July 12- 13, 2003

I spent this past weekend on the frame.  I sanded down the unfinished sections - about 2/3 of the frame.  After I got it all cleaned up, I applied a coat of Rust Encapsulator, then the final coat of red.  Although there is not that much to write about, this was a lot of work.  I feel like I have accomplished a big part of the project now, and it looks great!

The engine paint should be arriving this week, so that will be next on the project list.

July 19-20, 2003

As mentioned before, I had ordered some high-temp engine and exhaust paint.  They arrived this past week.  One of the items in the engine paint kit was "GUNK".  Some of you might be familiar with this stuff, but it is great at removing grease and grime for metal.  I used generous amounts of GUNK and a wire brush to scrub the engine clean.  The lighting wasn't so good, so I called it a night.  Saturday morning I could see the spots I missed and I scrubbed those down.  At this point the engine block looked good enough to eat off of.  I had a wedding to go to so I called it a day.

I got home from the wedding with about an hour of daylight left.  I used Eastwood's PRE paint prep to give the engine block a final cleaning.  Sarah bought me a respirator to use while painting the engine.  I highly recommend the mask if you use this type of paint.  After donning the mask and telling Taylor and the dog that I was "their father", which neither of them got, I headed out to the garage to mix the "activator" and the paint.  The kit comes with a stir stick and a little brush.  After about 2 hours, I had applied 2 coats of paint and I was out.  The garage has poor lighting, but I thought I had covered all the exposed areas (engine block and clutch housing.) 

The next morning I woke up with a horrible headache and my stomach was doing flips.  I wanted to open the garage door to vent out any remaining fumes and get a look at my accomplishment.   Upon entering the garage, my headache doubled in strength, and I was amazed at what a bad job I had done.  I missed several spots and spread the paint to thin in some spots (or the clean engine absorbed it?), even with 2 coats of paint.  

As I was enjoying my breakfast cigarette, I thought about where I went wrong.  First off, I should have waited for daylight, but my impatience got the better of me - I knew that it would be a couple of weekends before I would have the time.  Secondly, the paint kit really should have contained more paint.  50% more would give me piece of mind, and I wouldn't have a problem paying for it.  I'm kind of pissed because of the hassle I went through.  Okay, and why does the exhaust paint come in a can twice the size?  I'll bet this is from the marketing geniuses that gave us "Microwaveable Minute Rice".  I mean, if it only takes a minute to cook, why would you need to microwave it?  Oh well, I'll blame it on the fumes...

The good news is, the spots that I applied enough paint to look great.  I ordered another kit (can't find just the paint, but I don't mind having some more GUNK) and it was on sale.  So, I will finish the job at a later date.  Also, I'll be able to paint the oil pan with the same paint, so I guess it all works out.  For you guys reading this, the lesson to learn here is buy twice as much paint, wear a mask, but most importantly, do it in a well lit area.  I might have made it with the one can, if I could have seen better (or been less high?).

July 24, 2003

Jim Gay brought over his trailer and we hauled the sheet-metal to the blasters.  Jim is a similar being.  He has a 60 something Mustang he has been working on, and a fellow Harley enthusiast.  He and his wife are legally insane - they have 6 dogs (Boxers) who live mostly inside with them (and believe it or not, their house is in good repair.  No smells or stains - Taylor should be so considerate!) Jim and I work together.....kind of (I won't bore you with the specifics).  Anyways, everyone welcome Jim to the Journal.

I was all set to take Rusty to the blaster's when Sarah called - she had been visiting with her uncle and mentioned where I was going.  He said not to take it there, but to take it over to his buddy.  It would get done quicker, better, and maybe cheaper.  I called up the new guy (Ray) and after talking to him, I was sold on the idea of taking it to him.  Sand-blasting is a side project at the place I was originally going to take her to.  Blasting and painting is Ray's business, so I just felt better about it.

Luckily, Jim and I loaded the trailer the night before because it was raining pretty good when we where ready to take off.  We get down and meet Ray.  Ray looks over all the pieces and says that he uses different "grit" blasting material based on the different sections.  He explained some of the ins and outs of blasting, which I had read about and it was nice for him to confirm my expectations of the process.  The one really cool thing about Ray is that he will apply primer when finished - the other place wasn't going to do that.  He will apply a primer suitable for the color and type of paint that I want.  Ray doesn't do "finish" work on autos; he paints stuff like cement trucks and other heavy equipment, however, a lot of the local auto body shops take their work to him to get blasted.

So, at this point, I was feeling pretty good about the process.  Another advantage of taking this stuff down to Ray, is that he will call the 2 painters that he most recommends and ask them to come down and quote a paint job.  This gives me and idea of what I am in for, and also keeps me from having to haul Rusty all over town for quotes.

July 27, 2003

We had a busy weekend, but I managed to find some time late this afternoon to work on Rusty.  The second order of engine paint arrived on Friday, so I was ready to knock that task off the project list.

I wiped the engine block down with a light mist of cleaner, donned my mask and set about applying the engine paint.  I didn't go on as smoothly as I anticipated.  It seems the paint doesn't like the fact the earlier coats had fully dried.  No biggie, I just paid attention and took my time.  When I thought I was done, I called Sarah out to inspect my work and she found a couple of minor spots that needed touching up.  Looks good!

I still had a couple of hours of daylight, and I was in the mood to work on Rusty, so I decided to clean and paint some of the engine "accent" pieces.  I wanted to chrome these pieces, but I haven't looked for a plater and I really don't want to pay for it.  Since I have been having such good luck with the Rustoleum paints, I decided to try their "Metal Finish" paint.  I cleaned the fan pulley that attaches to the water pump and put on a coat of the Metal Finish.  Wow!  It looks great.  I then cleaned the valve cover, water pump, thermostat housing, piston cover, and the other fan pulleys.  Gave them all a good coat, and once again, wow!  After they dried, I applied a second coat to the valve cover.  I noticed it didn't seem to shine as much, so I didn't put a second coat on the other pieces.  Anyways, I can't tell you how good this stuff looks on the freshly painted engine.  I need to buy new gaskets for the parts and then I can install them permanently.  

This is a good stopping point.  Let's move on to the next entry.

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