Sunday, June 7, 2009

Well, still waiting for parts, so I decided that this was paint removal weekend in the engine room. I used a chemical stripper, several different sizes of scrapers, and a lot of newspaper. I now remember why I don't like doing this. I couldn't talk my wife into it so I was stuck with the job. I took three days because of my bad back but it's down to bare metal now. I will go over it with a Scotch Brite disk to clean any last bits of paint off. The plan is to wash it with metal prep, degrease it, prime it with acid etch primer, sand it smooth and apply the color. I'm going to use a single stage paint in the engine room and the trunk area, and catalyzed paint on the body, whenever that happens. I discovered a rust problem on the left side of the engine compartment near the bottom. There is a piece of sheet metal that sticks out there that has no use other than providing a place to mount the left side apron (which I still haven't found). The rust worm had done its job and the plate was completely eaten through for about 90% of its length. I decided the easiest way to fix it was to drill out the spot welds, remove the damaged plate, use it for a pattern and fabricate a new piece from sheet metal stock. I took pictures but haven't down loaded them yet, maybe tomorrow.

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