now in technicolor

no long drawn out story for this post. short and sweet, and RED! I shot some color for the first time this weekend, it all went as planned, and the 1-2 yrs of research and equipment gathering have appeared to have done me well. I am pumped about the color, and the finish turned out well. its shiny, and its RED. REALLY RED.

sneak peek

PAINT!

In a whirlwind of a weekend, I eventually got some primer shot on the bare metal!

This all started Saturday morning, when I jumped back into it all, after a great Thanksgiving meal, and a much needed 'do-nothing' day on Friday. As mentioned last post, I have been spending a lot of time slowly gathering the necessary tools, and setup, to shoot paint. I decided Saturday, it was time to jump in and do it. but wait... remember? my new dryer contraption doesn't quite hold water. oh yeah, ok, I'll fix that, then I'll be ready. 3 hrs later, I eventually rebuilt the setup, after a few failed attempts at sealing the leaks, funny thing, when you drill large holes in the bottom of a bucket, it doesn't want to hold water very easily. ok... got that done, lets go get the 'truck house' opened up and wipe the metal down one last time so I can shoot some paint, already!

RUST! damn. some of the sandblasted metal had flash rusted, after sitting all week. But it looks like has been raining on the whole truck, what? how did this happen, is this carport leaking like a sieve? CONDENSATION. so, the ground is wet, which the carport is set over (and it will be wet until at least June), this has caused condensation to build up pretty heavily on the ceiling, and every time the wind blows, it drops the water onto the truck. not exactly what I had in mind.

DARK! we are in the midst of our darkest days here in the PacNW, and that means, if it is cloudy, your struggling for daylight around 4:00. yeah, really, 4:00! So... time to go inside, I guess. that day is shot.

woke up Sunday with lots to do, in order to get paint on the bare metal, but I am seeing that this is beginning to be urgent, or I will have to re-sandblast everything. not cool. so game plan: put the front wheels back on the truck, roll it out of the carport, blow all of the condensation off the sides and ceiling, put down a floor, roll the truck back in, clean the metal with dish soap, and hot water, wipe everything down with wax and grease remover, mask off the cab, then spray primer. oh- and I've never used a paint gun, so add, get the gun setup properly, and manage to get everything right on the first try... uhh... right. ok.



FLOOR! I needed to get a floor down in order to block the moisture that has been coming up from the ground, and "raining" on the truck, especially for painting. so I got a 100ft roll of 6 mil plastic and put down 5 layers of it for the floor. 2 reasons for the layers. 1. the ground is gravel, so it has to be thick enough to not puncture with the weight of the truck, or me walking around. 2. throughout the process, I can peel back layers to the clean layers below, to have a fresh start for painting new coats.

once I got the condensation dried up, and the floor down, I backed the truck back in, and got back to it. It is important to clean bare metal with wax and grease remover before primer. If anything is between the primer, and the metal, then at some later date, after 100s of hours of paint and bodywork, you will scratch the paint, and it will begin flaking, all the way back down to bare metal, and that is really tough to fix!


PAINT! Finally! Saturday night, I read up on the best ways to tune the paint gun, so I felt pretty confident that I could figure this out before sunset (shortly after lunch! ugh...). I followed the tips and tricks to a T, and IT WORKED! it was that easy?! no way. it was! I got the paint mixed per the instructions, and I was off to see the wizard. it went really well. the primer looks great, and overall, I am really encouraged to keep going until I get good at shooting a good finish coat of color.

I got everything done and it was getting dark as I was cleaning the paint gun-- oh, and the dryer from the last post worked phenomenally, couldn't be happier with that. so cleanup happened in the dark, which I see being pretty normal for me until March or so.

overall, a success. this could have all gone much worse, and been a rough 'first time' to get past, but a lot of research, and the right tools have really helped this process be as easy as I can make it. in my driveway.

hope everyone has a great Holiday season!


and some fun shots of a paint gun, these fascinate me for some reason...

Driveway-o-chevys

in, out, around, and dry.

yes, even my compressed air has a hard time staying dry in the Pacific Northwest winter. there are several ways to combat this problem, and none of them are very 'affordable,' at least with my current budget. I have been trying really hard up to this point to make sure that the more spendy items are prioritized, and will give me the best end product. so drying my air lines is one of those aspects of the build, that I figured I could handle myself.

no, this will not be the most riveting post, but what I have learned throughout this last week about air compressors, and equipment setup in general, will be a large part of achieving a solid end goal.

