Next Tool Whore project ................. remote filter for the parts washer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNqsQ-jxvHA

My parts washer filter bag finally gave up the ghost.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/pro...41024_200141024
Worked good for a long time. Bag finally gave up.

New Filter. Pretty simple. Constant filtering. When the stream slows down, change the filter.
Filter remote is on sale at Summit. $20.

Here's a shot of the front fender after the SPI epoxy has cured.

Click to view attachment

Started the day in the kitchen.
Boiled some water to get the handle off the e-brake. I got side tracked and cooked it a bit too long. Came off with a simple twist.

Click to view attachment

Unscrewed the push button and pulled the rod and spring out. Then ran the handle thru the blaster cabinet prepping it for welding the crack.

Click to view attachment

Measured the metal. 14 ga. Then reset the MillerMatic accordingly.

Click to view attachment

Good as new.

Click to view attachment

Here's a shot of the mini wire wheel selection I mentioned yesterday.

Click to view attachment

Stopped at Ace on the way home and picked up some 1/2" brass refrigeration pipe.
The stuff I had laying around was too old and hard. Wouldn't bend.
[/quote]
Next time you run into this use a propane/map torch to re-anneal it. Just watch the tube and when it starts to turn blue it's annealed. Short "brush strokes" work best as you watch the bluing chase the flame.

Thanks. I have a 10 foot roll of the old stuff.

Having all this time to think, and Doug (Raynecat) stopping by to add to my parts stash. I might do a cost analysis on putting in the 6 cylinder 2.2T with Italian Webers that I have on the shelf. As my skills have improved, this is turning out to be a much nicer car than I'd planned on. Plus it will add value to all my hours of hard work.

IIRC the leak down numbers from Rothsport gave it about a 1/2 life left in it. Plus 6 Webers with rain hats look bitchn. Not to mention the roar when you put the hammer down.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/914/914-6_cons..._info_guide.htm
I have a set of Fuchs 7 & 8's also .....................

Being off during the holidays for the first time in 35 years has been fun.
Had time to shop. Not just a mad dash after work.

Had another interview. It went very well. I'll know more after the first of the year.

My auto project the last couple weeks has been working on my son's 2002 A6 2.7T, again. I finally drove in and put new gaskets under the cam tensioners and replaced the cam plugs. Then set about finding a one quart per month coolant leak we've chasing for 5 or 6 years. After taking it apart and putting it back together a couple times I finally found it. It was a small chip on the lip of the thermostat cover. That rim seats right into o-ring that is used as the thermostat gasket.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

It's got a few more hoses and electrical connectors than our T4's.

Click to view attachment

Looks familiar... Needs more coolant You replaced the spider hose yet? PITA...

Yep, that was last year.

A couple more dads garage projects before we return to our regular scheduled programming.

#1 Project. #2 sons fiancees 2006 Mazda 6.
Car goes electrically crazy when it rains. Turn signals and flashers don't work. Turn signals stay on and drains the battery. Thru web research I narrowed it down to the flasher. But then we have a problem. Most the brain surgeons on the web don't have a clue where the flasher is. News Flash, 2006 Mazda doesn't have a stand alone flasher relay like our experienced (age is an attitude) cars do. It's embedded in the Body Control Module. Which I finally locate under the small inside fuse panel. The going crazy issue is caused by leaking water. When I finally find it, it and the attaching plugs are drenched. Took the module apart and put the board in a bowl of rice to dry out.
Carpet is saturated. Dandy. The leak is coming from a Mazda design flaw. The hood release cable pops out of the side panel. So when driving down the road at speed in the rain some kind of pressure/vacuum event sucks the water in. The hole in the inner fender is behind the plastic inner fender. Really out of line of fire.
Remedy. Time to use the Big Ass Craftsmen screwdriver and press the strain relief/grommet back in the hole. Getting enough light and screwdriver in place is a bitch. But it finally pops in. End of story.

Except the little heater is still running in the car to dry out the carpet. The board fired right up without any issues.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Body module is the black box with the white plugs.
Car will have one more big road trip. After he and the fiancce pass the Oregon bar in June. They're heading to Wall Street to pay off their loans.

#2 Project. The water pump goes out Sunday night in our one owner 99 Explorer. Girls were coming back from the mall. So we hook up the open trailer and go and pick it up.
Pouring down rain and 40 degrees, pitch black Nice thing about a water pump failure. Belt comes off and the power steering stops, all the lights come on.

