When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hello everyone,
Just checking in to see if anyone has any stuff they want to show off, or just shoot the bull. It's been too hot at my place to do much work on my '53.
I am, but tough to stay motivated. New to this site. Doing a '55 F100. I got the frame to metal, then primed it with some Eastwood rust encapsulator & their chassis black gloss. Turned out terribly & after working with their tech line, we decided the ambient temps were too high for the base coat to cure correctly (believe the highs were around 115 about the time I painted & I honestly wasn't even thinking about it in relation to paint). So now I'm taking it back down to metal. Lesson learned. Tough job to do twice, but I've got my mini-fridge to keep me company.
Sorry to hear about the paint. I kind of figured the heat would help bake it on. Shows that I know nothing about painting. Your frame looks good in the picture. I used some of the Eastwood glossy black on my frame where I welded in some sleeves for the steering box bolts to go through the frame, I sprayed it on bare metal and some of it peeled off. I'm guessing there was still some oil or grease that I didn't get cleaned off very well before I painted it. The part that stuck, looks awesome though. The picture sucks. It looks much better than it shows.
That looks good. The sleeve across the top of the frame is pretty slick. I envy anyone who can weld. My brother has tried to show me how it's done a couple times, but just ends up shaking his head on my practice runs.
On the frame paint, the top coat wouldn't stick to the primer (above pic is before I tried to top it - it dried to a sandpaper consistency & I smoothed it out with some 360 grit before I topped it, but paint still wouldn't stick). I think they called it "rebuffing" & said the primer will not cure properly if applied in temps over 90*. They did send me replacement paint at no charge, though.
This is how it looked after 4 coats of black, before I started sanding everything back to metal again:
I'm glad they replaced the paint. Hopefully it looks great this time. Removing the bad stuff must have sucked though. Seeing your box fan, I had to chuckle. In Arizona it's almost a must to have one or more fan blowing if you are in the garage.
My welding sucks, but my son is a good welder. He worked for Daryl Smith Racecars in Chandler for a couple years building NHRA certified stuff. He's got an old Miller TIG welder here that he uses when I need him to weld up something for me. It took me a while to figure out the steering box. The way it is now, the wheels fully turn both ways and the track bar is parallel with the steering bar so there should be no bump steer, and the U-joints don't have a real sharp angle. I'm still thinking about adding a brace or two to the square sleeve on top of the frame.
Nice. That's impressive about your son. My kids aren't into cars, or really anything requiring elbow grease. Re: the box fan, can't tell you how many times I walk by those portable swamp coolers in Home Depot & kind of hesitate - hard to part with the cash, though.
I'm about 2/3 done with re-sand. Got lazy & started pulling parts off the engine, instead. Check out the awesome thermostat housing below. I got it soaking in some salt & vinegar. I guess I'll have to figure out how to use it because replacements don't seem to exist. If I'm correct (& good chance I'm not) the part should be EAG8592-B. First thought is to make a backing plate between the housing & head, maybe use 1/8" plate drilled to match, then use 2 gaskets, one on each side of the backing plate to seal? Idk. May just belong in the trash.
What engine is it for? I'm guessing someone has replacement parts for it. My goal is to buy one of those split unit air conditioners for my garage. We'll see if it ever happens, but I hope to get one soon.
I do the same thing, get about half finished with one project and start doing something else. Especially if I'm not real sure how I want to do the first project.
It's the 223 inline 6. I can find them for the earlier flatheads & same generation V8s, but the 223 seems scarce. I found some old posts by NumbersDummy, some from several years ago, showing 1 or 2 available at the time, but most of the places he cited were either out of them when I checked or were no longer in business. (I think in one his posts he showed the same part number for the 215 6 cylinder - not sure what years they used the 215.) I'll keep poking around.
In the meantime, my vinegar experiment is still bubbling away. I'll take pics of how it looks when I take it out, then after a 3M pad. Maybe then I'll paint it (God forbid in anything higher than 90* - first time in my life I've ever been screwed by spray paint), then see if I can make something work with that 1/8" plate. Knowing my luck, it'll end up being a coolant sprinkler first time I fire it up & then I'm back to sanding & painting again, lol.
What do you think your next project will be on the '53? I know you mentioned possibly adding support to the bolt sleeves for your PS pump. Or what are your plans for it overall?
Hey Ken, check this out - kind of excited. I soaked the housing in salt & vinegar since Sunday night - so that's ~96 hrs. I'll post a pic of when I first took it out without doing anything, then a pic after a scrub with a 3M pad, then a pic in isopropyl alcohol. I think I can use this thing.
It definitely made a big difference. Crazy how well it works! I soaked my body mount brackets in vinegar then painted them with the Eastwood cad plating paint.
Yeah, it's strange - it's like the 4 bolt version just doesn't exist. Hopefully, I can get this one to seal without making a mounting plate for it.
So let me ask you - I plan to wire brush this thing, then paint it - do you think it's a bad idea to paint the inside of the housing with engine enamel? Personally, I'm tempted because I can't understand what it would hurt, but do you think the paint would degrade and break off or something since it's constantly exposed to antifreeze?
I'm thinking that eventually the paint would come loose and maybe plug up a tube in your radiator or something else. Have you tried Green Sales? They have lots of old Ford parts. Just a thought.
I wonder if Napa or even the Ford dealer could come up with something.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