So now, we dive in to the science portion:

the basic idea of this "science fair" project attempt, is to dry the air that is coming out of my compressor. water is a paint gun's worst enemy. when air is compressed, it is heated. hot air moving through a line carries that moisture with it, and ends up blowing out of the gun at the end of the line. there are several types of air dryers available, so I did some research as to what the most effective system is, and SURPRISE! its the most expensive! so, what is it that this expensive system does that others don't, or, why is it more effective. well, its pretty basic, actually, it cools the air in the lines, allowing the moisture to condensate, then giving it a place to drain off before it enters the equipment at the end of the line (paint gun, impact wrench, sand blaster, etc.). It is typical that moisture is allowed to build up in the large tank of every compressor, and there is a drain valve there, for you to manually drain the water out periodically. so... where are we?

the compressed air goes into the tank, and water sinks to the bottom. that moist air is pumped out, and you can put a dryer between that and your paint gun to catch the water.

ok.... well--why not dry the air BEFORE it goes into the tank?? then install a small filter at the gun as an insurance policy to catch any other particles. I can do this. it will be fun. it will take forever, I will make an ungodly amount of trips to the hardware store, and have many failed attempts. but it will work. all to save $1000, you say?? exactly. I have far more time and patience than I have money to throw at this truck. (I would rather spend chunks of cash like that on shiny things later in the build:) ) All I have to do is cool the air.

so the 'to do' list began. there is a copper line that goes from the head of the compressor (where the air is actually compressed) and into the tank. I will interrupt that line, and install my dryer there, this will dry the air before it is stored in the tank. so what will I need??

20' copper line
plastic bucket (have in garage)
a drain w/ shutoff valve
garden hose (have a spare in the garage)
inline filter
fittings for copper line



with enough copper line, cold tap water will be plenty of cooling for the air. so I will use the drain to also hook up to the faucet outside, and fill the bucket with water (ice can be added to really do the trick). coil the copper pipe in the bucket, then run an inline filter to catch the condensate. then the cooled, dry air will go into the storage tank, and out to the gun. boom! dry air, for roughly $40-$50 at your local hardware store.

placement, and positioning of the copper line are critical, because the goal is to drain off the water, so everything has to be pitched to drain correctly, hence the coil. with a coil, I can get alot of surface area exposed for cooling, and by using a 1/2" line or bigger, the air moves slower, thus giving it more time to cool as much as possible before entering the tank.


fundamentally, this is how engines are cooled in your car. liquid is run through lines which are exposed to air (your radiator) allowing the liquid to cool, before reentering the engine, in order to keep the vitals of the engine cool enough to operate properly. apply this basic function to air, and you have a similar cooling/drying system.


after about 10 hrs. of work, what works:

the plumbing works. my compressor is functional. everything is in position, all fittings are airtight. the water filling and draining works beautifully...

what doesn't work (yet):

I have not yet managed to keep the water IN the bucket:) there are 2 holes in the bottom of the bucket. 1 for the drain/fill, and 1 for the copper line to exit the ice bath, and enter the inline drain. First, I tried to make rubber washers for the drain hole out of a $1 plunger head (thick rubber), that didn't cut it. I also tried 2 different types of spray foam, thinking this would be cheap and easy. it doesn't seem to be water tight enough though. its close. I get a very small drip at each hole, not good enough. so I guess my next try will be silicone sealer. yeah, I could have tried that first, but if I do everything right the first time, then this blog gets boring. learning is more fun if you screw things up first!

so here are some images of how the setup stands tonight. really, it won't look any different when it is finished, but it will hold water, then. as soon as I get it completed, I will be shooting paint in no time... SWEET!

Clean Shave

More progress this weekend! sometimes, it seems, progress with the setup, and environment this build happens within is just as important as the progress on the actual build itself. The truck build has really been in the works for just over 2 years now! yikes, that's a hard one to spit out! This is definitely not my first go at building up a car, but this time the game is a bit different. I have always handled the mechanical aspects of a build, but the paint and body work side of a build is all new to me. so with new comes research, and tool buying. which is all fun, but not without its time suck, and budget constraints! (big tools are not cheap.) I have been accumulating tools and knowledge long enough! now I have to dive in and learn my own lessons to pass on.

