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!