Builds Finally got my own...Meet BeBe

[gregnash]

Ok will try letting the engine crank dry tomorrow morning (if I remember) to see if that changes things. May even pop the hood and take a look to see if I can see gas in the fuel bowl.

Funny thing is this will probably all change once I swap my carb back on... LOL. These issues are truly the only reason that I want to switch to EFI. Would love to create a 2FE but don't have the time, garage space, etc. to really do that or I would probably take J up on his offer for his stuff.

 

[HemiAlex]

A 2FE is too complex with systems like the AFI being available.

 

[gregnash]

Think I may have just found the issue, if not part of it. Got back from lunch run and when I got out of the truck I could smell a slight odor of gas. Popped the hood to look at the pump and it seems a little wet but not like it is pouring. As I was walking to close the hood I noticed the carb looked completely wet.
Well she is soaked, looks like my fuel line may be leaking at the carb. Gotta tighten that up when I get home.

 

[HemiAlex]

Dang. You weren’t even burning it!

 

[gregnash]

Dang. You weren’t even burning it!

Yeah it is definitely looking like that is what is going on. Will definitely verify when I get home tonight to see if it is still doing it. I really didn't think I had left them loose but maybe I did.

 

[Miloslavich]

what would definitely create a loss in mpg. im surprised you didn't smell it strongly before!?

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

That olive nut gets me every time I reinstall a carb. I have a stretch of old vacuum pipe I slip over the wrench to get it super snug. I’ve watched it leak out enough that it’s always the first thing I eyeball on startup.

 

[gregnash]

Yup got out from work today and fired BeBe up, popped the hood and sure enough that is the spot that was leaking. Ran home and grabbed my 17mm wrench and tightened her down. Sprayed a bunch of carb cleaner all over to get rid of the residual gas and seems like that fixed it. Will check again tomorrow.

Now to hope that OSS start procedure is the fix for this mornings issue. Supposed to be down to the 20s again tonight with snow due on Thursday.

 

[gregnash]

Ok looks like that was the issue.. no leaking this morning so that is a good sign.
Tried @OSS 's start method this morning and she fired on the first try! Let her crank over without touching the gas pedal when I first got in for a good 20 seconds (probably 10 cranks) then gave her five slow, deliberate pumps and pulled the choke. Gave her a good 60 seconds before I turned the key and she fired right up.
This morning was not near as cold as yesterday, or at least didnt feel as cold, but still in the 20s. Tomorrow we are supposed to get snow so will test it again.

 

[gregnash]

So over the past couple of weeks I have been slowly working on the new drivers side door that @LAMBCRUSHER got me this summer. A while back I found a color by Rustoleum that I liked, Deep Slate, and grabbed a couple cans to try and paint the door to see if I truly liked the color. Unfortunately, Rustoleum does not make it in anything larger than the rattle cans so I will be going to the local paint supply to match to a Nason Farm Implement color (last I talked to them that would run me about $70 a gallon vs. just about anything else being double that).

Anyways, before the weather got too cold I rattle canned the entire door and have had it sitting in my sunroom since. Over the last week I have been going out after work and wet sanding, learning as I go, to see what is truly going on and how much time investment this will be (did I tell you I was overly analytical and anal retentive). Pretty much been out there every night for about an hour before my fingers felt like they were going to fall off. Finally HF had a sale on their DA polisher so I grabbed that, a bottle of Megiurs swirl remover and a couple of pads and went at it.

Not too bad for rattle can + first time really trying to paint something + first time color wet sanding + first time using a DA polisher to buff/polish something.

Left has only been sanded to about 1200, Center has been wet sanded to 2k then polished.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

I even had some old closed cell foam laying around from when I built my rear interior panels and created my own sanding blocks from some scrap wood and the foam.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

All-in-all I am pretty happy with it. Can still somewhat see my cross hatch marks but literally last night and today I maybe spent 2 1/2hrs all together on the door sanding between 1500 and 2k. It topped out at 35 today, so I basically went out, sanded for 20 mins, went in to warm up, went out for another 15-20, rinse and repeat.

Definitely burned through on my corners and edges so now I know that I need to be a little lighter with my touch and need to put more coats of paint down. Think total I put 2 full cans over the entire door which I thought was a lot at the time but doesn't seem like much now.

 

[Miloslavich]

that's pretty impressive for a rattle can job!