No story. Got only 70K on the water pump. NAPA warrantied it. Finished up installing the pump last night. Pulled the thermostat right before quitting time so we can do a static flush this am. Rinse and repeat till it comes out clear.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Then I get a email from Mark(914Rubber) last night. He wants me to look at an R/R on the front panel of a project car. Havent heard back when its coming. Need to get the Explorer off the rack.

Today starts 5-6 day window of no rain. So I hope to get blasting/stripping finished.
Only issue : cold, 30 degrees

On the employment front. Things look promising. Let's just say, a regional VP wants me for a specific account manager job. I'm part #3 of the puzzle. But the puzzle only came about because I became a available. Kind of complicated.

So based on the conversation/interview with the sales manager I'll probably have only 3 weeks left on my sabbatical.

Finished up the Explorer. Flush went smoothly. Probably ran 20 gallons thru it to get completely clear.

Decided to install a spin on filter onto my HF parts washer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNqsQ-jxvHA
Filter hanger from Summit. $25 worth of barbed pipe fitting from Ace.
Pulled the cover off the pump. Kind of ugly ...........

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

New Episode of Tool Whore

Got a couple new IR Die Grinders with a $100 Amazon gift card I received.
For twice the money $40, there's no comparison. The HF ones will be relegated to little wire wheels.
Plus a larger tubing bender for the e-brake cable tubes that come thru the firewall.

Click to view attachment

Then I found the replacements for my welding close up lights.
My McGyvered ones bounced off the floor one to many times. New ones $22 at NAPA.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Those would be great for welding in tight spots with old eyes. Good idea!

It's question time again...

I was looking at your post #593 where you were using the Eastwood HD anti-rust inside the targa bar. Can you tell me more about your schutz gun/interior spray hose set-up? Thanks.

Eastwood sprayer and hoses. I attach it directly to the Anti-Rust can. Then use the black plastic jar to clean the gun and hoses with lacquer thinner.

http://www.eastwood.com/undercoating-gun-a...ses-bottle.html

I have another one to spray U-Pol Raptor bedliner. They look almost the same. I'll use that spray the Lizard Skin on the interior. I think I have two of those, one in an un-opened box

http://www.tooltopia.com/u-pol-up0726.aspx...StUYaAj3D8P8HAQ

OK, now we've seen Mr. Fixit mode. Today is a day to sit back & watch it snow

JP the snow surprised the crap out of me too .................
Last forecast was 20% precip at 4pm today............

Awesome! Thank you. I think I've found my Christmas present.

Remember those are the folks that are the "know it alls" about global warming.

Finished up the parts washer filter install. Solvent was coming out crystal clear

Click to view attachment

Hose is on a pivot so it can be folded down to be out of the way when the lid is closed.

Click to view attachment

Then went on to extracting my first parts off the $75 parts car.

Click to view attachment

Not bad for a $75 inveestment.
Parking brake short cable
Part #: 914-424-256-01-OEM
http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/SuperC...S_pg1.htm#item1

The one off the project had a couple loose wires.

Then on to pulling the harness from the front trunk. Photo documentation before pulling wires from headlight sockets.

Click to view attachment

Hand brake handle #2. Out of the parts car

I put a pot of water on to boil. Just as the small bubbles started to form I dipped it once for 10 seconds. No Go
Waited about a minute, then gave it another 10 second dip. Water still not boiling
Then gave it a twist with a towel. Came right off.

Click to view attachment

This time just a little discoloration. Could be reused.

Finally get back to working on the rustoration.
Started off a little chilly ...............

Click to view attachment

First item was filling the holes in the muffler shield supports. I plan to install blind nuts on the flange so I'll be able to R & R the shield.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

All fixed .................

Click to view attachment

Super In Law set about fitting the Tangerine Racing Rear Suspension Ear Reinforcements. Quite a bit of tinkering to get them to fit nice and tight. A couple different hammers and a big drift.

Click to view attachment

After it was fitted. I welded it in. This is the before grinding shot.

Click to view attachment

I set about pulling the cables in the engine compartment and in the front trunk.
I'm prepping the car for the finishing up of the media blasting. It looks like we'll have 3-4 dry but cold days starting tomorrow.

Click to view attachment

Because of the temp. Cable was pretty stiff. I pulled the entire cable back about 6 inches. Then started pulling the cables thru separately.

Click to view attachment

Big relay board connector is the last one to get pulled thru.

Click to view attachment

Zip tied out of the way.

Front trunk ready to go.

Click to view attachment

Here a some reference shots of the fresh air vent cables.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

We'll finish up the left suspension ear reinforcement in the am. It's about 1/2 finished.

