I gave up unlimited bits on ATT to get tethering, and don't have either of our two iPads on contract. So we lowered the bill and still have functionality, although I still have to walk Janey through tethering sometimes. And BT works better as it gets more complicated when we have to choose the phone instead of our home server if using wifi.

And, back to our regularly-scheduled detail ad nauseum, the washers that I turned down on the lathe have a slight edge on the back side. (I put them all on the same way with the rounded edge to the right.) So I put one in the vibrating polisher with the green pyramids for 24 hours to see what would happen. There is slightly less edge, although not dramatically better. Here's a closeup, with the "polished" one on the left:




Now I'm going to put a different one in using the Bright Shine media that is corn cob impregnated with polishing compound.

 

Why would you need to tether if your home WiFi was in range???
I don't understand "having to choose" between your home router or the phone tether unless both were available.


Betting a washer like this would have saved you the trouble.

http://www.stainlessautomotivefasten...d1fa255acc3bf3

 

We don't tether at home, but do on road trips. Works good.

That site doesn't give spec's on the washer, but it might have made it easier.

 

I find I often like the tighter fit of an ISO metric washer on some fractional shanks.
6mm small diameter is 11mm OD on the high side of specs.

 

The ones I got are #12's, not 1/4", so they are smaller in both ID and OD. The .270" ID is a fairly good fit on a 1/4" screw, but the .500" OD was just too large.

 

Update time. (I posted the same thing in "Dad's Engine", but since the work today is on the valve covers I thought I'd put it here as well.)

Since I'm not getting the engine done (church, grandkids, travel, boat, etc), I've contacted Tim and am going to be sending the parts to him for assembly. Then, when it is time to dyno it, my wife and I'll go up and watch it.

However, there are some things I want to do before sending the pieces up to Tim, and that includes painting/powder coating the various parts. I have the pulleys and mounts done, but have the valve covers, intake manifold, and some other bits and pieces to do. Plus, Tim has announced that he's going to be making billet distributors and I want to get one of the housings and PC it clear before it is assembled into a dizzy and put on the engine.

You may remember that I'm going with the following color scheme:

• Old Ford Blue: Block, pan, valve cover sides and lettering
• Aluminum: Heads, intake manifold, air cleaner top, A/C compressor, water pump, & thermostat housing, alternator, distributor, and power steering pump bracket
• Black: Brackets, air cleaner base & snorkels, and pulleys

Given that, I started on the valve covers today. They spent probably 2 hours in the blast cabinet while I got all of the paint like this off:




I have them down to bare aluminum and they've been washed with brake cleaner, baked in the oven for 90 minutes at 400 degrees, washed again with brake cleaner, and then baked again at 400 for an hour. That process drives out all the impurities that hide in the pores of the aluminum, so they are ready for paint.

Tomorrow I'll tape them off and paint them with Dupli-Color's Engine Enamel Primer and then DE 1606 Ford Dark Blue, which are the cans on the left in this pic:



After that cures I'll sand the top down to have the natural aluminum look shown in the first pic and then powder coat them with a clear. I hope to get pics tomorrow of the covers painted blue, but I won't be able to sand them until they cure, so the next step will be a few days away.

 

Today's update. Got the valve covers painted. First, here they are after their media blasting, 3 dousings in brake cleaner, and 2 trips through the oven:




And here they are with the Dupli-Color Engine Enamel Primer DE 1612 on them:




Finally, here they are with multiple coats of Dupli-Color's Engine Enamel DE 1606 Ford Dark Blue:






Hopefully tomorrow they'll be hard enough to sand, but I may have to bake them in the oven at 200 degrees or so to ensure they are hard and don't gum up the sand paper.

 

I would give the paint a few days at least but heating in the oven may help speed that up.

I used some appliance epoxy on a universal gym (weightlifting machine) I recently picked up, and even after 24 hours the paint was still kinda soft.

 

This paint says to paint all the coats w/in 1 hour, and give each coat 10 minutes before the next. And then, if you want additional coats, you have to wait at least 7 days. So, there is apparently something going on for a week. So, you may be right on how long to give it. But, a few hours in the oven at 200 might help.

 

Boy, Chris, you are too strong!

 

Within a certain short timespan or after a week means the thinner they used in the paint will cause an orange-peel effect if applied outside of their prescribed parameters until the paint has fully cured (not dried, but cured).

Ha!!!! I got the universal gym (Tuff Stuff Apollo 250) from the Denver Post building when they remodeled the executive floor, that was maybe 3-5 months ago. But I haven't been using it too much in recent history, what with hernia surgery + related issues and now this job thing... but I kinda-sorta resumed just yesterday, it's actually a great way to relieve stress.

 

So, that means that sanding it earlier than 1 week from now is going to be like sanding gum? Maybe I should wait the week or put it in the oven? Maybe tomorrow I'll put it in the oven for a while as I work on the intake getting it ready to PC clear.

Yes, it is a good way to relieve stress - unless you go bananas and strain something.

 

Cure time with enamel is more about crosslinking than solvent evaporation.

The voc's that are the carrier evaporate, but it is (usually) oxygen that causes the resin to crosslink.

Like any chemical reaction heat will accelerate it.

 

About, Yes ... 3-7 days!

135-140F and lots of clean fresh air makes the difference.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Well, try to dig your thumbnail into it, wait longer if it's still soft. I don't know how heat will affect things but it's kind of like how epoxy glue cures... you know how there are different formulations e.g. 5-min or 4-hour epoxy which have nothing to do with any sort of "drying" process (where moisture dissipates) but how quickly a chemical transformation occurs.


Ha! Wouldn't know aaaaaannnnnnnnyyyyyyything about that.

Ya know, I like to think my mind still feels like I'm a teenager/20-something and I therefore subject my body to some of the same abuses I did as a kid, and I feel real strongly about exercise being good for you and helping ward off things like high blood pressure and heart disease.

But I'm being reminded recently about what it means to be 50 years old... for example the car radio stuff, how I migrated a 90s-gen JBL system into my mom's old mid-80s Tempo (Bill Vose's thread)... and that replaced this, this... this *thing* almost the size of a cigar box with an orange needle you controlled with a **** attached to a rubber band which adjusted this mechanical tuner device so you could receive radio stations.

And I had to think about that... man, show THAT to any of today's kids and they'll think it came from the 1800s!

And I consider it to be from an era of "not too long ago."

Jeeeeeeeeeez.....