Blue Mule resto in Malawi

[M5driver]

I read on wikipedia that Malawi is politically stable and safe. Maybe you should edit that some...

Actually, Malawi really is relatively stable and safe. Just yesterday, my wife and I were out in a village with our gardener (much to the horror of our colleagues from the embassy) where sme of the children were saying they had never seen white people and wanted to constantly touch us. It was GREAT! And we do not feel like we are in any danger when we do this. Sadly, I did not have a single camera with me - don't know how that happened

The current problems reflect difficulties they have had since independence, but overall, Malawian politics have been relatively benign. Things are calm again; the people accused of plotting against Bingu were released without bail by the High Court, on lack of evidence. Muluzi is still under house arrest, but it is expected the charges will soon be dropped. A certain amount of the political machinations going on right now are a direct result of what is going on in Zim - Bingu lionizes Mugabe, and has recently gone on record as saying he thinks Mugabe's approach to everything is correct. Mugabe is a hero to many southern Africans, especially those who want to overturn their own constitutions in order to be President for Life. Malawi started that way (Banda was the "Life President" 1961-1994), the constitution was changed, now Bingu wants to change it back. I won't go into more of this here, except to add that there is some truth to the statement that "everything in Africa is tribal".

How's your bid going? Are they going to draft you to Iraq?

I have assiduously avoided learning Arabic, Pushto, Dari, Persian, etc. for my entire career so I am poorly qualified for that. Actually, I just accepted an assignment to Washington, where I will be one of 3-man team rolling out a new logistics management system to approximately 200 posts overseas in the next 2 years. I'll be doing systems project management again Once that assignment expires (2 years max) I will retire (at 60) unless something really extraordinary is offered. Based on recent experience, I expect to retire

 

[M5driver]

OK, back to tech

The rims got their first coat of gray Friday. Here's a coupla pix in the spray booth.

 

[M5driver]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the gearbox is ready to be cleaned up and coated with RB Black Shell.

 

[M5driver]

Yes, that is a "tree root jack stand" I've only got two, and had no time to get one from Chris before the weekend. It works.

 

[M5driver]

Looks like the rebuild I did on the gearbox about 4-5 years ago is holding up fine - no leaks anywhere. Yet

 

[M5driver]

Clean, replated bolts would have been nice, but that is a cosmetic thing that is not done here. So, I just coated them with RB Black Shell, since what I really don't want is rust.

Tomorrow, I'll take the old release bearing down to one of the indies I use for service on embassy vehicles, to get the hub pressed out and the new bearing pressed onto the hub.

All for now.

 

[amaurer]

Tomorrow, I'll take the old release bearing down to one of the indies I use for service on embassy vehicles, to get the hub pressed out and the new bearing pressed onto the hub.

What, don't they have hammers in Malawi??

 

[M5driver]

What, don't they have hammers in Malawi??

I'm sure they would be more than happy to use a BFH on that bearing I'd prefer to have it pressed... And Constantini Brothers have a nice machine shop with the repair shop. I'll have them skim the manifolds to make sure they are flat, too, since I noticed some carbon on the manifold gasket when we were pulling the engine.

FWIW, Friday I watched a mechanic at the panel beater working on a brake caliper on a car in for some collision work. When the piston came out of the caliper, he worked it back in through the rubber seal, then picked up the nearest tool - the tire spanner - and hammered it back in to place. Glad that wasn't my brake!

 

[hes21]

Hi Dan,

Can you provide some more details on your experiences thinning Rust Bullet?

You said Rust Bullet provided you with info on thinning it. Can you post that info? Everywhere on their site they say not to.

You said the painter sought to make the rust bullet good again after thinning it too much (with the heavy elements falling out) by adding more rust bullet. Does this work?

How much could you thin it with MEK? Did you trial a bit first to see the maximum ratio?

Lastly, are you planning on doing the engine block in Rust Bullet aswell?

I'm sure there are lots of others curious! I am sitting here with my can wondering how to apply it and get the most coverage. I've searched extensively and no one has posted any details about thinning it apart from you.

Cheers,
Hamish

 

[M5driver]

Hi Dan,

Can you provide some more details on your experiences thinning Rust Bullet?

You said Rust Bullet provided you with info on thinning it. Can you post that info? Everywhere on their site they say not to.

You said the painter sought to make the rust bullet good again after thinning it too much (with the heavy elements falling out) by adding more rust bullet. Does this work?

How much could you thin it with MEK? Did you trial a bit first to see the maximum ratio?

Lastly, are you planning on doing the engine block in Rust Bullet aswell?

I'm sure there are lots of others curious! I am sitting here with my can wondering how to apply it and get the most coverage. I've searched extensively and no one has posted any details about thinning it apart from you.

Cheers,
Hamish

Hi, Hamish.

First, I have to tell you we had a problem with the Rust Bullet (Standard - gold label) clumping and becoming unusable when we thinned it with the xylene that was made up locally. Unfortunately, the xylene became contaminated with water (or was delivered that way - I think this is the actual case) and it resulted in wasting several pints, since the painter completely ignored my requests, and later demands, that he stop trying to thin the RB with the xylene. Once that was sorted, we looked for other alternatives. MEK had been mentioned as an alternate to xylene, so when the panel beater was able to find a liter in an unopened tin, we tried that. Works GREAT! As it turns out, the MEK also works well with the urethane based paints the panel beater favors, so he has obtained a good supply to use in his shop.