We finished up the right suspension ear reinforcement. No need for a picture
Then I get after removing the fresh air vents and cable controls. Control will need to be refurbished

Start with drawing a map/diagram of the cables.
Click to view attachment
Left & Right are actual, viewed from the front

Here's a shot of the bolt that secures the cable controls.
Click to view attachment
Realize the car is on a rotisserie, car is upside down.

Fan control wires are labeled.
Click to view attachment

So after lunch, even though its only 40 degrees we roll the rotisserie outside and get setup to blast some glass. I've been pondering upgrading the the 100# HF unit. But why bother, my compressor cant keep up any way.
Need to add monster compressor to my pre-retirement needs.

Cockpit is finally completely stripped.
Click to view attachment

Targa bar stripped, both top and bottom.
Click to view attachment

Lower engine firewall tidied up.
Click to view attachment

Got drivers side just about completed before we head home.
Click to view attachment

If your going to try and blast with a HF blaster. Here's the weak link.
First you have to replace the nozzle with a HF deadman valve. The problem I'm finding is that the shut off plate is too soft. It pretty quickly gets a track cut thru it.
Click to view attachment

Primarily caused by me not watching the nozzle cone. It wears down and starts to leak media against the plate. Tomorrow I plan to check the nozzle on every media refill.
Click to view attachment

Edited 2/4/16 When you take it out of the package make sure that the nozzle is screwed down enough that it lines up about in the middle of the plate. This will prolong its life immensely.

Some great looking progress!

First order of the day.
Appointment for Dad's Garage.
Princesses Kia needed an oil change. She's really good about it . At 24 this is the second car has she bought all by herself. This car has never gone over 4k between oil changes.
Click to view attachment

After the oil change. I added a +1.50 cheater lens to my welded helmet. Much Better.
After lunch we rolled out the car and started blasting again.
1. Finished up the engine side of the fire wall.
Click to view attachment
2. Finishing up the firewall did open up one weak spot.
Click to view attachment
3. Then I went after the windshield frame and the cowl. No real issues, other than narrow.
Click to view attachment
4. Bottom of the windshield frame has a bit of rust issues. I'll probably do some more grinding and wire wheel work. Then smooth it out with JB weld. I'll let that cure for a couple weeks than reshape to the grinder.
Click to view attachment
5. I will add a couple Kudo's for POR15. When we put it on the road 15 years ago we added quite a bit of POR15 to the front trunk seal channel. Looks brand new. This channel was completely coated with POR15. I'll finish cleaning it up with a wire wheel.
Click to view attachment

Tomorrow I'll get after the front trunk and gas tank cavity. I did set up the car in the tent again to do another temp test over night. I didn't have any luck finding a heated paint booth to rent. I hope things don't come to a stands still because of the outside temperature.

Friday 01/08

Day started foggy and cold. Once again 40 degrees.
Temp test was a bust. Body was only 50 degrees. So no primer in the near future

So I decided to get after the rust hole in the targa bar. Larger horizontal cuts were made with the 3" die grinder on the mandrel. I think its going to be one of my favorite new tools.
Click to view attachment

Shorter, vertical cuts from the pictures perspective were made with the Dremel. Only buy the reinforced discs. The thin ones crack like a potato chip.
Click to view attachment

Bad news. Found a rust hole on everyone's favorite targa bar support. I was thinking we need to remove a fairly good one of these and get it to RD. On a CW restoration it would probably need replacing on most cars. It's just spot welded onto the inner fender. Maybe after I fire up the plasma cutter to cut the upper seat belt mounts out of the parts car. For Doug (raynecat). I'll open up the targa and see if I can get a good ones off that car. More value for my $75. LOL.
Click to view attachment
I'm not going to attempt to patch that. 50 years jammed in foam. I'll give it a shot of OSPHO before we cover it up. Post #529, page 14.
Here's shot from underneath.
Click to view attachment
Found just the right magnet to hold the top flush and gave it a couple tacks, Millermatic set at 21 gauge. Then walked around the entire piece taking my time tacking it in, probably took a half hour. Using cooling air here and there.
A couple pointers I thought I'd toss out there. When tacking in the patch panel. Start the weld on the new known thickness material. Pull the puddle onto the old. Do it quickly the first tack to test the old metal. That is the left arrow.
#2, the right arrow. Super In Law cut the patch just a smidgen too small. I think a metal band saw will be on the tool list after I return to work. This is a little tricky with old metal. You can see that my first attempt blew out the old. With the wide gap it got too hot. I'm melting Wizard of Oz, for us Old Guys. So what I do. 1st, be patient. Heat is the enemy. Go get a refill on the coffee. I blip tack the old edge. You can see the first one on the bottom right. Get those done. Go slow.Go Slow. Go Slow. Once again, heat is the enemy. Cool it completely with the air hose. Now start the weld on the new weld attached to the new metal. Pull the puddle to the old edge.
Easy Deal, only took me about 3 years to figure it out.
Click to view attachment

