Cleaned out my garage to make room for another car

[bremereric]

I picked up the power steering pump today..

I got the pump...this morning I got up early and painted the brackets...I came home at lunch and painted the pump with the same epoxy paint...they didn't have the pully puller...they had it rented out..I will call them in the morning and see if it's back..if not I will go to Harber Freight and get a cheap one..got it mounted back in there tonight....

 

[bremereric]

Man...what a phone call I got today...

Out of the blue I got a phone call from one of the members of Houston Mopar Connection Club....they want my car to be in the Autorama during the week of Thanksgiving...they will pay for the carpet and barriers..all I have to do is drive it there and park it...what a compliment..

 

[bremereric]

Got that freakin pully off

Went to Harber Freight today at lunch...picked up a 25 dollar pully remover/installer...used it tonight..should have started up the air compressor and used the 1/2" impact...using a wrench and 1/2" socket almost wore out my big dutch arm...got it off...stripped the paint off and will come home at lunch to paint it...have a staff meeting in the morning...early night....

 

[bremereric]

Learn by my mistakes

1. never try to install a power steering pulley while it's in the car

2. never try to use hand wrenches to push it back on...one wrench loosens the other

3. Always use a 1/2 impact with impact socket

4. If you have a crappy home air compressor take it to work where there is two commercial size ones..unlimited air supply..

I hammered on it with my home compressor and impact..got it half way installed and then said F it and will take it to work tomorrow...hoped you learned a lesson I did...PS should have done the same when removing the pulley...

 

[bremereric]

Got the pump done..installed and no leaks

Okay took the pump to work today...hit the impact with good air supply for 35 seconds and it was done...got it installed tonight...filled it up...filled up the cooling system and fired the car up....no leaks and she ran at 160 in the garage..I think this was the first night I didn't sweat in the garage since March....

 

[bremereric]

Thanks to Frank the Tank I got my mag today...

Thanks to Frank the Tank we traded mags and I got mine today...it's the Mopar Muscle Magazine May 2009 edition with the half page article about my car with the previous owner and his son...

Thanks once again Frank....

 

[bremereric]

Tonight I assembled the soda blaster

I went to Harber Freight after work tonight because I got off earlier...I picked up a 15 pound portable soda blaster...came to the reasoning and conculsion that it is the safetest way to remove paint from plastic...I will have some other little uses for it also..it came with it's own air regulator and filter...also has two shut off valves and one adjustment that controls the amount of the soda to air mixture..can't wait to try it but will wait until next weekend...tomorrow is busy with cleaning two cars for the giant 500 car Halloween show tomorrow night...

 

[bremereric]

Got both cars cleaned today...went car show hoing

Got my 440 Dart at the car show...4:00...already started to have lots of cars arriving...drove my wife's car back home then drove my youngest daughter in the Aspen to the car show..my wife saved me a spot and I was able to get it...by then it was really filling up...there were 735 cars there tonight...seen some I have never seen before..my wife got to see me smoke the tires on the 440 Dart and go sideways...I could smell the smoke inside the car...nothing like the smell of tire smoke...big blue/white cloud left behind..youngest daughter got to feel the 440 power on the way back home..the Aspen ran fine with no leaks from the previous power steering install..heres some pics...

 

[bremereric]

I couldn't sit still today...

Took some grill supports...hood latch assembly..and hood latch release assembly to work...loaded up the soda blaster and went to work...mind you that all of these were covered with undercoating...the previous owner used this to do the black out feature..the hood latch assembly will return to white and the others will be the epoxy black...the soda blaster worked great...it took me about 15 minutes to get it set right and then I had to reload the soda once...I blasted two plastic clips and there was no damage...even at 90 psi...

 

[bremereric]

My wall of fame...first revision...

Taking my car to Houston's Autorama...made my wall of fame with Mopar Muscle article and 1977 Aspen Sales broucher..gone to have to get a 24X36 poster board and doubleback tape them to it...gravity makes them want to slide down..also want to add some verbage about the car..

 

[bremereric]

Got a little more done today..

Got the grill brackets painted this morning and mounted tonight..I cleaned the junk off of the grill bolt and then cleaned the rust off with a wire wheel..I will spray them with flat black VHT paint tomorrow and bake them on the grill on the back porch to cure the paint..

I also got the latch support bracket/frame primed with rustoleum white primer today...48 hours to a full cure..rain here tomorrow through
Thursday...will shoot it on Saturday if the wheather permits..