This one may seem like a 'no brainer,' but here in the wet, and cold Pacific Northwest, shelter is a must for any projects undertaken between the months of October and June--yes, winter is really that long around here. So, this weekend, the truck got a house! The new "carport" as the box says it is will serve many purposes throughout the build. In addition to general shelter, and keeping me out of the wind while working, it will also be a paint booth for me. The painting environment has been one of my primary subjects of research, and this will serve its purpose well, and it is at a price point that I can dispose of it when the build is completed. win/win. The assembly was fast and easy, and it was raining just enough while I put it together, that I could tweak how the sides and roof attached in order to optimize the water shedding of this sweet gem. :)

Now that I spent some time ensuring my being dry, I could move ahead with cleaning up the appearance of the engine compartment, mostly in the form of sanding. I removed everything else that I need to in order to get some paint on the firewall. other than simply painting the firewall the red that the truck will eventually be, I am also giving it a clean shave. I will limit the amount of stray wiring coming out of the firewall like a spilled bowl of spaghetti, and consolidating the penetrations from the engine to the cab. These trucks are very simple vehicles, making it easy to simplify what is necessary, and what is extraneous in the engine bay.

some more removal of accessories, and some sanding/sandblasting later, and we have a clean surface VERY close to needing paint. let the learning curve begin!

one more thing, notice the last image. these are some numbers I found hand engraved on the firewall. this is most likely something done on the assembly line, but I have never come across these particular numbers before, so I will be doing a little digging to find out what their relevance is. we shall see.

and... sorry for the 'flash' photos. it is also dark from October to June ;)

Trash and Treasure

This was the weekend of the biggest local Swap Meet all year. It is put on by the Olympic Vintage Auto Club. Attended by thousands, it is a sight to be seen. such a broad range of people, all with a similar hobby, coming together to spend the weekend to swap parts, stories, or pedal their piles. this is definitely a "one man's junk/other man's treasure" situation. I didn't really go with specific items in mind, necessarily, but now that I have a pretty good idea of general add-ons, and custom touches I will do to the '71, I had a broad list in my head of what to keep my eye out for.

Amy came with me to the swap meet (I usually do these things alone) which made for a fun trip. she was genuinely interested in what was going on, so it was fun to answer her questions, and in general, have someone there to get excited with about weird things we saw. some of them were people. colorful crowd at these events. think state fair, without the ferris wheel, but still with all of the fried food, and fun people :)

the plethora (one of my favorite words) of parts, and people, and cars is spread out over most of the county fairgrounds, and takes place in three sizable buildings, and all of the grounds between the buildings. upon leaving one of the buildings, Amy locked in on something about 50 yards away. "We're going to get that!" she said, sounding pretty convincing, so we walked up the hill to what it was she saw from far away. she had spotted a SWEET wagon wheel, or was it? we didn't know what it was, but we were sure it was going on our newly remodeled fireplace wall. After confusing the 70+ yr. old gentleman about what it was we were using this thing for (home decoration??!), he explained to us that it is a wheel off of a "high rake" basically a mechanical rake used mostly at the turn of the century in hay, and wheat fields to collect crops.

The intention was not, of course to be shopping for home decor, but this was one of those items that just screamed at us, so Amy haggled the old man (who was loving having a cute young girl in his booth) down a bit, and we walked/rolled away with a 53" diameter, rusty steel, wheel.

and it looks incredible in our space! we love it.

I also picked up several random parts and pieces for the truck. some updated suspension parts, which will really make a difference in the overall handling of the truck, and an original dash pad in great shape.

overall, a great success. got to hang out with the wife, while digging through lots of car parts. WIN!

Bare Naked Steel

SAND!! EVERYWHERE! Friday night I picked up a new play toy, just in time for the weekend to start. sandblaster! what an awesome tool. and messy as hell! luckily, I had the forethought to get a full suit to wear, along with other "safety" gear. trust me, if air can get there, so can sand.

I'm glad I set aside the entire weekend, because it took all of it. cutting through 40 yrs of road grime, oil, grease, and who knows what else is a slow going task, even with a sandblaster. the frame rails are in great shape, however, as I noticed once i got down to bare steel. blasting the frame, and suspension components has really brought everything back to its original condition, and it is all now ready for primer. I think I am going to go with POR-15 for all of the blasted parts, it is a great product for engine compartments, and chassis parts, and does a great job of encapsulating any rust, and stopping the cancer from getting any worse, and its great durability is a plus, given its gloss finish.

once I get primer on the chassis parts, I think I am going to focus more on the firewall. the weather is quickly getting colder, and wetter here, and I need to paint the firewall the final red color that the truck will be. OH! OH! I have chosen the paint color! PPG 4230 Torch Red. it is the red GM has used on the Corvette for a long time. I saw it on a '72 Corvette sitting at a Dairy Queen, recently, and I stopped and walked in and said really loud, "who drives the corvette?!" everyone stared very awkwardly, and all I could do was laugh. finally an older guy fessed up, and we had a great conversation. he too, had painted it himself, and he gave me some tips and the low down on where to get paint and supplies locally. Glad I stopped! meanwhile, back at the ranch... I need to clean up the firewall, get to masking, and paint the first part of the truck to be Torch Red.