Here's what she looked like after it was all tacked in. I'd already started cutting down the bottom edge before I decided to take a picture
Click to view attachment
This gives you a good idea how far I take it down before I use a Roloc disc. I wish I'd learned this a long time ago. It would have saved endless hours of reworking.
I did fill in a few spots on the upper edge before I finished grinding.
Click to view attachment
Gooder as new ....................
Click to view attachment

Sun came out around 11am. So I decided with the inability to spray Epoxy we'd spray down the exposed/raw metal with OSPHO. This will keep it from flash rusting. Haven't had a lot of issues. But want NONE. The OSPHO is compatible with the SPI primer.
Click to view attachment
After lunch it was time to do some more blasting. Onto the POR15 impregnated trunk.
It was slow going. The POR15 sprayed on the seam sealer doesn't budge. Nice thing about the trunk is we can reclaim more that 1/2 of the glass an reuse it. We use a kiddy pool as a collector. Then screen the glass.
Click to view attachment
Close up of headlight bucket.
Click to view attachment

Super In Law is beginning work on our body dolly. We're going to reuse the jig we built for the double long install. Hopefully I'll never have to do that again.
Click to view attachment

Might take the weekend off. I want to let the OSPHO completely dry out before I do the blasting in the gas tank area. Or maybe I'll go out and start on the doors. Both will need some welding on the notorious inside bottom rolled skin edge. With my improved welding skills and the die grinder on the mandrel it should be much easier.

Started the day stopping off at the auto paint store, Quality Paint.
He gave me the name of two shops that rent out their paint both.
Right here in Hillsboro.
I'll check in with them in a couple weeks when I'm almost ready.

Rainy day, so no bead blasting .........

So starting digging into the headlight buckets. Back 15 years ago we did some hillbilly repairs. I finished up some welds that were left unfinished.
Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

While I was working out in the cold. Super In Law was working in the other room. The lap of luxury, wood heat. LOL.
We're looking at a couple weeks of rain in the forecast.

So we get after the doors. He finishes dismantling the left door. Then he gets after the right door, it's in pretty good shape. Left door has issues in the lower channel.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Here's the right channel. It's not too bad. Might need a couple cut and patches.
Click to view attachment

Here's the left channel. Enough said
Click to view attachment
I'm going to go thru my stash and see If I have one that's a little better.
If not I'll need to build a U channel. The outer skin is fine.

Back out in the cold I go .....................

Finished up the right headlight bucket. Nothing new to show
Then I decided to get after the seam sealer in the tire well. Pretty simple. Working in about 6" lengths I heated up the seam sealer with the heat gun. Then chiseled off the seam sealer with the Astro Air Chisel (thank you, Jeff Hail). I think I'll need to order a couple replacement straight chisels in the near future. Then hit it the wire cup brush (Lie Detector, Scotty).
Mold plug before
Click to view attachment
Bottom plug after
Click to view attachment
Got it about 2/3rds finished before I moved into the other room to perform surgery
Click to view attachment

We dug thru all the left doors. They all have some degree of rust in the inner door seal track. So we decided we'll fix the one we're working on.
We start tinkering with the brake to see what we could create.
Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment
We end up using a piece of 3/8" bar stock as the form. We plan on doing it in two pieces. But we struggled with a piece that was 15"s long. So we finished in the vice.
With the replacement piece created it was time for Tool Whore to do some surgery.

Click to view attachment
I cut it out in three sections. Top, channel and the spot welded on lip.
Don't quite have the spot welded lip all removed.

Here's the new piece slid into place.
Click to view attachment

Weapons pile ...............
Click to view attachment

The opening should give me enough room to remove the crusty old seam sealer that's in all the doors. Which should allow to prep for cavity wax.

Took Wednesday off.

Started Thursday by meeting my Mom at the fabric store. We bought 12 yards of marine upholstery to create dust covers for all my free standing equipment. i.e, lathe, welder with tanks and gauges, plasma cutter, etc. She had a 50% off coupon
But that will make it a short day. Tonight is my once a month PDX Pelican group get together at the Taproom in NW PDX. Starts at 5.

