Just curious. Your cruiser is looking pretty cool. Looking forward to more progress.
Builds Saved from scrap - '97 LX450 build thread (1 Viewer)
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- Thread starter
- #262
Had to run the power for the compressor anyway. Easier to be OCD about the wring on the QPM when can build on the bench rather than inside the engine bay.
Not sure what I'll do with the extra room. Cell signal booster or a solar controller maybe. If I add an inverter I'll stick it under the driver's seat where it gets plenty of air.
MrMikeyG
SILVER Star
I have a pretty horrible track record with de-pinning connections myself and I own the fancy Wit's End version of the tool.
Looks great. I too am trying to lay out how I want mine. I don’t need the AC for lockers.
. I can’t decide if I want to stuff the dual ARB in there or keep it with a single since my rig is an over lander. Too many decisions.
- Thread starter
- #265
I'm still needlessly obsessing about the layout of the electrical. The ARB manifold took up more room than I'd like and I actually have ports on my 5 gallon tank under the truck I could have screwed in to, but I liked the idea of keeping everything tight inside the truck. I'd originally planned to plumb the solenoids in to the black manifold block in the picture, but ultimately decided I wanted a high temp line right off the compressor and wasn't thrilled the threads on the solenoids are BSPP, not NPT so went with the ARB unit which came with the high temp line and correct threads.
MrMikeyG
SILVER Star
A 5 gallon under? Did you find some odd oblong shaped one? Most 5 gallon are kind of big diameter wise(lifted truck or not).
- Thread starter
- #267
MrMikeyG
SILVER Star
Ooh! very sneaky.
So you have to remove the resonator for the Delta rear bumper?
That rear axles looks so clean. Don’t keep your rig out front. You might come back from a work trip and have my axle on there.
- Thread starter
- #271
Yeah. Whole system will be swapped when the LT1 goes in but I did hack the resonator off for the Delta install.
MrMikeyG
SILVER Star
He can correct me, but I think as he's done work, he has cleaned and repainted a lot of the parts.
- Thread starter
- #274
Parts cleaned and etched, then painted with POR-15.
- Thread starter
- #275
Front was painted with POR rattle cans, which are terrible. I grabbed a gallon of POR-15 for the rear and sprayed with a $15.00 Harbor Freight spray gun which I threw away when I was done. Worked a lot better. You'll hear a lot of noise about painting with POR-15 and what a pain it is to store/ decant (if you get any on the lip of the can, it'll be sealed closed permanently). I use big syringes and suck the paint out of the stock can and squirt into a cup I'll use to pour through a filter in to the spray gun. No chance anything makes it in to the lip of the stock can and the syringes are a few bucks on Amazon (and also work pretty well for emptying master cylinders and power steering reservoirs).
I also had an incredibly dumb episode where I thought I might be able to bucket blast the rear with my 6.7 CFM compressor. Yeah ... that didn't work too well, despite my sexy cardboard set up.
I also had an incredibly dumb episode where I thought I might be able to bucket blast the rear with my 6.7 CFM compressor. Yeah ... that didn't work too well, despite my sexy cardboard set up.
FMC80
SILVER Star
Damn man…not sure if I know how to do all that. Maybe this is in my future when I get to my retirement destination. But for now? The surface rust will be just fine. Great work as always bro
- Thread starter
- #277
It's actually super easy ... and hey, if the paint runs, who cares? If I had no experience with paint, etc. I'd probably handle like this:
- Remove the axle/ part you want to refinish
- Soak with some kind of degreaser and let sit for a while (keeping it wet with what ever degreaser you're using - Cover in light plastic or something to stop it all from drying out if you're in the sun).
- Pressure wash the hell out of the part with a zero nozzle. Wear goggles, all the funky angles will cause grease balls to bounce back into your eyes.
- Strip as much small stuff off as possible
- Wire brush any remaining heavy rust
- Etch with some kind of phosphoric acid based product. Something like the picture below can be picked up from Home Depot or you can order something similar from Amazon. You don't really need the POR prep product, I tried both and didn't notice a difference for the price. Kleen Strip is cheap.
- Mask what ever you don't want paint on. Regular painters tape will hold up to POR (but not to the etching products).
- Paint with 2 coats of POR-15, following directions a couple of posts up to avoid screwing the can up. Use a brush if you're not comfortable spraying. POR actually levels out pretty well. Keep the part out of the sun while it's curing
- Reassemble and take Instagram selfies with your shiny new part
- Reply here letting us know it worked, so I can show my wife I actually can be helpful when I want to be.
A few additional suggestions:
- Make sure you get all of the oil and grease off the part before moving to the next step. Paint won't stick (or stay stuck) to oily surfaces. Sounds really basic, but I've watched tons of people paint dirty parts only to see their hard work come off in a mater of weeks.
- Be careful with the metal prep products. Wear good gloves and protect the ground if you're working over anything you're worried about staining. The product will burn your skin, stain the ground and mess up any reactive metals (like aluminum or brass). DON'T spray the product. you really don't want that garbage in your lungs.
- Wear good gloves when working with POR-15. The stuff does what it's supposed to - it sticks really well and stays stuck. POR is indiscriminate - it doesn't care if it's sticking to your project, your hands or your clothes. Nothing gets it off other than sand paper or time. Ask me how know.
- If you're working on an axle, a helper to turn the project while you're spraying is really helpful. I managed to spray my wife with POR when I was doing that - I recommend not replicating that part. Running a piece of conduit through the hosing and over some saw horses worked well for me.
MrMikeyG
SILVER Star
The one thing I find most worrying in all of this is that "concrete and metal" prep. I can't think of 2 surfaces that will handle a finish more different. I'm guessing muriatic acid? From the looks of your truck, everything has worked out ok though.
@FMC80 I'm right there with you; I "need" a shop press, a big compressor, a fixturing table, more tool boxes, etc. I've seen some items come up for good deals lately, but I am fresh out of space for anything other than hand tools right now.
@FMC80 I'm right there with you; I "need" a shop press, a big compressor, a fixturing table, more tool boxes, etc. I've seen some items come up for good deals lately, but I am fresh out of space for anything other than hand tools right now.
- Thread starter
- #279
It's phosphoric acid based - Works well on steel, not so well on concrete (agreed, I'd use muriatic on concrete). There's not a lot of difference between the cheap Kleen Strip and expensive POR Metal prep other than buffers --- and if you're going to rinse and dry anyway, the buffers aren't a big deal.
- Thread starter
- #280
Wrapped up mounting everything I have on the QPM. Doesn't look like much now it's done, but man that took forever.
OBA system passed leak test.
OBA system passed leak test.
