Blue Mule resto in Malawi

[Colorado Boy-74-FJ40]

Just curious what fuel prices are like there. Don't imagine there would be much in the way of road taxes.

 

[M5driver]

Just curious what fuel prices are like there. Don't imagine there would be much in the way of road taxes.

Prices just went up over the weekend - now $6.50/gal for duty-free diesel and $6.97/gal for 85/87 octane gasoline. Higher if you have to pay the 30% duty and 17.5% VAT Avgas just hit $22/gal - good thing I didn't get the plane down here, cause it wouldn't be flying right now.

Road taxes are high, too, but diplomatic personnel are not subject to that tax. Whew!

 

[M5driver]

While arm wrestling my boss about another day off this week to finish bolting up the front axle, so I can get the chassis and engine back to my house, I decided to do a couple of small things. Even the small stuff counts as progress, right?

All the threads that got painted will be cleaned out - like this... That AC housing is looking pretty nice. The replacement labels from Shane and others are a great finishing touch!

 

[M5driver]

New gaskets inside the AC housing and stainless hardware are a nice touch, too.

 

[M5driver]

Also found the nomenclature plates I removed moths ago and cleaned 30 years of yutz off of them - they actually look pretty good

 

[M5driver]

After nothing for 3 weeks, we finally got a mail delivery today - 46 pouches!

I got a couple boxes with several small parts and few larger items. Most came through in good nick; some arrived pretty whacked. :whoops: The usual ratio seems to be about 70-30, and that is what I got today. Fortunately, the new toys... ahh, I mean hand tools arrived just fine. It was sorta like Christmas in June

The little things that make us happy...

 

[M5driver]

And then there are the little things that make us unhappy. Here's some of the shipping damage from yesterday's mail delivery:

 

[M5driver]

I reckon this OEM exhaust gasket is not gonna be usable. I'll have to check with the local dealer to see what might be available. Or I might be able to source one out of S Africa. If not, then I'll have to try again from the States.

 

[M5driver]

A couple more...

 

[M5driver]

I'm not sure about this new thermostat. Any ideas? Will if work OK if I can flatten the bent lip?

 

[amaurer]

Good thing you held that ruler up to it, kinda hard to tell anything is wrong. What is that, a few thousandths off?

 

[M5driver]

The frosting on the cake was my visit to the panel beater today. I only had a couple of minutes, since we are getting really busy with the lead up to 4th July, Ambo's departure, and the congressional visit. But, since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to drop by and see how things are going. Victor was just beaming - he wanted to show me the silver bits ready for a final coat of paint, and the seam sealing on the tub. The silver paint is looking quite good I was impressed.

But I was also a little worried about the seam sealer, since I had asked him to only do one small seam and let me see the result before doing any more. I was right to be concerned. He told me Mario had instructed him to just find something local, rather than waste time and money sourcing something specifically automotive from S Africa, so Victor bought the best stuff he could find, and had one of the apprentices do every single seam on the tub.

With clear silicone sealer. I have never seen globs of silicone that big before! Some of the "beads" are as big as a sausage. The bigger the glob, the better the job, I guess

I asked him if he was aware that he can't paint this stuff. He replied that they just need to trim off the excess (about 10 pounds, by my guess), sand it, and paint. He said his guys can paint anything. So now I have to wait for him to experiment on his own and discover that you can't paint over silicone! He just doesn't believe me.

I didn't have a camera with me today. I will try to get down tomorrow with a camera and get a picture of one of the sealed seams. I promised my that I wouldn't cry, but she's not looking right now, so

I am just gobsmacked. Speechless.

And wondering how they will fix this without damage to tub. Any advice on how to remove silicone sealer in a way that won't damage the underlying Rust Bullet and metal? Or what I can use for the seams over the silicone since I doubt they will be able to get all of the mess out of the seams? All help and advice greatly appreciated!

 

[Southeast Overland]

Sorry to hear about that sealer. That is ridiculous. I know Rust Bullet is some hard stuff but I don't know what would efficiently remove all of the silicone and not damage the rust bullet. The first thing that comes to mind is to sandblast the seams and repaint those areas but that will in turn not give you a smooth surface for your final paint coat....dunno...

 

[M5driver]

Good thing you held that ruler up to it, kinda hard to tell anything is wrong. What is that, a few thousandths off?

I just couldn't believe that thing was that ummm.... warped. Without heat

 

[M5driver]

Sorry to hear about that sealer. That is ridiculous. I know Rust Bullet is some hard stuff but I don't know what would efficiently remove all of the silicone and not damage the rust bullet. The first thing that comes to mind is to sandblast the seams and repaint those areas but that will in turn not give you a smooth surface for your final paint coat....dunno...

I don't know of any solvent that will remove silicone rubber. I'm thinking they will end up having to sand everything they can get to, try to cut or scrape it out of the seams, at least as much as possible, and cover it with some sort of paintable caulk. The sad thing is, Victor thought he had done a good thing, since whoever sold him the silicone (Permatex brand, I think) convinced him that it is the best seam sealer available anywhere. Still, he won't believe it wasn't a good thing until he tries to paint it and the paint just rolls off

 

[tmarx]

Eish Dan, sorry to hear.

Heatgun maybe ?

 

[lowenbrau]

There are a few silicon removers out there but since you have an abundance of labour, you might as well try this solution. You can get the supplies at a market even in Malawi.
JonEakes.com > Jon's Fixit Database

 

[hes21]

Geocel have a product. ::: Geocel : Geocel® SILICONE SEALANT REMOVER :::

They are in the UK, and their stockist page doesn't have anyone listed, let alone international distributers.

I hope it comes good.

 

[Teebag]

Dan just use a plastic hook to pull the most of it out, then use a stiff nylon brush to remove the residue, then some kind of cleaning solvent - the RB should not be affected, and you should be able to re-caulk and paint normally.

Don't blast the RB, until you have tried everything else.

 

[hes21]

Do you know how much rust bullet you used painting the tub, fenders and hood?

How did the paint lay down on top of it?

Can't wait to see pictures.

Hamish