Chrome Wheels

Hot dawg I got new wheels. Surprisingly they make good looking wheels for 8-lug hubs. They are even fairly economical.  I found Custom Wheels Direct and ordered a set. Just a simple eight spoke chrome model. As I am learning nothing I order is ever in stock and they have to “Manufacture” them. I think there is a conspiracy going on.  The salesperson says it should only take about ten days for them to be prepared and then they will ship them on a cargo freighter going through the Panama Canal.

Well as you know there is still plenty to keep me busy, still no springs.

Check out my ride!



Leaf Spring Order Update

As you know the leaf springs were ordered weeks ago from Posies, they gave me a lead time of eight weeks because they had to manufacture the rear springs. The “lowered” springs for a ¾ ton truck are not a stock item. “Manufacture” is car parts code for “it is going to cost you more”. While longer than I wanted, there really wasn’t any other option and I figured it would take that long to get the frame in order anyway. I was correct about the time needed on the frame, but I won’t be able to piddle around on one component this long again, not if I want to finish in my lifetime.

About seven weeks out I started calling Posies to get a status on the springs. The first few times the representative said he would get with Manufacturing and call me back with a schedule. I did not get any callbacks and figured the delay was due to the shackle bushings being made in Japan and due to the recent Tsunami, the plant was wiped out. Yeah for the global supply chain.

When I suggested this scenario to Posies they very quickly and proudly informed me that “all parts were made in the good old USA”. Okay, but when is Manufacturing getting off their break and going to make something?

Near as I can tell from the information they will tell me, Posies needed to manufacture both the front and rear leaf springs, and choose this time as an opportunity to improve their overall manufacturing process. This I gather is not going so well.  Still no date, but I am moving on to the brakes and have plenty of things to keep me busy. In fact, I have to focus on individual steps in the process because the whole project can feel like those videos in Japan where the Tsunami overruns everything.

Dale came by this weekend and we put the final top coat on the frame. Check it off the list! It sure looks good. I even attached the spring bumpers to the frame. There is nothing like a spring day in Alabama, Sunday afternoon listening to Salsa music, and putting new parts on your truck. Heaven.

Painting and Brake Preparation

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.

Frame and Suspension Parts Preparation

It was a good weekend, even with a small setback. The weather was cooperating and I had my list of goals; prep the rear end, prep the suspension parts, make sure I had ordered all the suspension parts I needed, and put the top coat on the frame.

Dale called Saturday morning and said he could help with the painting.  We checked out the frame and much to our dismay a few rivets on the front had rust showing.  This was the part of the frame that got wet from the week’s rain.  We ended up using Eastwoods Rust Inhibitor Primer to cover it.  In looking at the frame it was just too dusty to paint, we needed to degrease and dry it before we put on the top coat.  Since we had a 55 gallon drum of primer we thought – what the heck, let’s put on another coat of primer and then top coat it. What else can we do to make this part of the project longer!

After the prep work we took a break for lunch, thank you so much Chef Stephanie.  During the lunch conversation, I mentioned that we were putting one more coat of primer on.  Stephanie calmly turned and looked directly at Dale and asked “Was this your idea”?  This was an unnecessary delay according to her schedule and when momma is not happy, no one is happy.  Well we explained the technical intricacies of why we just could not paint over a messy primer coat surly she would understand.  We did not get any desert after lunch.

When we put on the original primer coat we had the diesel compressor which had unlimited air supply, so the spray gun had about a four inch pattern, sweet.  Now with our Handy Man compressor at 5 CFM we had to use Dale’s specialty gun. It has a pattern about the size of a silver dollar.  Makes me appreciate the “Manly” equipment.

After we finished the “last” primer coat, we immediately began the memory test and chemistry part of the process.  How long do we wait before we can paint over the primer?  Well I being the engineer, read the primer tech sheet. At a temperature of 60, the drying time was 30 minutes, awesome.  That’s when Dale pointed out this was 60 degrees Celsius, which just for the record, is the temperature of the center of the Sun! Well at 68 degrees Fahrenheit, it takes 8 hours to dry.  Not good. That was the chemistry part now for the memory part - what did Tony the paint technician tell us?  After a few hours we remembered he said we could put the top coat on in 30 minutes, back in business.

