Another 70 wagoneer build

[Kaiserjeeps]

You sure the rusty parts had zinc not cad?

Cad is not sacrificial so any scratch will rust where zinc will protect a scratch.

I think you are right on the cadium. I could see a hint of it under a bolt head. You can buy the different colors from Caswell. To dip in after a plating. Yellow, blue, OD green, etc. Is Cadium not applied after zinc? I am not knowing...

So I think this is all pretty cool. On the old FJ60 rear hatch. A rusty before shot.



Bead blasted, plated and sprayed with eastwood's hi temp satin clear for extended protection. This piece will be what I look at over time to see if this is really worth it. So far I am real happy with it. New foam seals even. I swear it even shuts better.

[Frank Ziebert]

Al, I am not sure this will help but any blast media I have used will leave a residue-- sand, glass bead, etc. glass bead has been one of the worst: rinse, wash rinse, wash, air blast dry!

[Kaiserjeeps]

Thanks Frank. I have been cleaning and sending stuff right into the degrease tank. I am having fantastic results now that I have the amperage somewhat dialed.

The primer showed up at 4:30 today. Perfect for a spray tomorrow morning. No more mixing different hardeners.

So I plated all day today. It takes 5 minutes or so in the degrease tank. Then a solid 30 minutes in the plating tank. I use a kitchen timer. I am having great results. As the manual states, buff lightly on a fine wire wheel for a shine. Sure enough it works just great. All buffed parts get clear coated.

One before and one after a quick pass on the wire wheel.



Looking good. I now feel that this stand was worth it. It is a crapshoot sometimes. These are the tailgate bumper and alignment bolts.



I can only plate so much and it is all limited by the output of the power supply. Todays plating. I am more than half way through the zinc pile.



Speaking of tailgate bumpers and alignment brackets. I decided to pry off the damaged rubber bumpers and make a mold to cast some new ones. You can buy a product called "Flexane" and cast your own parts. While waiting for the plating to complete each cycle I made a two part mold. I had a bear of a time setting up the lathe to cut a taper. But I nailed it. It took several hours to complete. I am confident it will make a fairly accurate reproduction. I used a section of the nylon rod that I hoped would be a good color match for the column shifter knob. It did not match and this is what I ended up using some of it for.
Glad I had it.










I am excited to try casting rubber. The time goes into the molds I see. I will get some flexane ordered soon. There are several more rubber parts I want to create. I will be free to try more of this when Sadie is done and back in Seattle. I sure enjoy this stuff.

More in a bit.

[toddthewelder]

This gentleman has a great write up using caswells kit.

http://www.scott-yoo.com/other/electroplating.html

Caswells calculator. This has shown to have inaccuracies but is close.

http://www.caswellplating.com/surface.html

Careful ordering from eastwood, I ordered 4 gallons of fastback blue elastwrap and got 3 gallons of pearlizer top coat no one can tell me how the order got changed or where the 4th gallon is, they just treat me like a scumbag and tell me if I want the blue I have to pay $80 to ship the 4 gallons back to them even though I only have 3 of the 4 ordered

[SJTD]

Careful ordering from eastwood, I ordered 4 gallons of fastback blue elastwrap and got 3 gallons of pearlizer top coat no one can tell me how the order got changed or where the 4th gallon is, they just treat me like a scumbag and tell me if I want the blue I have to pay $80 to ship the 4 gallons back to them even though I only have 3 of the 4 ordered

Hope you used a credit card.

[toddthewelder]

Hope you used a credit card.

I did, maybe it will help in the long run

[SJTD]

I wouldn't wait around. I'd call them, tell them I need a shipping ticket emailed today for the three cans and a refund or I'm calling the CC company.

[Kaiserjeeps]

That is terrible service. It seems common sometimes. Paying attention to detail should not cost extra. I would do as mentioned above. Protect yourself and let them know you are serious.
I keep asking them to create a guest check out. They send me reasons to have it that are pure BS. It is a hassle period. My own pet peev for 2017 I guess.

I am finally getting back on a sanding block. The last few days have been spent traveling between Fire chief's, Fire directors, tax assessors for both Washington and Idaho. I have been able to get all 11 residences included on a newly expanded fire protection district up here. Also trying to establish the tax base for paying for it. Currently the issue over state lines and who protects who and how to do it are being elevated to the Washington attorney general. I have presented a new problem both states have not encountered before. I told my insurance company that I will take all of my business elsewhere if I get canceled after all this. In a polite way of course. I have done due diligence and it is out of my hands now.
As mentioned in Franks thread, there is so much smoke here that our home smoke detectors went off at 3:30 am inside the house the other night. Our windows were open to try and cool the house off. I about got glued to the ceiling. I need to get sanding.

[SJTD]

I can't get fire insurance here on the edge of the San Fernando Valley through any regular company because I'm up against the hills.

I have to get it through California Fair Plan.

Also couldn't get it at my Lompoc place because I was about 70 yards from a "Green Zone "a fenced in island of undisturbed brush the developer had to set aside when he built the hoses.

[Kaiserjeeps]

I guess they want us all in high density housing rubbing elbows. Living in rural areas is becoming an issue for insurance companies. I had to meet with two fire chief's yesterday afternoon. One from Idaho and one from Washington. They said insurance companies are pushing for a 5 mile limit from a fire station. Essentially a joke of service regarding insurance. And some issues have surfaced for our group of homes. I hope to get through it. This is requiring a lot of energy and thought. I am not a politically minded soul.
For now, wash, dry, re-mask and paint.
There is peace in that. Think green and shiny.