 

[NookShneer]

Nice work! Think of how many cans you would need for the whole rig. Then how your fingers would feel at the end of spraying all those.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

So silly question but wet sanding prevents all the dust right? As your doing it your wiping and wetting every so often?
I’ve rattle canned very minimally and never took the time to sand and polish... you lay the paint down, and lay another down 10-15 mins later? That’s how I remember the directions were for the manifold. Spray while it’s wet kinda right? So two cans was a number of layers. How many you think?
FYI, you’ve got yourself a good honey if she’s cool w/ you doing all that in the sunroom!

 

[gregnash]

So silly question but wet sanding prevents all the dust right? As your doing it your wiping and wetting every so often?
I’ve rattle canned very minimally and never took the time to sand and polish... you lay the paint down, and lay another down 10-15 mins later? That’s how I remember the directions were for the manifold. Spray while it’s wet kinda right? So two cans was a number of layers. How many you think?
FYI, you’ve got yourself a good honey if she’s cool w/ you doing all that in the sunroom!

Yeah kinda, the water also acts as a lubricant to help keep the paper from loading up with the material. At least that is what I believe I have read. You have to keep putting water on the surface and wetting the paper to keep things moving nicely. Then occasionally wipe everything down to clean the surface and start over again. In a normal scenario you would want to have a garden hose next to you so you could wash everything off regularly along with a bucket of water to keep the paper in.

Putting down multiple layers really depends on a couple variables, like panel temp, ambient temp and the particular paint. Most rattle cans say wait a few minutes between coats but you basically want the coat you just sprayed to be only slightly tacky, mostly dry to the touch. Then for color sanding I am not sure how long your are supposed to wait, really my door sat for about a week before I finally started sanding.

What I have represents probably about 2-ish cans as I had one that was mostly empty but was enough to put a REALLY REALLY light dusting over the bottom half of the door. From everything I have watched and read you really want to put a TON of very light coats on, first few you should still be able to see primer/original color through. Then you should start laying it on a little thicker each time after that. Same thing with sanding, pattern should be kinda cross hatch to ensure you don't have any tiger striping. Sucky part with the rattle cans was getting a consistent coat each time due to breeze or your movement. From what my buddy told me, with a gun it is much easier to get a more consistent coat with each layer.

Yeah she is pretty cool, wasn't overly happy that I just started doing it but I had everything covered for the sanding (painting happened out in the yard, away from everything).

 

[gregnash]

And we actually got a bit of sun today between storms. Finished up the entire door up to 2k and then polished with the Meguiar's. Again this was cheap stuff, level 5 cut/polish compound type, with a cheap HF orange medium cut pad. I did grab the black polishing pad but did not grab an actual "POLISH" sealant type as I burned through the paint on a couple of edges and again, this will not be the final paint job.

Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Again you can see the spots that I burned through the Rustoleum rattle can and those were areas that were somewhat hard to reach when I was moving around the door (should have done a better job when I was setting it up and determining how/where I would spray). Since my drivers door is so jacked up with big rust holes in the bottom I will be throwing this door on (swapping internals) within the next couple weeks. Then I have a spare rear passenger door from @KWalkerM that I will test spray with the HVLP gun when the weather warms up and what I believe is a close match in the Nason color to the Rustoleum. I will probably only grab like a quart of that (if they paint supply place will mix that small for me) to test it out and see how close the two are.

Plan is that as soon as the days start warming up some, literally weather report shows snow/rain and nothing above 45* over the next 15days, I will start working on the final finish body work (got to replace the lower tailgate lip on the body and the passenger wheel well in the normal spot). Once that is done then the entire truck will get debadged, sanded down for primer and then I will probably prime and run the prime for a few weeks to let it cure. Once that is done then I will go through the process of getting BeBe and the garage ready for full paint job.

 

[gregnash]

Ok dumb question for anyone that has done a door swap. Door I just painted has ZERO hardware in it so I will need to swap everything over. We got a big storm coming in tomorrow night so I was thinking of possibly trying to swap the doors tonight or tomorrow. Is it an overly involved process to get everything swapped over saying that nothing breaks (like the outer felts)?

 

[samc2447]

Ok dumb question for anyone that has done a door swap. Door I just painted has ZERO hardware in it so I will need to swap everything over. We got a big storm coming in tomorrow night so I was thinking of possibly trying to swap the doors tonight or tomorrow. Is it an overly involved process to get everything swapped over saying that nothing breaks (like the outer felts)?

I've completely disassembled mine, and it's not overly complex, just a little time consuming. For the locks and other mechanical internals you need to wiggle things in place and have patience to get screws or clips started. Window runs and felts are pretty easy to swap. Should be easy enough to get the main parts swapped in an evening.