Henry helps a lot, man’s best friend.

Now for the first big setback of the project.  We are ready, we have all the correct paint gun paraphernalia, the paint (another gallon of paint for about an ounce of area to spray), the hardener, and even reducer (translation for construction painters, “thinner”).  It is important to use different terms for the same thing.  This way you keep the riffraff out and justify the higher price.

As the master paint mixer, I have the paint cup with the “certified” scale, so that I am sure to get the ratios correct.  This is chemistry after all.  In goes the 8 units of top coat paint, next is the 1 unit of hardener.  Dale had a can of the proper harder, I asked if I needed to shake it and Dale said maybe a little, so I gave it a shake and it felt like some liquid was in the can.  Next I took the cap of and began to pour. The can was upside down and nothing was coming out. The hardener had hardened in the can to the tune of about a one inch layer over the remaining liquid.  We pounded with a screw driver, nothing.  We need more Man-Power, let’s use the drill.  So I get out a ½ inch wood bit, chuck it up in the drill motor and begin the operation.  I am pushing with about 60 pounds of force, nothing.  Now I am at 100 pounds of force.  Finally it succumbs to the Man Force and not only does it go through the top layer, but the bottom of the can as well.  Yes Virginia, there was liquid hardener in the can and it is now pouring out onto the workbench.  Quickly we grab it and get 1 unit into the paint.  Then…..

Time stops and Dale and I look at each other and say, “we can’t use it”.  Neither of us knows the effect of the hardener hardening up on the chemical process, so there is a good possibility that it won’t react properly with the paint.  Therefore if we used it and it did not work, it would be hell to get it off the frame.  No desert for a month! Better to wait a week and put on the top coat once we get fresh hardener.  Bummer.

I had a wonderful Sunday, went for a bike ride, changed, got my coffee and out to the Man Garage.  I started with the cerebral activities first, making sure I had all the suspension parts and checking that I had ordered all the replacement parts that were needed.  I did find out that all the previous restoration enthusiasts before me we correct. “Take lots of pictures”.  In looking at the catalogs there was a spring bumper that I could not remember how it went on.  A quick look at the pictures taken during the break down and everything was clear. Thank you for the good advice.  I collected all the suspension parts and am ready to go.

I was not sure how I was going to clean the small suspension parts, i.e. front spindle, shock mount, tie bar, shackles, etc.  Meet my friend the wire brush.  This worked wonders taking off all the rust and gunk.  Next was a coat of the rust inhibiting primer and life was good.

Lastly I took on the rear end. Scraped and brushed off the rust and gunk and then drained the fluid.  Now for the hard part, the shop guide has the instructions for the inspection and rebuild of the rear end but I know I don’t have the tools or skill to take this on. I am going to ask for advice on the Stovebolt forum.

All in all a good two days and am looking forward to next weekend. Just a reminder, I have added a gadget to the blog that sends you an email notification when I make a new post. Sign up if you want the notification.

Happy Day.

Email Subscription

Since most of the work on this project occurs on the weekend and often, due to weather and work, not every weekend, I wanted to be able to send out an email notice that an update was posted.  Feedburner provides this service. If you enter your email in the box on the right you will receive the notices.  It's not mandatory, if you don't want the email, just view the blog when you choose to.

I do expect to work on it this weekend, so you will get an update Sunday night.

Enjoy

Brimmer

February 27, 2011 The frame is painted (primed)

What a week, who said this would be easy! Actually no one did.

The moon and the planets were aligning up for us to blast and paint the frame this weekend. I was going to be out for the next couple of weeks so it was this week or much later, Dale was going to guide a kayaking trip but there was not enough rain to provide enough water (yeah), the temperature finally was going to be 65 degrees and no rain. All set to go.

During the week I went to FinishMasters to buy the paint. As I am a construction person, not an automotive person  I thought primer would be $30 a gallon, for the good stuff.  “You are not in Kansas anymore”.  Car primer is $150 dollars a gallon even with the Dr. Culpepper discount and you need an activator to boot.  Tony at the paint shop was very helpful and gave me much needed advice.

Friday I had to leave work early to get the commercial air compressor that we were going to use for the blasting.  It is a huge orange diesel air compressor.  Dale backed the compressor into the driveway and we were set for the morning.