 

[bremereric]

Got a new horn today...order some new leaf spring shackles

Today I picked up a new horn...the old one was rusty and had that undercoating all over it...I picked up my can of VHT Flat Black flameproof..and ordered some new leaf spring shackles from RockAuto...got home sprayed the bolts with two light coats of VHT and let them dry...I drilled out some rivets from the bracket and horn..I stripped the bracket and sanded it down to remove some rust..took it inside the house and will paint it tomorrow if the humidity is low enough..started my first 30 minute bake on the bolts...will finish them tonight....

new horn...shiney side won't be seen it will face the motor..a little blue lock tite in the nut and it will be done

bracket stripped and bolts ready for baking...

 

[bremereric]

Got some more done

This is my little jig to bake the bolts..they are done and installed...

I painted the horn bracket this morning and it is mounted with a little blue lock tite...

I removed the bracket that supports the Dodge Trim piece that runs along the front of the hood...this bracket is rusty and there is surface rust on the hood underneath where the bracket was..this is only light surface rust that attacked an area where the paint was very thin..for now I will treat it with Eastwoods rust convertor to stop it in it's tracks until I remove the hood and paint the underside..

this is the surface rust under the hood...then the second is of how thin the paint is in this area...

this is the bracket after I stripped the paint off of it..I will clean it up tomorrow and sand the rust off..

 

[bremereric]

Did some air compressor repair then some cleaning

My piece of crap air compressor had a cheap hecho in china regulator on it...it broke recently and I had to use my smaller one...I got a new regulator and some 1/4 pipe pieces today and fixed it...It works good now and I was able to make a little progress cleaned the rust off of the trim bracket...I use my right angle die grinder with some 3-M scuff pads..they work good but get used up fast..I already went through two of them...they do work though...

I brought it back inside tonight to minimize the chances on new surface rust..I will hit it again tomorrow morning and night..want to paint it on Saturday along with the latch support piece

 

[bremereric]

Done sanding and ready for paint

Man what a bunch of sanding and grinding and sanding and grinding but it's finally ready for paint tomorrow..I also go my rear shackles in from RockAuto...36 bucks to the door for both...they are the same size as the old B bodies..

 

[bremereric]

Nice and shiney black again...two small drips

Got it painted this morning...it looks like new...hard to tell with pictures...two small drips but the factory couldn't have done better...will pull both cars out tomorrow and paint the latch support white with PPG single stage...

 

[bremereric]

Found one more easy thing to paint today

The oil dipstick tube is blue but the dipstick handle was rusty brown...so I sanded it bare and sprayed it blue with 500 degree ceramic paint...

 

[bremereric]

Today was my first single stage paint experience

Got both cars out of the garage...used my blower to clean it out the best I could...closed the garage door most of the way with the fan blowing out at the door...mixed up the paint in a Preval sprayer...4 parts paint...2 parts thinner and 1 part hardner...all PPG paint products..

I got it done with one light coat and then a medium and then a heavy coat...got a few pieces of trash even though I used a tack cloth over the whole piece before I started..have a couple of runs also...oh well it was hanging in the air and it was my garage...will strip it and repaint it when I do the engine compartment...

 

[bremereric]

Couldn't sit still

Got the latch support bracket installed with the latch and the horn in place...the horn is underneath the bracket and is held on by the third bolt from the left...you know what "F" it my paint job still looks better than the factory paint job..maybe I am just too picky on myself...I think it looks 3000% better than before and I can hardly wait to do the engine compartment...she will look sweet then...put both girls up for the night..

 

[bremereric]

Okay I am here now...in the right forum finally...

I am a car addict..I have to work on one or the other every night or I have withdrawel symtoms...well today I scored a box of 100 chrome screws with washers at Fastenal..for 26 bucks..that's 26 cents a piece..I am no cheap ass but they served several purposes...trim on the front hood and sill plate replacements...

some may laff but the best ten dollar rock tumbler I found at Hobby Lobby..rusted bolts..nuts whatever in....24 hours of run time and clean come out...I use steel bebe's to clean them

I got the front chrome support installed tonight and the hood latched back down...I don't like the gap of the hood and passenger fender but it's been like that for a long time...the fender has to be moved out at the front..I will do this when I paint the engine compartment...

and my Cali duster and mini Cali duster showed up today both 24.99 on e-bay...