But your idea of hanging the tank from the crane is inspired, so we'll call that one a win.
That made it so much easier and more effective. I suspected I was going to hurt my back doing it manually and mounting it on the engine hoist was so much easier and more effective to the point I had to wear ear defenders as the noise was horrendous as the bolts slid back and forwards. Putting the blow gun down the tank sender hole resulted in a choking cloud of rust dust coming out the filler neck so it is definitely working.
It's been a few weeks and well overdue an update. Too much for one post so will start with bringing the fuel tank saga up to date. First pic is the totally blocked fuel pickup pipe from inside the tank. I cut out the bottom of the tank around the outside of the spot welds which held the gauze filter and pipe and that was that removed. For the outlet pipe I ran a suitable size drill bit down the pipe and that fell into the tank.
I then cut a suitable length of new copper pipe and brazed that onto the original piece I cut out of the tank but with it lifted up slightly so in future it hopefully would not suck all the crap from the bottom of the tank.
The new copper pipe was left a few inches longer than necessary which made it surprisingly easy to feed it into the tank and out the hole where the original pipe. The plate was then mig welded back onto place. Not very pretty bit the metal was quite thin. The hole I have left at the right hand side is because I was concerned I would catch the new pipe with the mig and didn't want to either make a hole in it or possibly weld it shut. This will be brazed when I also braze the pipe where it exits the tank.
I will probably dress the welds down slightly and then flood it with solder just to be sure there are no pin holes although the tank will be getting with something like the Frost or Eastwood tank sealing kit which should take care of that. An inline filter will be fitted in place of the gauze in tank filter.
The fuel tank will be continued over the weekend. Meanwhile the drive shafts were stripped, cleaned, greased and assembled with ne outer gaiters. A splash of paint after that and I just need to rub some wet and dry over the flange where the diff seal runs. Pain in the butt that you have to strip the outer cv boot off from the inner end so the inner joint has to come off first. The metal cap which the inner boot is attached to has to be carefully opened up with a small chisel and then slid off the outer joint.
To get the outer joint off you just remove the circlip and with a blunt chisel tap the spider off the shaft. it is best to put tape around this first to prevent it flying apart which can happen.
That leaves this.
The outer boot can then be slid down the length of the shaft and the new one fitted with fresh grease.
Then replace the outer joint with fresh grease and gently tap to peen the the outer casing over and you end up with 2 shafts ready to fit.
A few small components cleaned and painted. Corrosion cleaned from handbrake warning switch and contact grease applied. Handbrake and mounting ready to refit.
Bottom section of steering column painted and new coupling fitted as the old one was well past being useable.
Other pics are on the phone which doesn't want to connect at present so more later. Cheers.
Continuing with the small parts preparation the battery tray which was a mixture of corrosion , paint and what looked like underseal was wire brushed, scraped and dipped in muriatic acid until it looked reasonable. I t was then given 2 coats of Hydrate 80, scuffed down and then 2 coats of Hammerite Smooth. Looks presentable and can hardly be seen when fitted.
The rear number plate sits on a plinth which was in poor condition. That also received the acid treatment followed by welded repairs, Upol fantastic filler, Hydrate 80 then high build primer and finally satin black. It is only the outer 10mm or so that is visible once the plate is fitted so happy with that.
I don't have one for the front but have found a supplier in France who will do a stainless steel one for €10 so just need to check the UK/French plate sizes to make sure it fits. My Reg number is only 6 digits so should be ok.
I am still working on lots of bits and pieces at home but now with the slightly warmer weather (12 degrees in the spray booth/tent today) and with my idea of getting someone to paint the car being a non starter I am back on the spray gun. I really wanted to paint it myself for the satisfaction of saying I did it all myself from beginning to end. So with a bit of online messaging coaching from Chris it was back on with some painting.
A door and a wing were first to be abused.
A better finish achieved this time on the door.
And the inevitable avalanche although it did rub out easily enough.
A decent shine on the osf wing too with just a couple of small runs to flat back.
The osf wing was not so good with a monster sag in a difficult position so might have to paint that again.
I would have been happier without the runs but happy enough at the moment.
Assuming you see this Chris I am starting with P600 wet and dry to flat the runs back and any areas of orange peel and will then progress to P1500, P2000 and maybe P3000. Does that sound about right for direct to gloss paint then machine polish. Thanks.
Post by grumpynorthener on Jun 20, 2024 8:55:52 GMT
Ray - 600's is ok to take the bulk of run out but you have to be careful with polishing through the surrounding areas of paint - follow by 1500 then machine polish - I wouldn't bother with the 2000 / 3000
I am still working on lots of bits and pieces at home but now with the slightly warmer weather (12 degrees in the spray booth/tent today) and with my idea of getting someone to paint the car being a non starter I am back on the spray gun. I really wanted to paint it myself for the satisfaction of saying I did it all myself from beginning to end. So with a bit of online messaging coaching from Chris it was back on with some painting.
A door and a wing were first to be abused.
A better finish achieved this time on the door.
And the inevitable avalanche although it did rub out easily enough.
A decent shine on the osf wing too with just a couple of small runs to flat back.
