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Siphon feed blasters are practically useless , unless you are only sandblasting a small area .
The sand , as well as the air , must be absolutely DRY . I have two air dryers . One near the compressor , and one on the sandblaster .
An 80 # pressure feed blaster and a 5 HP compressor should be completely adequate .
Freshly sandblasted steel will rust rapidly . PPG recommends that the steel be re-coated a half hour after sandblasting to prevent " flash rusting ".
To help avoid warpage , keep the nozzle moving in a series of sweeping motions . Rather than concentrating in one spot . You can't " blow through " sheetmetal with a sandblaster , unless there was nothing but rust there anyway ..
A rotisserie definitely makes life much easier .
I usually blast between 60 and 100 PSI . I start at 100 and when I get down to 60 PSI , I take a break and let the compressor catch up .
"Back in the day", all pressure fed sandblasters for the hobbyist weren't available. That's a great idea......TWO air line dryers. I'll get another one in the next couple days. Thanks for the tip Charlie.
What primer do you use ? Do they have it in "rattle cans" ?
My 57 has rust holes in the floor pans and trunk, so I am expecting to "burn through" more than a few spots. I'll reset my compressor and regulator to 100 psi shutoff.
I liked the rotisserie more, after I saw yours and how well they work. Laying under a car sandblasting and welding isn't handy. I'll be replacing sheet metal also. Thanks Charlie
Now , the next order of business is to put that 394 back into that frame .
I proceeded to make steel motor mount brackets , using the plywood ones that I had made previously .
I started with a chunk of quarter inch plate from the scrapyard . I simply put the patterns on the steel and outlined them in spray paint ;
Straight cuts were made with a skilsaw and a carbide disc . Curved cuts were made with a jigsaw with a bi-metal blade .
Engine and brackets look great - how will the transmission bolt up to that bellhousing?
Don , In the last picture there are large 1" nuts between bellhousing and the bracket . Those approximate the thickness of the "ears" of a yet to be purchased Richmond Super T-10 .
The pic is from the internet . (That's where I got the idea .)
Last edited by Charlie Jones; September 7th, 2018 at 11:18 AM.
Don , In the last picture there are large 1" nuts between bellhousing and the bracket . Those approximate the thickness of the "ears" of a yet to be purchased Richmond Super T-10 .
The pic is from the internet . (That's where I got the idea .)
I just got done moving , so I got some " puttering " time for my Olds tonight .
I needed s set of exhaust hangers , I'm converting to dual exhaust . and on the right side someone cut off the old pipes at the rubber section and half of the hangers went to the scrap with the pipes .
Fortunately Pat (deadds ) had some that weren't too bad .
To take them apart I first drilled the rivets out with a 11/32 drill . You don't need to drill all the way through , just enough to weaken the rivet .
Next , I punched them out with a center punch .
Then I bead blasted the metal pieces and painted them .
Next I need some rubber to make new rubber parts . I was thinking of buying a new mudflap from a truck place and cut the rubber strips from that .
Does anyone have any other ideas ?
Last edited by Charlie Jones; March 5th, 2019 at 01:06 AM.
What you are seeking, and should use, is something called "masticated rubber." It is rubber reinforced with cotton thread. If not what the manufacturer used, it is awfully darn close. When I rebuilt my exhaust hangar, it is what I used.
My advice is to measure the thickness of the rubber on the hangar and get some at least as close to that thickness as possible.
What you are seeking, and should use, is something called "masticated rubber." It is rubber reinforced with cotton thread. If not what the manufacturer used, it is awfully darn close. When I rebuilt my exhaust hangar, it is what I used.
My advice is to measure the thickness of the rubber on the hangar and get some at least as close to that thickness as possible.
Dave , Do you still have some of that material ?
I need 1/4 in and 3/8 in thick . I only need a few pieces , maybe 2 and 1/2 wide by 6 at the most .
If you have some extra , I would buy enough from you to do four 3/8 straps and two 1/4 straps .
I would hate to pay $125 for two 36 X 36 sheets when I only need a few small pieces .
Please let me know . Thanks , Charlie .
Last edited by Charlie Jones; March 5th, 2019 at 06:59 PM.
Yes, I am sure I have some material left. I do not know how thick it is. I do know I only have one thickness. I will have to find it, and report back.
Why do you need two different thicknesses? A quarter inch (1/4") seems pretty flimsy to me in this application. If it were me I would go with the 3/8" in both locations.
Yes, I am sure I have some material left. I do not know how thick it is. I do know I only have one thickness. I will have to find it, and report back.
Why do you need two different thicknesses? A quarter inch (1/4") seems pretty flimsy to me in this application. If it were me I would go with the 3/8" in both locations.
Yes , I'm pretty sure 3/8 will work ok on the rear hanger .
Let me know if you find the stuff . Thanks , Charlie
I have checked. The roll of masticated rubber I have is 3" wide x 1/4" thick x ?ft long.
I do not know if that will work in your application?
What I did, as you can see in the photo is use 2 layers of the material. If that works for you, let me know how much you need, and we'll work out getting it to you at a reasonable cost.
[QUOTE=D. Yaros;1159180]I have checked. The roll of masticated rubber I have is 3" wide x 1/4" thick x ?ft long.
I do not know if that will work in your application?
