Day 83-84

The past couple days I have been focusing on my half walls for the paint booth.  These will be at the back and front of the booth, hold the fans and filters and give the booth a bit more structure.  I plan on taping the plastic to the ground on the sides.

I looked at a lot of designs for booths but I wanted something that was easily removable and reusable.  There are certainly cheaper ways to make booths, but I have to use it multiple times for my project and will probably want to take it down while doing other things...so ease of use was very important.

I used some ideas I found on the internet and have been just thinking it though as a I go.  It's turning out well so far.

I built the walls with 12ft 2x4's and framed the replaceable filters.

Mocked up the fan, needed to sleep on it a bit to decide how to get it tight to the half wall.

These fans are great because once I'm done painting those bases actually allow it to be mounted to a wall and the fan will swivel 90*.  I'm looking forward to that too, multi-functional!

And  today I mounted my removable door.  This will be a solid vertical post that I plan to put velcro on to keep the plastic shut but still allowing access in and out.

It has a hinge on the near side of this pic and then a pin on the other end to keep it up and out of the way when not in use.

Pin.

The "door" post.

This is the back wall and doesn't have a board running on top so I can get in and out easier.  The front wall has a long board on top for better strength since I don't need to get in from that side.

The pin also serves as a way for the post to stay in one spot, I drilled a hole in the bottom plate of my half wall.

I then took apart my fans and found that by using some particle board I could make a tight shroud to get all the airflow going out of the booth.

I used a carpenter's square with a hole in it and kept the pencil at exactly the radius I needed to get a perfect circle.  I then used a jig saw to cut out the hole.  I used zip ties to mount it so I can reuse the fan in the future.

Tight to the shroud, all the air going through the filter...success!

To replace the filters I just remove some of those little 1x1" blocks in the four corners.

Both fans installed.

I only have a few more finishing touches before I mount the plastic.  I need to get a power strip to serve as a centerpiece for my booth power and also complete the nut/ fender washer assemblies which will hold the 2x2 strips that hold the plastic up onto the respective boards.

Missing the nuts and fender washers on the bolts...

Then off to the paint store!

Day 82

Got back at it yesterday!  After being sick two weeks ago and then a very busy work week I was able to get some things done.

Quick update on progress.  The paint shop has gotten all my paint codes and put them into formulas ready for when I want to buy the paint.  That is a relief.

I have some things that need attention am researching the best method.  These are pot metal and hard to rechrome but some people can do it.

I sent the speedometer off to get overhauled.

The instructions said to not send with signature confirmation but I wanted to insure it...so as I went to the post office I realized it said "signature required" on the label which I assume is for the insurance.  I went to the counter and the lady said "Oh that's fine, we'll just cross it out" and marked it with a pen.

Needless to say that didn't change the fact that it needed signature confirmation and the guy hasn't been able to pick it up at the post office yet.  A true pain!

These lock cylinders also need replacing.

I had a helper show me how to sandblast things in my new (modified super duper) cabinet! :)

Proper safety gear?

And by busy week at work I mean...I got to go visit this place.  YEAH.

And yesterday's progress was all about the paint booth.  It's really the only thing holding me back right now.  I don't want to blast anything because I want to be able to paint the parts right away.

I've devised a system where I mounted 2x4s to the ceiling.  This gives me a mounting surface for 2x2's which I will wrap in plastic and then allow it to drape down to the floor.  This makes it easy to hang and easily removable.  I may want to collapse the booth in between painting...and this affords me the ability to do it!

First board mounted!

I used tee nuts which have barbs that dig into the wood and sit flush to secure the bolts on the other side.

I then took the 2x2s and drilled holes in them to slide onto the bolts.   I'll secure each board with a large washer and nut.  This way I should be able to lift and mount the plastic sheets by myself.  It will also be removable where staples into the ceiling are removable but not reusable.  This also prevents me from having too much repair of the garage when I move.   And of course I can take down my paint booth and move it with me!

I won't mention that I had to buy and return two different sets of bolts because I got carriage bolts the first time and too short of the right bolts the second time.  Third time was the charm.

Two sides done!

The full setup.