Also, picked up a commercial grade blaster since my Barbie home blaster didn’t really have the ability to handle the large grit size needed to get the job done.

We were originally going to use sand but learned that we would die if we used it. Silicosis is real and deadly, so we used coal slag from Black Diamond. I had two bags of blast media which I thought would do the deed and have some left over.  Dale suggested that we might need a little more media. We ended up using about 20 bags and recycled that about 3 times.

As you can see everything looks neat and tidy – before the chaos starts

Blasting is like magic when it is working!  It is like you have a light saber and the rust just disappears. There is nothing like the bare clean steel.

I am sure we made all the rookie mistakes and with a rental blaster our light saber was more like a flashlight on low batteries.  We used the big nozzle, then the small nozzle, then the big nozzle.  We put in one bag of media, then one and a half, then three bags.  We shook the blaster, we rubbed it, we cursed it, we gave it chocolate, but we could not really figure it out

You have not lived until you have seen 80 pounds of media pour out the hose like Linda Blair in the Exorcist.

At one point we forgot to close the garage door and well, everyone should experience Mount St. Helens in your garage.

You cannot imagine how tired and dirty you can get fighting a 50 pound hose spewing grit at 90 PSI and unlimited flow.

Eventually we did make progress and got the frame prepared for priming. A quick clean up and a spray of water to hold down the dust and we were ready to go.

It is a tough transition to go from single minded blaster to a German paint technician. This is why we split the duties. I am the blaster, Dale is the scientist.

The other issue was we started the painting process at 4:30 pm, only an hour of light left.   But, Alabama has high humidity and the rust was close behind us. We had to get the primer on the fresh metal.

Here is another construction vs. automotive conundrum.  Why don’t automotive paint cans have handles? Also when you pour the paint into the measuring container, can you use a brush to wipe off the can and clean out the paint in the rim?  But you don’t use brushes on the cars?

Good advice from Tony, measure the paint and activater, don’t guess.

Painting went very well; the primer went on easily and cleanly. The only problem we had was that the paint cup fell off a few times. We painted the top, let it dry, then flipped over the frame and painted the bottom. The last coat was done by the light of a flashlight. 

Turns out it worked.  We blasted and primed the front axle, runningboard bracket, and rear shackle hanger the next day. Then we ran out of energy, toto completo.

We thought we had to put the top coat over the primer within a day, due to the primer hardening up, but Tony said that didn’t happen with the epoxy primer we used, so we can put the top coat on later. Thank goodness.  Done for now.  My suspension parts should be delivered soon, so next is rebuilding the suspension.

When I was researching the blasting process, I came across a blog where the person said they blasted their frame and it worked out well, but that they would not do it again. Put my vote in this category.

War Eagle – Roll Tide

February 20, 2011 Back in the Saddle

Progress has been slow.  The winter snow and work has taken much of my spare time.  We will not be deterred and are moving forward. Dale and I spent Saturday completely cleaning the frame.  It is ready to media blast and paint.  Used the wire brush, degreaser, and pressure washer to finish the prep work.  We even turned the frame over, just the two of us, whoohoo.  It is primo.  I can’t tell you how well the degreaser worked. Chemicals are magical.

Purchased a 10X16 portable car port. The neighbor is not so happy about it but is great to protect the truck from the weather.

Brian came by and did some fill in welding on the rear shock absorber mounts. Looks like the rear shocks were loose and wore out a half inch groove in the mounts.  Don’t have the original picture but they are all fixed.  Thanks so much Brian.

I purchased a lot of parts from Classic Chevy parts; king pin rebuild set, new drag link, differential housing gasket, brake cylinder rebuild kits, brake line clips, master cylinder rebuild kit, and side running board insert.  It is fun getting the new parts. Can’t wait to start rebuilding.

Finally got the front suspension disassembled and it is now ready to rebuild.  It took tremendous pounding to get the kingpins out.  A two pound sledge and steel drift were persuasive. The axel pins and knuckle are degreased and de rusted.  The only front suspension parts left to get is the tie rod end components.  It turns out that a ¾ ton truck has special parts that are harder to get than the ½ ton truck. Live and learn.

Cleaned the steering box.

Blasting and Painting in the next two weeks!!!

Happy Day