Restoring Rusty

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Chaplain

Nice job sir...

Thank you, always the kind words. The Greg has to try to save money any where he can, gotta wife (ok Roommate as she calls her self the last 2 years) and two kids, one dog, well you git the idea

[Gregski]

so after literrally days of wire wheeling and soaking in phosphoric acid I finally got the top radiator support / core support down to bare metal, but even after that underneath I found some more rust so back in the acid bath it went

and after navigating around that white sticker I finally said forget it and wire wheeled it off

I share this story because this is a massive undertaking every square inch of this front core support is covered in rust, so much more work than I expected

[Gregski]

man I just had to see some results, something getting done, so I powered through and got the rest of the chrome bits painted black, also through in that UFO (aka the new bottom air cleaner) in there for good measure

so lets do a roll call on Chrome pieces (since I am amazed how many parts make up that front core support)

2 x headlight bezles (already painted)

2 x headlight rings

2 x grille moldings (upper and lower)

hope I didn't forget anything, as I am almost out of that Adhesion Promoter

[Gregski]

i took these pics before the clear coat went on as it was about to git dark, but you git the idear

[Gregski]

I'm lovin' that Matt finish, and we needz ta hit Pep Boyz again...

[Gregski]

Alright I was able to read the part number off of the other Radiator Retainer Pad as it is called by GM

Part Number 3966804

Also that first part number 3966800 has been supposedly superseded by part number 371189 carried by Summit for $9 bucks each

not to be confused with part number 6264100 meant for da Big Block Chebby

just trying to help folks, just trying to help

[SkinnyG]

Krikey, stop making it pretty and get that engine in there - I'm anxious to see the big hazer all the way down main street!

(seriously - don't stop; this is awesome)

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

Krikey, stop making it pretty and get that engine in there - I'm anxious to see the big hazer all the way down main street!

(seriously - don't stop; this is awesome)

LMAO, I know right! man thank you so much for making me laugh I so needed that, and I am trying bro I am trying, ETA for enjin install is Saturday April 16th, 2016 Anno Domini ~ you heard it here first

[Rob C]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

Krikey, stop making it pretty and get that engine in there - I'm anxious to see the big hazer all the way down main street!

(seriously - don't stop; this is awesome)

Hahaha...gotta agree, don't stop. Maybe when your done we could all chip in and get ya a real P.O.S. to fix up ... Great reading here.

[Gregski]

so every mornink before work, take out the pieces from the acid bath and hose the loose rust off of them, maybe scrub them with a steel brush by hand in the trouble areas, than flip em upside down and soak the other side of the tall pieces, rinse, lather, repeat

[Gregski]

tired of wire wheelin I decided to put on my big boy pants and get one of these media blaster buckets from Harbor Freight

this is the biggest one they got holds 110 pounds of media with the 20% off coupon it was just north of $100 bucks

[Gregski]

so naturally to try it out we (my Mopar buddy The Seth and I, aka the Royal We) got sum Walnut media, ie the cheapest stuff like $25 bones fer 25 lbs

FIRST MISTAKE

Trying to blast walnut shell through that gizmo is like trying to play tennis with a Basketball

when they say FINE on the box, thats relative, as there is probably, Ultra Fine, or Super Fine, or maybe even Ultra Super Fine, ha ha, anywho it was 24 grit, way too big

it did not work even after buying bigger ceramic nozzles

[Gregski]

so we hopped in the Six' Four and headed back to da Media Store

this time dropped $30 on 25 lbs of glass bead 80 grit, pronounced "legit"

[Gregski]

and then we were cooking with Propane!

pics a bit dark as we were in The Barn, I was borrowing The Seth air compressor as I am currently in between comressors, ie I aint got one

couple observations:

a water trap device in the air compressor line is a MUST, moist air is the enemy of the master blaster

media blasting leaves a different surface on the metal than a wire wheel, you would think a wire wheel is abrasive but media (and I know it depends on what type, but speaking strictly of glass bead) leaves a rough metal surface, a wire wheel does not, or not as much at all

decided to blast the core support as it has many twists and turns and zigs and zagz in it making it hard to navigate a wire wheel through it all

[Gregski]

~ P A R T S ~

and here's how The Greg cleans the 5/16-18 x 7/8 Hex Head body bolts

he doesn't, got a box of 50 for $18 bucks, clean, new and not rusty

[Gregski]

and the second tailpipe decided to show up

[Gregski]

decided these parts are as clean as they are going to get, and I had to start shooting primer today or I would go crazy

even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes, check out this deal on my favorite Rusty Metal Primer at AutoZone, normally $6.50 a can, today buy two and get em for $5 bucks each, I love how well this spray covers

so I decided to stock up

[68Timber]

Deals like that make me walk back up front for a basket.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Deals like that make me walk back up front for a basket.

ha, ha, good one John, made me laugh

[Gregski]

so first up was the upper grill panel I want to show you the phases I went through in order to get it ready for primer / paint

now I aint saying I'm and expert an this is how you do it, I just want to share what happened with you

Pic 1 - original part simply removed off the truck

Pic 2 - soaked in acid overnight (some lose paint, some rust came off)

Pic 3 - giving the acid a hand by wire wheeling the rust and paint off (though the part looks shinny there is still rust in the impossible to reach areas and in the pitted metal) so back to the acid bath it went

Pic 4 - this is the interesting part, I think some call this phenomenon pickeling, the left side of the panel was soaked in acid overnight and after washing off the acid with water it turns that yellowish haze and starts to surface rust (the right side was not dipped in acid)

Pic 5 - after the entire piece was soaked in acid and washed off with a garden hose and left to air dry, this is about 2 hours later, looks like a step backwards, but this is all just surface rust and comes off easily with a wire wheel

... continued in next post ...

[Gregski]

continuing on...

Pic 6 - after wire wheeling the surface rust off

Pic 7 - primered (sorry I didn't take a better pic yet when it dried cause it got dark)

so again, there may be a better way to do it, but this is how I did it, and yest it was a massive amount of work, but you just have to press on

[Gregski]

followed the same process for the lower panel, this time I will show you the backside of it, as it was all covered in rust, so here is the original piece, then pickled half, then all cleaned up

its just a lot of work that's all it is

[Gregski]

the headlight buckets were already black, but rusty, so I stripped them down to bare metal, than primered them than shot them with Semi Flat black then clear coated them with Matt Clear - they should give the entire gitty up nice depth, ha ha

[Gregski]

decided to black out the parking light housings as well

oh gotta love the little things, and who will even notice these, ha ha

[Gregski]

well so at this point I wanted to say we've blacked out or painted everything that was going to be black on this core support, and then I realized I forgot to paint the hood latch mechanism, which I want to be black to add some contrast to all that soon to be greenery

dope, I just realized it's hidden under the upper core support panel anyways, dang