Don’t tease me!
More progress!
Thrusday I finsihed up any stitch welding and did more primer removal, weld cleanup etc.
Inside welded up. Its fun to see all the welding from the outside.
Good penetration (maybe too good?)
All cleaned up and ready for primer.
Sat brushed on two coats of Master Series Silver
Sunday the wife and I got the “booth” set back up and wrapped in plastic.
Ready!
Primed with two coats of 2k primer.
Super stoked to finally have this at least in primer. Now I can get it on the rolling dolly and get back to the engine bay. Im hoping to start doing filler later this week.
Dan
You’re super stoked? I’M SUPER STOKED! Can’t wait to see this done.
Removing all the suck from that might be beyond even his talents.
beat me to it.
^ Holy shit that is nuts.
Did a little more work on the “booth”. Scored a 24" dog tunnel on amazon and cut it down to use as a fan duct. It works pretty slick and is easy to pop out of the window and move out of the way when Im not using it.
A guy that I work with has a small CNC at home that hes looking to get some practice on so I had him make me this. Its a simple block to keep the brake line fittings keyed on the firewall. I have a few other things lined up that hes going to be cutting for me as well. Ill prob have this nickle plated along with a few other things (door and hood latches etc).
Ive been working hard the last couple weeks trying to finish up the last of the fab on the engine bay, getting it stripped down to bare steel, and primed.
Welding and grinding done, stripped down bare.
Coated with Master Series Silver
And today put a good coat of 2k primer over the MSS.
Tomorrow Im starting on the filler, should be a ball of fun.
Dan
Excellent progress! The dog tube vent shaft idea is genius. I’d love to see a few pics of how you built the spray booth next time you have a minute too.
If you look at post 480 its pretty straightforward. Just a 2x4 frame wrapped in 4 mil clear plastic. I did buy a plastic door zipper kit for the one end to be able to load the car or me in/out of. I found it at Lowes near the paint and plastics. You just stick them to the plastic at whatever width you want and viola, instant roll up door.
Dan
Thanks Dan! I don’t know how I missed that post before on the previous page.
Filler has begun. As of reallly late last night Im almost done with the firewall. I just need to work on the lower transition to the OE firewall and a little around the corners. Hoping to finish that up, get some primer on it, and move on to the next section this weekend.
Dan
Inception levels of build :tup:
Almost done with the firewall, still need to do the final glaze coat.
I started on the shock towers/ inner fenders.
Passenger side is pretty close, got the first coat of duraglass on the drivers side.
Where Im at as of last night.
If all goes well this weekend I may prime the firewall and pass side.
Dan
Reached a pretty big milestone last night. Finished up filler and primed the engine bay. There are a few spots Im going to need to address. The biggest being on the upper part of the drivers inner fender (the wavy line there), and the areas around some of the oe “grooves” on the frame rails. But overall Im very happy with how its shaping up.
And just a reminder as to what I started with
Dan
Didnt feel like hand sanding anymore so I thought Id take a break and get the wheel wells primed. So I spent hours with a pile of roloc discs and then primed with Master Series Silver. Tonight Ill spray some 2k primer so itll be ready for chip guard in a month or so.
Up next I need to finish up the motor mounts, and then drop the motor / trans etc in for a final mock up. I still need to finish up the oil cooler mount and double check where wires etc will be run. Then I need to turn some attention to the motor (cleaning up casting lines etc) before it goes out for a rebuild in a couple weeks.
Dan
Last fri night I 2k primed the wheel wells. So at least now the whole bottom of the car is in primer. phew. Sat I pulled it out of the booth, got everything cleaned up (which took forever. so much dust) and removed the last few parts from the shell (windshield comes out tonight)
Sunday I worked on the motor mounts. I hated the way the transmission mount looked “unfinished”. I simply extended the boxed in part so it was even. It still looks a little goofy but at least it looks finished. I also tried my hand at TIG brazing using silicon bronze. I added it over the oe welds to create a nice rounded fillet. Im now hooked on the stuff. Its so easy to lay down and grind and sands so easy.
Before:
Welded up:
Brazed and smoothed:
Next up was the front motor mount. Again, I didnt like the way the tube was just left open near the bracket. (for those that dont know a rubber “doorknob” goes on the end of this and plugs into the next piece that attaches to the lower core support)
Before:
After:
Then it was on to the above mentioned cup. This one wasnt so bad, the factory weld was just not even nor made a nice fillet. I tried using some Dykem as a sort of guide coat. It worked great to quickly identify the low spots as I was block sanding the top edge.
Then it was on to the pass side motor mount. Since Im not using the factory alternator mount, which slips under the motor mount, I brazed in a spacer. I suppose I could have tried to flatten it or cut it off and weld in a flat piece, but this was fairly simple and its sort of behind the timing belt anyway. Plus the brazing is fun. I still want to braze over the factory welds to smooth them out. Ill get to that tonight.
I then bead blasted them all.
And the new mounts arrived. I ended up getting the TT Tuning 65A HD replacements.
Dan
Finished up the brazing on the top of the last motor mount. Now all the mounts are ready for a coat of MSS.
And bead blasted. The MSS should help fill the pits.
Bead blasted the OE master cylinder brace that I dimple die’d a few months back. I didnt like the uneven flange on the top edge so I trimmed that up and reshaped the lower flange a little.
Before
After
Last tues a friend and I pulled the windshield and I was surprised to find what lie beneath.
I scraped, wheeled, and ground out all of the urethane, paint, and most of the crusty rust. Also removed 14mils of paint from the window frame and wiper cowl. Whoever repainted this thing before was NOT shy with the product. Ended up with a few small holes which shouldnt be a big deal to patch up
Better
Pic of said paint thickness.
Finally sand blasted.
Tonight Im going to sand blast it again, brush on a coat of MSS and then hopefully spray a second coat over the channel and the entire window frame and cowl. Ill also spray a coat on the motor mounts.
Dan
55,695
They ALL do that under the windshield seal. My Transporter had some of that when I popped all the windows out for a full re-spray.