I am very happy with how it turned out.  I still need to build two half size "walls" for the front and back of the booth.  They will sit on the ground and be about two feet tall.  They will contain the filters on the back wall and fans on the front wall for cross flow ventilation.  This will give some structure for the filters to mount to and also provide a bit more of a frame for the booth.

After that, the plastic goes up and the painting can begin.  Now to find the time to do all of that...work really is getting in the way of my days off! :)

Day 81

Well I haven't been up to as much as I'd like because I got a really bad cold last week and fought through the weekend.  Caroline actually had planned her days off around that time prior, so although we didn't do anything fun she was there to take care of me.  I appreciated that!

She was also my first (willing?) passenger on the bug pan.  She had fun and it was great sharing the moment.  She thought I was going too fast, but I didn't think so!

I did finish cleaning most of my rusty bolts.  I had about 50 or so bags of random odds and ends for the body.  Most turned out very nice.  Some that needed work or had undercoating I cleaned and then put back in the solution to soak some more.  I have 3 bags left of that group.

Today I spent about 7 hours assembling my very own blast cabinet.  It is a cheapy one, so I have already done a few mods and have a better media gun in the mail.  As you can see in these pictures, it does what it is supposed to.

The mods I did were to use silicone on EVERY seam.  That way it hopefully doesn't leak.  I also put a removable bottom shelf and wheels so I can easily roll it out of the garage or into another position as I have done with nearly all my tools.  Everything is on wheels, which is great.

I also added a vacuum port adapter on the left hand side and put a 150w outdoor upgraded light.

Vacuum port, square peg round hole!

I couldn't resist the new toy so I did test it out of a not very dirty license plate bracket made out of aluminum and it worked great!  I'm using glass beads as my media.  Aggressive enough for paint removal and minor rust.  May try another type later on down the road.

I also ordered and received 2 6600 lumen LED work lamps for my paint booth.  They are very bright and don't get hot!  The booth is my next step, because once that is complete I can blast my small parts and move right onto getting them in primer.  Don't want to blast my parts and then have them sit around.  :)

Day 78-80 - Air and Cleaning

The past few days have been pretty good for progress.

I installed my compressed air piping system.  This will act as a pre-cooler and water separator for all my tools.  I already have a water separator right at the compressor outlet.  And for paint I have an air dryer.  So needless to say, I think I should be ok!

I then started organizing, re-bagging, and cleaning all the rust nuts, bolts, and washers from the car.  I did this earlier to my pan bolts and it came out well.  They will sit for the next few days to get all the crud off.

I did do a little resto work.  This part is my high beam switch.  It is inside and didn't have much corrosion and it cleaned up well!

The biggest change I've had is cleaning the inside of the gas tank.  Back when I tried to get my car running when I lived in Daytona, I had a lot of trouble with fuel delivery.  You might remember the clogged fuel filter I posted before.

Well, needless to say the entire inside of the gas tank was not a pretty sight.  BUT, I managed to salvage it!

This was just the dry crud I rattled around and dumped into the trash can.

After just washing it out with water and rolling a chain around.

After my first batch of muriatic acid and water solution with the chain

Not bad, a few spots to go here and there.

Still some work to do.

 Once it got to the point above, I filled it completely with water and then topped it off with about a half gallon of the muriatic acid.  I then let it sit overnight.  It had barely anything in the morning!  I didn't get a picture of the metal before I dried it, but while drying it the metal already flash rusted.  No worries, right before I paint it I am going to phosphatize it which puts a protective coating on it and turns any remaining rust into an inert metal.  I can then paint on top of that.

I'm going to use that same silver paint I used to paint my pan with.  Its also great in gas tanks!

I talked with my media blaster and paint supply company a couple days ago too.  I think I'm going to buy a sand blast cabinet as it is about the same price as having my guy do the small items.  Plus I'll have it in the future to do more things.

The paint shop is working on finding my original paint codes to duplicate the original colors.  The codes are in the system, but they may have to do some special tweaking to make it work.

My next big project is to set up a paint booth in the garage.  I need to get plastic, some wood, box fans, and filters to set it up.

I'm off to work for a few days so I'll have plenty of time to stew and think about it!