 

[gregnash]

Ok so sounds like it is a couple hour project then to get everything swapped over. Suited more for a weekend than trying to cram in overnight? Looks like I may have to kick the wife out of the garage for a couple days.

 

[gregnash]

Well been an interesting week and thankfully up until now it has been relatively warm. (rant)
Friday last week I woke up and went and started the truck up like most mornings. As I went to leave 20 minutes later she kept pulling to the right. Got one house down and jumped out to see what the deal was to find a bolt in my tread, #$%*(&!!!

Back-up to my house, let the wife know, swap cars, head to work. Come home a couple hours later to take the wife to work and call it good for the day. When I got home later that afternoon I ran the tire down to Discount to have them repair and just dropped it off as I had to take Louie to a vet appointment.

Get a call while in with the vet to give Discount a call back. Call them back and tire is unrepairable as apparently I must have been driving with the bolt for a bit as it had torn the inner liner of the tire in multiple places. So this was about 5pm on Friday, get home with Louie, getting ready to head out to go up to the family cabin to work on the snow blower as I know there is supposed to be a storm coming this week. And then realize that Aidan (our oldest dog) has a freakin hole in his side. Apparently he and his sister had been playing, chasing each other up and down the hallway and she got hit at one point. Well his dumb ass likes to lick his wound incessantly and licked it completely open to a good 6" long slice down his leg. #^&$!!!! Now time to run him up to the emergency vet since out vet is not open after 5 and doesnt work on the weekends. Picked him up at 11pm that night with 10 stitches and doc telling me to keep him sedate for the next two weeks (yeah right that lasted about 1 day).

Saturday morning I realized I never got a call back from Discount to let me know when they were ordering the new tire and what my replacement cost was going to be (didnt purchase the premium replacement which replaces the tire at their cost regardless of damage). On top of that I never purchased a spare tire as I just had never gotten around to it for whatever reason. So BeBe is down without a spare until I can get the new tire. Call Discount, oh the guy yesterday did not order the replacement for you and since it is the weekend the system doesn't even process orders until Monday at earliest!!! #$&*!!!!!!!!! So guy assures me that he has put the order in, but nearest one (31x10.5x15 Cooper ST Maxx) is on the east coast and will take 3-5 business days to get here.. DOUBLE #$&%!!!!

Come to work Monday, talking with my boss about an interaction one of my employees had the previous week during a meeting that I was not present at. Guess what, time to give employee a written reprimand as this is not the first time they have been talked to about this situation. Employee is somewhat confrontational and she and I have just repaired our working relationship after having issues about two years ago. This is going to go over swimmingly. TRIPLE #$*%!!!!!

Last night, get home and it is nice and warm out, 65*ish and the house is decently warm but can hear the blower going. Backdoor was open for the dogs so didn't think anything of it. Go for a bike ride and get back an hour later when the wife gets home from her work trip and house is a bit chilly. Look at the thermostat and it is 65 in the house when it should be 68..... hmmm that doesnt seem right?! Check the air coming out of the registers... cool... $#%&!!!! Check everything and burner is not kicking on on the furnace (oil furnace mind you). Can't get it to kick over for whatever reason... Pull out the space heater, everyone in the bedroom for bed and luckily out body heat of two humans and three dogs kept the room warm.

Wake up this morning and the house is 62*, ok not bad. Try kicking everything over again since it has been sitting all night. Nothing... MOTHER#%&@!!!!!!! Ride to work, luckily wife has day off and calls HVAC guys. Apparently some valve that is linked to the ignitor is dead, like dead as a doornail dead, and must be replaced. Not something he can do, call another guy to come replace it... Now wife is waiting for other guy to show up and replace the part. Hopefully this is not expensive after a $500 emergency vet visit last week, oh and having to replace a tire to the tune of $120 (my part of the pro-rate cost). Still no spare tire, right now don't have the extra $200+ to spend on a matching tire. Luckily tires still have half tread life on them so they should last me another 4yrs before I have to purchase new ones. Pretty much going to plan to replace the rims at that point for something a little more standard to avoid this problem, oh and the PREMIUM warranty as well.

I know I know... all first world problems. Just had to vent. (/rant)

 

[CaptClose]

I’m printing this last post out and saving it for my lazy ass kids that think life is always a breeze. I try to tell them that life has a way of kicking your ass, and when it gets you on the ground, that’s when the real pounding comes.... but they’re Millennials so it’s usless to explain. Their idea of heartache is when the WiFi goes down.

Hang in there Greg. This is about the point things get good!