened. But, when it slipped, rolled up my arm, and got stuck in my polar fleece coat - that hurt. I am much more careful now.
I was making big time progress cleaning the parts. Nothing could be better than working in the Man Garage on Sunday afternoon, polishing my nuts. Stop that - look at the picture! They are as good as new.
My challenge for the weekend was the master cylinder outlet nut and the brake drum set screws. These were frozen and I could not get them loose on Saturday. Liquid Wrench to the rescue, after soaking them with the solvent overnight, they broke loose. Chemistry saves the day again.
I had a brief discussion with my OSHA and spiritual advisor, Dale, about my progress rebuilding the old master cylinder. The two agencies he represented strongly advised me to reconsider and use a dual reservoir master cylinder. Prudent advice I must admit, however, earlier in the day I had a discussion with the family CFO about “controlling expenses” and did I think this was a big government defense contract, or what. When she said she might polish my nuts if I didn’t slow down, I opted for the more economical route of rebuilding the old master cylinder.
All in all a good weekend, I see more three day weekends as the weather starts to warm up. I just hope with all this polishing I don’t go blind. Rub on – rub off.
Enjoy.
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