The osf wing was not so good with a monster sag in a difficult position so might have to paint that again.
I would have been happier without the runs but happy enough at the moment.
Assuming you see this Chris I am starting with P600 wet and dry to flat the runs back and any areas of orange peel and will then progress to P1500, P2000 and maybe P3000. Does that sound about right for direct to gloss paint then machine polish. Thanks.
I'd be very happy with that if I'd done it, great work!
A bit more done today after spending about 6 hours flatting back previously painted panels with P600 and them P1500 Ventilation grille, boot lid, the second door and a repaint/ blow in of the wing where i rubbed through. Ventilation grille was an afterthought as there was some paint left in the gun. It had already been painted but had dirt in it so a quick scuff down and then paint. It was very warm today and luckily I went with standard hardener rather than fast so the paint in the pot survived long enough. Eventually got home just before 8 so a long day.
Still can't call myself a painter but the results are getting better and with a little work the end result will be fine. ( I hope )
Have had a bit of a rest from driving out to the car as I was getting tired. (I will be 70 in a few months and starting to feel it now) So, a few more small things done at home in between working in the garden.
The assisters for the boot lid were given a rub down and a coat of satin black.
The brake master cylinder was stripped, honed, cleaned, painted and had new seals fitted,
The wheel brace / jack handle was rubbed down and painted as it sits on the NS inner wing and as such is very visible. Not exactly the correct colour but I had the aerosol and it is not miles away. The jack which also sits under the bonnet (in front of the radiator) will be painted the same colour.
And finally the glovebox pocket which is a pathetic flimsy sort of cardboard/paper mache affair was strengthened with fibreglass on the exterior and the interior which is a sort of flock? finish was freshened up with water based acrylic paint. ( Thanks vojo for that suggestion )
I will be back out to the car tomorrow, probably flatting down the last of the new paint and preparing it for spraying the bits I where have rubbed through.
Only parts left to paint (I hope) are the bolt on outer sills which are supposed to be black so I will nee to buy some more paint for that. Hopefully 1/4 Litre will be enough and it will use the same hardener with luck.
Great work, the glove box is better than new don’t forget to fit the rubber bumpers ! I too only work on parts of my car when in the correct mood that way it’s enjoyable . What you are doing is a mirror image of what I have done only I got somebody else to do the spraying My sills are gloss black so I think later they can be refreshed with epoxy/ stone chip since they are not normally all seen Re the rear boot lid stays- I can sprayed mine with wrinkly paint this was originally used on the dashboard framing
Thanks vojo. I don't remember any rubber bumpers on mine. Presumably they fit into the rectangular holes on either side? They might turn up but I suspect they were missing originally.
When allowing the lid to shut under the natural pressure of the spring it slams quite fiercely the bumpers dampen this and allow for a soft seal (facing) when driving over bumps etc They also protect the finger lock somewhat.
When allowing the lid to shut under the natural pressure of the spring it slams quite fiercely the bumpers dampen this and allow for a soft seal (facing) when driving over bumps etc They also protect the finger lock somewhat.
Thanks for the info and picture vojo. Don't remember taking any bumpers off my glove box but it was so long ago now. I need to look through various boxes of parts and if not there adapt something.
Continuing with the rear lights which I started about 2 years ago when I asked for advise on the technical page. The flaking messy chrome on plastic would not sand down smooth as there was always a bit flaking off again just as I thought it was about done.
So after literally days of picking at it with a razor blade I finally got to this stage.
It then received 2 coats of adhesion promoter followed by a thin skin of Dolphin Glaze as there was a lot of small nicks from the razor blades. (Blades plural. I went through a lot of them) When that had been flatted back some more adhesion primer was added and that was followed by 2 coats of high build primer. (From an aerosol as wasn't worth mixing a small quantity for the spray gun) Some minor blemishes to take care of but pretty happy with it so far.
That's one done and the other is at the Dolphin Glaze stage. When they are both in primer I am going to investigate doing a chrome wrap. Chrome spraying was mentioned but I haven't seen anyone local doing that and probably too expensive for a poor pensioner.
I'll need to give the lenses a good clean. Gave 1 side of 1 a quick rub down with P1500 followed by P2000 and then some Farecla G3 and it came up not too bad. I think Chris might have done some and used a clear lacquer on them but that might have been headlamps. Need to have a look.
Hope the wrapping works out well for you - looks like a potentially tricky shape to me So see if you can practice on something similar first, as the wrap is pretty cheap. But the stuff I used was very sticky, pulling it off a matt painted surface would be awkward.
Hope the wrapping works out well for you - looks like a potentially tricky shape to me So see if you can practice on something similar first, as the wrap is pretty cheap. But the stuff I used was very sticky, pulling it off a matt painted surface would be awkward.
Fingers firmly crossed for you.
Never having done this before the shape the shape is a bit of a concern. I think however I know someone I worked with whose son works for a company who do wraps. I'll call to see him and ask the question, can he do it for me or should I book it in.
Have a look on the internet at hydro dipping for the lamp frames, lots of folks doing it now and an amazing choice of colours/designs even though you only want chrome, it also seems to tolerate weird and wonderfull shapes