[Kaiserjeeps]

The hood repaint turned out stunning. I mean really stunning. No waves in reflections, no streaks, next to no dirt, I could not be more pleased. It did not come easy. I had a fly land in it last season right when I got done with it. I blend sanded with 600 grit by hand. Then using the new eastwood spray gun got a good coat on it. It looked so incredibly bad I could not believe it. I did degrease the gun but it sprayed fish eyes from assembly oil everywhere. And the streaks were horrendously bad. It made me sad and I was starting to feel like a good job was eluding me for good. Back at it I again the next morning I hand wet sanded with 600 and after cleaning my old spray gun really well, I sprayed it yet again. Finally it looks just super. I am most definitely returning the new spray gun. It also made really weird zebra stripes with the metallic. It was a pain and I don't feel like trying to get used to it.
I sprayed the last coat of the primer on the door frames and the rockers. I had to sand the rockers down to metal as the chips were way to numerous.



I went to town and bought a super soft bristle brush. I washed the roof and the entire outside after a final 400 sand. It had solidified sanding sludge in every nook and cranny. It took awhile to get really clean....




Back in the shop it went for another wet coat of clear liquid spray mask on the frame and axles. I washed some of it away when I scrubbed it all down. I really like the liquid spray mask. I could see it did a super job rinsing away like it was freshly painted black. I now needed to completely rearrange the shop to get Sadie back in the booth. In the mean time, the hood redo.

The fly marks. I would never let this slip by.



The final and beautiful paint job. I had to paint in three different directions on full fan to get rid of the streaks. The final paint went on with very fast strokes to avoid getting too much paint on. No runs!



My wife and I carried it out to bake in the sun the next day. It sure looks great. The pictures absolutely don't do justice!



Spent the entire day getting Sadie moved back in the booth. It is cramped in there. The shop is so clean, I really am glad about that. Backing her in carefully for the spin around the corner.



And I needed a scaffolding for some home work. Time to get it so I can reach the roof properly. This will make all the difference in reaching the center. I put thick duct tape on every surface that can hit the body. I am going to have to be really careful when I spray.



Tomorrow I mask everything under the roof down to the floor.
On a side note the zinc plating is going great also. I still have a lot to do but it is getting there. I need to order some flexane for casting new rubber bushings for the tailgate alignment brackets. Here are the door and tailgate latch plates. And the shims in back there. They will be painted but I have re-established the zinc coating just like new. We might get another 30 years out of them now.



Got relatives coming Friday. But more coming as soon as I can knock it out.
And my sympathies to Greg and his urethane sealant mishap trying to install his windshield. Hopefully he has found a way to remove it from his dash and everything it stained. I know how it felt. Like when my spray gun lid flew off in the back of Sadie and spilled expensive paint just about everywhere. What a mess. Wow...

More soon....

[SJTD]

Plating looks great. So does the paint.

[Kaiserjeeps]

I was just heading out to spray the roof again. I had a beautiful job done and had a partial hand print fish eye out right over the drivers door. I lost my balance on the scaffolding just for a second and touched the roof with a gloved hand. It sprayed out real nice then the print showed up. I hand sanded the whole darn thing with 600 grit yesterday to try and keep the overall thickness down. And cut through the fish eye residue. This can be tricky. I will be glad to be done with paint soon. I will keep at it.
34 degrees last night. Winter is coming.

[toddthewelder]

I was just heading out to spray the roof again. I had a beautiful job done and had a partial hand print fish eye out right over the drivers door. I lost my balance on the scaffolding just for a second and touched the roof with a gloved hand. It sprayed out real nice then the print showed up. I hand sanded the whole darn thing with 600 grit yesterday to try and keep the overall thickness down. And cut through the fish eye residue. This can be tricky. I will be glad to be done with paint soon. I will keep at it.
34 degrees last night. Winter is coming.

It looks great! 34 degrees, it didn't get below 90 here last night and the humidity is about 85%. Has the fire gotten close to your place?

[Kaiserjeeps]

No immediate threats but there are fires just a bit north of us. 2 of them. We had our scare in 2015 with the 28K acre fire just up the road. I called in that one at 3 in the morning. I got up to get a glass of water. I thought it was 4x4 headlights up on the hill, that is till a tree blew up in flames. 3 seconds and the tree was vaporized. It burned for 6 miserable weeks. We had frito sized chunks of burned bark landing in the yard. Cool to the touch but raw unburnt wood inside when you broke it in half.
So I know exactly how Frank feels. It is really hard to decide what is valuable to you when you can only carry what fits in a car or truck. I sure hope they are doing alright. The house and shop too. We are having humidity levels of 18-22 percent here. Everything is as brown and brittle as can be. I think we may scoot through this year. But I will be making changes to help us if it happens again. Gravel against the house foundation 2 feet out. No vent screen holes bigger than 1/8th inch. I learned embers blow in foundation and roof vents and start homes up that way. Liz and I did a walk around with the local fire dept yesterday morning. They surprised us. The price to pay for very rural living. I will never move though. We love it here. Liz saw two separate bears this morning. And we almost bumped a big bull moose on the road home coming home the other night. That makes it worth it.
So we are fine. It is Frank that needs good thoughts his sent his way....
Thanks for asking Todd.