So I jumped back on the door repair. Took quite a bit of time fitting the two pieces together. The key is getting a nice tight fit for a an easier weld. A wide weld can be done. But takes more heat. Which then creates a blowout. And so on and so on. You get the picture. We did leave the top long and recut using the opening that I cut in the door as a guide. In picture #2 you'll see our 5/16 stick of bar stock. I used that to level the two pieces in the center. I tacked the two ends flush with the corner track. Then tacked the middle after I leveled with the bar. You can easily reach behind and hold it with your hand.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Here's where I ended the day on Thursday. All tacked up and ready to to finished.

Click to view attachment

I used a micro flat bladed screw driver from $ Store or HF to level the two upper edges as I welded.

Was hoping that we'd get a break in the rain. But it wasn't too be. Kind of drizzled all day. So back to the door repairs.

I start with tweaking the shorter outer flange of our new channel. Didn't need much, just a smidgeon.
Click to view attachment

But after I tilt the door up a little I see rust hole I missed. Damn ............
Click to view attachment

This is where EXTREME patience is need. That crooked edge is almost paper thin. It's going to blow out. The only question is, how much. So the trick is to turn down the welder till your just getting a weld, not a cold blob. As the hole enlarges be patient. Use air and time to let it cool. You don't make the next weld until you can touch it with your bare hand. It' takes time. Basically you want to build a solid ring around the outer edge of the blown out hole. Then with same patience you fill in the hole. Make sure you try and start with the inside bottom edge. This helps with not creating air pockets in the short blip welds.
Click to view attachment

Another tip. Always start the weld with a clean wire tip. Don't be lazy
Click to view attachment

Work Station :
Click to view attachment

Now on to welding in the spot weld cutter holes with rosette welds.
It starts by making sure every hole is clamped tight to the channel flange. Then tap the edge of the hole with the pick end of your body hammer. Now your ready to weld.
Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

On the upper flange weld I ran into a couple spots that blew out a bit. But that's to be expected. Go slow. And take your finger off the trigger. News Flash ......... you take your finger off the trigger. Things stop melting. LOL.
Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Found another issue with the left door. I found a rip in the door closer mounting hole area. Almost looked like it was cut. Hmmm ?

Click to view attachment

I marked the welded area with survey tape. It will be a reminder that I need a smaller ground down disc. One that will fit down into the groove.
Might have to get after it with the Dremel.

Click to view attachment

The rest of the day was spent on my good friend Harry's Magic Bus. We MacGyvered a type 1 engine to type 4 heater cable arrangement. We figured it out. Left side is working fine. Right (passenger) we kind of buggered up. Stretched the outer tube.

Click to view attachment

Looks like we'll have a small break in the PDX drizzle. So I decide we'll do some bead blasting. I think if we stay at this spot much longer we'll need to pour an apron on the front of the building. That will allow us to lay down a large trap and recover more of the media. Right now we recover about 1/2 with a shovel and the kiddie pool.

I figured I might as well work on the doors first. I need to strip out the remainder of the seal channel looking for more foam damage.

Click to view attachment

I find one spot on the door with the larger repair. It was on one of the upright sides. Seems kind of odd when any moisture should have rolled down to the bottom. So I assume it was over filled with adhesive which hindered it's drainage. On the good door I find 4 spots that will need patches. I'd planned on using JB weld on that door to see if it holds up. I was thinking someone could reread this 20 years from now and look at the difference. But I think I'll surgically remove and patch them.

Then we roll out the rotisserie and get back to blasting. All thats really left is the front trunk and the gas tank cavity. But I ran out of cleaned and dried media. The last bag of new stuff was a bit chunky. And we have three 5 gallon gallon buckets of recovered material to be screened and dried. Weather report said the rain would start at 4:30.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Just a little bit to go .................

Click to view attachment

Looks like we'll have another break in the weather. No rain forecasted until 3pm.
But we need to dry and screen our 4 buckets of reclaimed media. So why'll Super In Law is tending to the media I get after the spot I missed on the repaired door.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

My first touch blew a giant hole in the project. The gap at the bottom could be pushed up tight with a screw driver from behind. A little touchy, but all in all it welded ok. Now the grinding, not so much.

Click to view attachment

Ground thru in a couple spots. Be extra careful grinding on an outside radius curve.
After my grind thru issue I broke into my new Cubitron discs. OMG ............
I'm going to have to do a cost analysis on only using them. The 80 grit leaves a beautiful finish.