I am really happy with the blasting overall. after following some tips on the online reviews of the sandblaster I bought, and setting up my compressor to handle the equipment, everything worked like a charm. slow going, but progress was definitely made this weekend. and I got to wear a cool suit... :)

side note: I bought a shop heater this weekend, so maybe I can get to sprucing up the looks of the engine in the garage, and not be so tied down to only working on the weekends, during daylight hours... we'll see how that goes this week.

pictures!

gravel driveway shenanigans...

another weekend down, another big step on the truck. Last Sunday, I pulled the engine and transmission out, and exposed the frame, and all of the suspension. couple that with some awesome finds at the salvage yard, and I say its a success!

I got a call from the guy at the Yank-a-Part in Poulsbo (town nearby) last week. They got a '71 Suburban in recently that has a lot of good rust free body panels on it, so I decided to head down there early on Saturday morning. GOLD MINE!! I scored a good fender well, a passenger side fender, (mine has some rust issues) and a great set of hood hinges! the hinges on these trucks are notorious for being worn out, sagging, and not aligning the hood properly. The fact that these hinges are in great shape tells me that this front clip may be newer as well, so I started hacking away. all in all, a great score, and at a fraction of the cost of buying new parts and paying for shipping (not to mention most new parts are chinese sheet metal, and much lower quality than original equipment.)

Sunday, I went and picked up a cherry picker from a buddy's shop, and got to pulling the engine/transmission. considering all of the front clip was removed already, it was really about 6 bolts, and some cables/wiring to disconnect, and out it came...

... and that's when things got interesting! Amy came outside to help me, with another set of eyes, at the least, this job is light years easier, and safer... well. we'll get back to safety later :) So, I should preface this by saying that I am performing this stunt--project, I mean-- on a gravel driveway. NOT the most conducive environment for moving heavy objects on anything, even with wheels. I ended up having to hook the cherry picker up to a tow strap, and slowly, SLOWLY pulling the engine and tranny out with my other truck. I wish I had a photo to post of the look on Amy's face when she came outside to the acene of a tow strap, a running truck, and a cherry picker with a 800 lb. hanging from it :) classic. because of the gravel, moving in any direction other than a straight line was not an option. so... we had to get creative. we used a dolly, some boards, a pry bar, some grunting, and a kitchen island. yes, a kitchen island! Amy's response upon hearing my plan... "what do we do if it turns the island to a pile of splinters?!" me: "TAKE PICTURES!"


now everything is ready for prep and paint. I will be attacking the frame, and front suspension, as well as the firewall, first. hopefully before the weather gets very nasty. then, once things are in better shape ON the truck, I will move over to the kitchen island, its okay, its in the garage. The engine is practically brand new, so any changes will be cosmetic, just to dress up the 454 cubic inches of raw power... *insert Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor grunt here* the block will be red, to match the new exterior color. not sure on valve covers yet. and I am planning on replacing the entire belt setup, and accessories, to a more modern setup, both for reliability, and clean looks.

I have an order in for a sandblaster, so I will be cleaning everything to the max. this will ensure flawless paint adhesion, and help my engine compartment look as good as it does in my dreams... now I just have to make it happen and quit just imagining it! A huge thank you to the Amy for helping me out on Sunday. It was fun. enjoy some photos!

big steps

well, the challenge of restoring the truck while maintaining it as my daily driver finally broke me. I bought a new truck!! exciting stuff. I ended up getting a good deal on a very well maintained 97 chevy 4x4. still pretty pumped about that purchase!

with the new truck purchased, now I can really bite into the resto. I took it for a drive on saturday morning, the last road time she will see for quite a while. on the heels of removing the bed, and reworking the frame, cleaning, and replacing everything, I have now started that process on the front of the truck.

rebuilding the front end (suspension, steering, etc.) body working all of the panels, and painting the engine compartment, is a big chunk of work to say the least! but... what else can you do around here in the winter? might as well bite off more than you can chew :) I will eventually remove the engine, for easier access to all of the parts and pieces, but here are some photos of where I stand now. enjoy!