Hood repaint

[lostmarbles]

Thanks for all the positive comments everyone.

I often question my motives - And I was questioning my reasons for posting this thread.

I think there is probably a bit of "showing off" (as with everyone else who posts threads on work that they're proud of). But I also posted this cos I don't really care anymore if anyone thinks I'm a dickhead. I think this "not caring" attitude comes with age cos I was certainly sensitive to criticism in my younger days. Not caring has given me "new-found freedom" (and I wish had adopted that attitude at a much younger age).

Anyways - Surprise surprise - I don't seem to be getting much negative feedback anyway.

Great post. the paint came out great. what did you use for hardware , and for paint. dont forget to add to this when you do the front fenders too did i say great job?

Thanks Hedgehog. (I've run over a few :whoops


The hooks came from "Cool Cruisers of Texas" (CCOT). I can't remember the cost. It wasn't too bad anyway. But the freight getting them here to NZ was a killer (so I rarely buy anything from the USA now). They're quite good quality. The worst feature is that the internal springs are too strong. So it takes the thumbs of BOTH hands to unhook them.
Oh - Another thing bad (for me) was the "minimum purchase limit" and their refusal to accept creditcard or Paypal.

The hood was primed with gray POR15 (brushed on). Then topcoated with Dulon (a brandname used by PPG Paints) mixed to the formula for "Sky Blue 854".

Now I have to do my hood! I also like your hood lock, where did you get the hardware for that nice trick? I am doing my hard doors as my first step in body work and sanding and painting. It seems prep is very important - I am now re-doing after being lazy with the prep.

Thanks Brooklyn

I made the components (except the lock and fasteners of course).

I welded up the two halves and then had them hot-dip galvanised. The idea of the galvanising was so that I wouldn't have to worry about scratching paint when I fit or remove the padlock.

I'll add a link here to another thread on "hood locks" where I supplied more details. (Soon and if I can find it.)

Here's that link (post No.16):
https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/197022-bonnet-hood-lock.html

 

[bsmith123]

nice paint

What a diff that makes! nice attention to detail, looks good

 

[lostmarbles]

Righty-ho. Lousy weather so might as well post up stuff on what I've been doing the last couple of months........ That is ..... Continuing on from having finished the hood.

Had mega-loads of photos. so I've dumped at least 30%.

Here we go.....

Off came the fenders. Note the corrosion that was hidden between the "apron panels" and the fenders themselves:

 

[lostmarbles]

Nothing serious. It had been "kept in check" by regular applications of fishoilene over4 the years (which is what most of the "black gunk" is).

The apron panels cleaned up well:

 

[lostmarbles]

I even pained those little clips that hold the little bits of weatherstrip in place:





And I fitted stainless lips on the hood catches. That way the stainless hooks mate with more stainless. (No more contact with dissimilar metals that is open to corrosion.) And thereby, another source of "rust streaks down the aprons" is eliminated.

I obtained the stainless wire/rod from these:

 

[lostmarbles]

The curve wasn't quite right so I had to "open them up a bit" and then I ground a little groove in one side:



Next was to braze the lip in place using oxyacetylene, "Easyflo" silver brazing alloy, and flux:



These lips will stop the hooks from "wearing into" the catches and creating "notches" in them that encourage the hooks to sit side-saddle. You can see such notches here:

 

[lostmarbles]

I don't think Toyota ever managed to get any paint under those catches because there was certainly a lot of rust in there. But they did "turn over" some of the thin sheetmetal to try to stop the hooks from "biting in". (Futile attempt.)

 

[lostmarbles]

And here is the finished product:

 

[lostmarbles]

I got rid of the "Australian Compliance Plate". Whoever fitted that had punched the holes in the fender (for the rivets) with a "spearlike" instrument because they left deep "dimples". And the plate was made of thin alloy that was very susceptible to corrosion. And besides.... this is kiwiland and not Austraaalia.

 

[lostmarbles]

I reused my original emblems because I'm a tight-arse. amazing how much crud had accumulated behind them:




They scrubbed up well though. And I used this so-called "etch primer". (I've never noticed much evidence of etching.) It has a nice matt finish and tends to "powder off" rather than "flake off":

 

[lostmarbles]

Because most of the tiny securing pins broke off during disassembly - i glued the rejuvenated emblems back on (which I think is a better method of attachment anyways):





The blinker mountings were starting to rust. That metal baseplate has all been POR15-ed and topcoated now:

 

[lostmarbles]

The blinkers have drain/ventilation holes to allow moisture that gets inside to escape again.



I decided to modify the way the wires run underneath. I hate those little twisty bits of sheetmetal that Toyota uses to hold wiring. You can see my old underseal in this photo too:



That underseal even got into the cavity above the guard. - No wonder I found no rust there:

 

[lostmarbles]

Here's the underseal removed:



And the "twisty bit" removed:



And the rerouted wiring prior to undersealing. (Note that I fitted a rubber grommet to that existing hole before running the wiring through it.)

 

[lostmarbles]

By the way, the old plastic sheathing had become brittle and actually "shattered" when I bent the wires so I had to cover it with "heat shrink sleeving" in order to keep the wires protected from flying rocks.

The fenders cleaned up well too:

 

[lostmarbles]

There were 20 surplus holes in the RH fender alone that required filling with weld:

 

[lostmarbles]

Just as I did with the hood, I "laddered" the fender bracing/support to allow access for painting/rust-prevention:

 

[lostmarbles]

I found some edges of the fender sheetmetal had been left to vibrate - So I added extra spotwelds to prevent this:

 

[lostmarbles]

Here's a fender in wet POR15 primer:

 

[lostmarbles]

LH side of chassis prior to bolting the fender to it:



And here's me tweaking the LH fender into the best position before tightening the securing bolts: (RH guard needed no such encouragement.)



Here's the RH guard fitted:

 

[lostmarbles]

Wish I had more room in my garage!