As for thinning, this apparently should only be done with the gold label, not with the automotive grade, which is supposed to be ready to spray right out of the tin. To thin the gold label, we just use MEK and thin it about 8-10%.

Here's what Frank Ciglar at RB had to say:

"The main difference between Standard and Automotive is that the standard is about 5% thicker. When you thin it by 1 1/4 oz it equates to 8% thinning.

Sounds like either the Xylene or product became contaminated somehow. Do
you have access to Toluene or MEK? If so use could either one. Not more than
1 1/4 oz per pint should thin the product enough to spray regardless of
which solvent you go with."

As for painting the engine - yes, I plan to use it (silver and Black Shell) on the block. It is supposed to be able to handle temps to about 350-400 F. If I don't use the RB, I'll use an industrial paint I was able to get from S Africa - it is supposed to be good for use on petrol and diesel engines (generators, etc.) I may actually use the silver RB and top coat it with the silver industrial paint on the smooth bits and use the black shell on the cast block. Exhaust parts will be painted with a high temp (1200F) aluminium paint (only $17/400ml rattle can ); the intake manifold and other aluminum bits will be cleaned up, but not painted.

HTH.

FWIW, I haven't posted for awhile because we hit another snag with at the panel beater. I think I have it fixed, and everything back on track, but have been too busy with work to get down there to check. I hoped to be able to bolt the chassis back together last week and get it and the engine back home, but it didn't happen. Maybe this week...


Dan

 

[John Smith]

Looks like the truck is coming along well now. Give us shout when you get to DC, I would love to see your truck in person once it is finished. VA/DC/MD- Capital Land Cruiser Club - IH8MUD™ Forums

 

[Rick '79 FJ40]

I know this is off-topic, but I used to be a pilot until my eyes got too bad, and I'm from a town in S. GA that is about 30-40 miles from the Maule Plant. I used to go by there when I was going to a HUGE swap meet at the old airbase that is adjacent to the plant. They also have a "canal" shaped pond for landing float planes in front of the plant...

Great write-up! I've really enjoyed it and learned a lot of things I didn't know...some of them about Cruisers!

 

[M5driver]

What, don't they have hammers in Malawi??

Pressed, not hammered. Shaken, not stirred...

Plus a 30-year old flywheel still in good condition. After checking the surface several times with a straightedge, I decided no need to skim this, just a light clean up with some fine sand paper and it's good to go. Should be good for a couple more years at least.

 

[M5driver]

Progress again!

Hmm... Don't know why the pic of the flywheel looks brownish - that surface is really quite sooth and shiny.

Anyway, I think we finally got past the hold up at the panel beater and are back on track. I took Friday off from work and managed to make a little progress on getting this beast back together

 

[M5driver]

The rear axle is on. Didn't manage to get the front axle bolted up yet, so it will have to wait another week Boss won't let me burn any "use or lose" time right now, since we have a congressional delegation coming on 5-6 July to screw up our 4-day weekend We're using the 3rd for the official celebration, then would have had 4-7 July off (one US holiday, one Malawian), but no-o-o-o-o.... these guys have to come right in the middle of the weekend, and we have to treat them like royalty... sigh! THAT will be a wasted weekend

 

[M5driver]

Looks like the truck is coming along well now. Give us shout when you get to DC, I would love to see your truck in person once it is finished. VA/DC/MD- Capital Land Cruiser Club - IH8MUD™ Forums

Thanks for the invite, John. I've been looking at your forum here, and thnking I will need to connect with you guys as soon as I retrieve the mule from the Port of Baltimore. Reckon it will be in the dead of winter - gotta make sure I mount the snow & ice tires before it ships outta here.


Dan

 

[M5driver]

Great write-up! I've really enjoyed it and learned a lot of things I didn't know...some of them about Cruisers!

Thanks, Rick. I doubt you've learned anything new about cruisers on this thread but I'm sure you got a little unexpected info here

My only regret with this assignment was never being able to get the time I needed to bring JK down here from Scotland. Haven't seen the plane for 2 years

It would have been the perfect weekend getaway here. Oh, well... that's life, sometimes.

 

[Colorado Boy-74-FJ40]

Are you using the panel beaters to reassemble as well or are you doing it? The rolling chassis looks like it is brand new. What a fantastic job you are doing! Sorry about the dignitaries Fudging up your weekend.

 

[M5driver]

Are you using the panel beaters to reassemble as well or are you doing it? The rolling chassis looks like it is brand new. What a fantastic job you are doing! Sorry about the dignitaries Fudging up your weekend.

That stuff is still at the panel beater, but I am doing the work. I did ask them to help me shift the heavy stuff around ...gettin' old - don't lift stuff like I used to, so I needed help getting the frame flipped over on the stands. When I asked for stands to put the axles on, so I could mount the tires, they just picked 'em up and held 'em for me.

Anyway, the black parts are mostly back home now, except what I need to finish bolting up the chassis and getting the engine back in it, so that can come home for me to work on. They started the silver bits Friday - looking pretty good so far. The blue parts will be the last, since we're still waiting for the seam sealer to get here. I'm just happy to be ing again!

 

[tmarx]

Looking good Dan !