What I did, as you can see in the photo is use 2 layers of the material. If that works for you, let me know how much you need, and we'll work out getting it to you at a reasonable cost.[QUOTE]
Dave ,
I'm going to need about 6 feet of the strip .PM me with price and payment info . Thanks , Charlie
Last edited by Charlie Jones; March 10th, 2019 at 08:17 PM.
The only ones that need to be doubled are the front two , up by the mufflers .
I will probably use weatherstrip adhesive to bond the two layers together
Here I go . One step forward , and two steps back .
I removed the bellhousing to install the clutch fork and throwout bearing . And it doesn't fit . The '63 Olds clutch fork and bearing were way too "tall" .
So , what to do now ?
I went back to pics of the '63
"98" Sport coupe with a 4 speed and discovered a strange forged clutch fork was used. Using google images I determined
that it was a 60 thru 84 Chevy truck clutch fork # 3765372 ;
So I ordered one off E=Bay and a "short " GM bearing too . I will see if this combo will work on a few days . Stay tuned .
Last edited by Charlie Jones; May 5th, 2019 at 06:42 PM.
I finally found a solution to my problem .
The Chevy throwout bearing wouldn't work , because I have a "Long" style pressure plate . (too small )
So I used the '63 Olds throwout bearing with a specially made collar .
I made a drawing of what I wanted and took it to a local machinist named Bernal .
Bernal is a Cuban refugee , and he used to make parts for old American cars when he was in Cuba .
I certainly found the right guy for the job . Here's a couple of pics ;
I then needed to put the trans in , but I had no helper .
I thought for a while , and then went to the hardware store and bought two 1/2 bolts 10 inches long .
I lopped the heads off and used them as guides to slide the trans in by myself ;
I first read that tip about using the 1/2" bolts with the heads cut off in a magazine in the 60's. I have used it many times but I never used 10" long bolts. In my youth I could use the bolts and stab a 4-speed my myself. Not anymore. I will have to use a floor jack if I do one again. Looking really good Charlie.
I took a break from the chassis assembly to work on the body for a while .
I set up a " body shop "
There were two small spots on the bottom rear of each wheelwell where the metal was rusting through from the inside .
Probably because dirt and debris had collected there . This was the only "rust " on the body .
I could see pinholes in these areas , so I took the "pick" side of a body hammer to figure what was solid and what was " alpine lace " .
Then I took a die grinder and a thin cut off wheel and cut out the "alpine lace " .
I got some 20 guage sheet metal and hammered and shaped metal patches and cut them to the size of the old pieces .
They fit pretty well .
Then I had a friend ( who is much better welder than me ) weld the patches in place ,
I ground the welds smooth .
So now , with a little lead , and a lot of finish work , nobody will ever know the patches were there .
Last edited by Charlie Jones; August 23rd, 2019 at 07:05 PM.
I had a long crease in the quarter panel and it was difficult , if not impossible , to straighten with a hammer and dolly .
I wire brushed all the paint from the area .
I bought a Harbor Freight stud welder for this ( and other ) repairs .
I welded studs every couple of inches along the crease .
I then used a slide hammer to pull the crease out .
I did some lead filler years ago before there were instructional videos and had to learn trial by fire. I chose lead because the repair was at the A pillar and in a high stress area that I didn't trust plastic filler to hold up. I came to this conclusion after having a bad experience with plastic filler on a different car previously.
I found the lead filling process to be pretty straight forward except... then it comes to filling vertical surfaces. THAT, was challenging as gravity is not your friend here! I'm sure a professional that was fluent in lead filler would have been able to instruct me, but I did it the way I did it and it took awhile and I wasted A LOT of lead.
Overall, I much prefer plastic filler and would use it for 98% of repairs, but I think that even today, lead filler has a place and is a good skill to know.
I found the lead filling process to be pretty straight forward except... then it comes to filling vertical surfaces. THAT, was challenging as gravity is not your friend here! I'm sure a professional that was fluent in lead filler would have been able to instruct me, but I did it the way I did it and it took awhile and I wasted A LOT of lead. .
This is where a rotisserie really comes in handy . I can rotate the body to where the surface is almost flat .
Also , when you heat the lead , the surface will turn from a dull gray to a shiny silver just before it melts .
That is where it is in the " plastic " range , and can be spread . Alternate use of the torch and paddle can keep the lead in the " plastic " range .
There is only so much " instruction " to this . And the rest is just practice . Just like learning to weld .
I've also learned that this stuff is harder than Chinese arithmetic to file . You can leave the " cheese grater " in the toolbox .
It takes a vixen file and a lot of effort to file it .
I like lead for it's permanence . These repairs will probably last well into the next century , Bondo ? Not so much .
Last edited by Charlie Jones; October 8th, 2019 at 06:41 AM.
Also , when you heat the lead , the surface will turn from a dull gray to a shiny silver just before it melts .
That is where it is in the " plastic " range , and can be spread . Alternate use of the torch and paddle can keep the lead in the " plastic " range .
There is only so much " instruction " to this . And the rest is just practice . Just like learning to weld .
Agreed. It's a skill you acquire over time. It is very permanent. That's why the car manufacturers used it for decades to fill the seam of the roof and other sheetmetal. If I recall correctly, In one case I had to work the lead in a concave area where the vixen file was of little use. I think I used a DA sander with a real rough grit to rough it in before hand sanding. I think it worked OK, but it's been 30+ years, so I may be imagining it worked well.
May 27th, 2018, 10:47 AM
