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April
14, 2003 Simple Clean-UpNo photos today because there's nothing interesting to see. I'll save some bandwidth, too. This evening I was a sandblasting demon. I threw all the parts I had disassembled yesterday (horns & domes, battery tray, headlight buckets, headlight cups and water pump neck and valve assembly) into the hopper and started blasting. I was at it for probably two or two and a half hours and gave my compressor a real workout. I bought 100 pounds of glass beads at TP Tools last week when it was on special. Since they're local, I can drive down there and save a ton on shipping. I picked up some new nozzles and a second pressure regulator so I can more easily adjust air pressure for the powdercoater. I now have the main line set at about 110 PSI, which should give the compressor plenty of reserve capacity, since it pumps up to about 160 PSI. Even so, I could hear the compressor cycling on and off as I blasted and had to pause a few times to let it catch up. I think I need to replace the nozzle because the compressor should be able to keep up with the small cabinet. I also replaced the abrasive, which improved my progress considerably. I stopped when the abrasive started surging, which usually indicates moisture in the air supply. Even with two separators and about 60 feet of galvanized line (some of it underground!), the compressed air was too warm and moist. The compressor was too hot, so I quit for the night and tended to my sick wife instead. After that, I logged on to Bill Hirsch's web site to buy some engine enamel. I've had a hard time finding the correct Dante Red paint, since it was a 1941-only color. Hirsch has it in stock, so I bought a quart, which should be plenty for the whole engine. Even though the engine isn't ready to be painted yet, I can paint the water pump neck and valve assembly as well as some of the other parts I'm blasting right now. That way, they'll be ready to go when the engine is going back together. I like the Hirsch paints, having used them on several hot-rods I built, including FrankenRanger, where I used Ford blue. It held up great, better than any other paint I've used, even with the heat of a supercharged small-block. I guess I should add Hirsch to my list of recommended restoration suppliers on the Links page. I've also decided to send my intake and exhaust manifolds out to Jet-Hot Coatings to be coated with a ceramic heat barrier. Talking to Jerry and Spider the other night made me realize that these cars suffer from vapor lock because of the proximity of the carburetors and fuel lines to the exhaust manifolds. One solution is an electric fuel pump (which I noticed discreetly tucked under Seybold's yellow Roadmaster convertible!), but I'd like to stick with the original pump and fuel system until it becomes apparent that it is inadequate. If it worked in '41, it should work today (though the reformulated gas they use today might exaggerate the problem). I'm going to contact Jet-Hot tomorrow and see if their coatings can be painted so nobody will notice that the intake has been coated once I paint it red. I'll use their cast-iron gray color on the exhaust manifolds and they shouldn't need anything beyond that. I'm also going to weld the heat riser valves in the exhaust manifolds open to protect the carburetors from the heat as much as possible. I have this Friday off (because of Good Friday), so I'm hoping to acquire an engine stand from TP Tools and rent a cherry picker to pull the engine on Saturday. We'll see how that goes. I'll make sure my father and friends are available for the project. Tomorrow: Powdercoating all these stripped parts.
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