TWT -- The Wrenching Thread (3 Viewers)

[joyRidaz]

Finally took the 40 to see Buck at Boulevard Muffler in Belmont to finally get a muffler and exhaust installed. Much needed. He is an artist and a standup guy.

The OEM location is below the frame, so had him run it up inbetween the frame rails, even above the skid plates and out the DS rear corner…. Sadly a bit louder than my 60 he did, simply due to lack of real estate to fit the super long round muffler… so instead we went with the oval car one he had on hand.

Driving on rt 85 reminded me how terrifying the death wobble is…. So ordered some TREs after playing around with the excessive movement on the rods while it was up on the lift.

Btw I was pleasantly surprised after seeing the underside in all of its glory…. Yes lots of brown patina, but nothing scary and probably will clean up nicely with a wire wheel and some paint.

On the way home I treated her to a full tank of ethanol free gas… I had a huge smile the whole way home but def started to notice all the random rattles that weren’t there due to screaming loud straight pipe.

The only shiny silver part I haven’t painted with my brown glitter gun yet…

 

[Malleus]

Consistent with the theory that you should always vacation somewhere you love, doing what you love most, I'm spending the first really beautiful two days this year, in my driveway, working on Charlie's front suspension.

I bet these are original:

The lower ends took 15 minutes of pounding with a 5-lb hammer, each, to remove. They felt like they were welded in.

A very precarious three-point suspension; I think I need larger jackstands that'll reach the frame. I don't think I'll try this method again.

There was no way I was going to try this with the intake installed. So it increased the head job by many dollars.

There may be an easier way to do this, but I couldn't reach the top nut on the DS shock without unbolting the master cylinder and swinging it 1/4-in. There was no way it was coming off without impact persuasion.

 

[Malleus]

Here's my favorite FSM tip of the week:

Guess where, on the entire sway bar, there is no paint.

 

[Malleus]

From this:

to this:

In one day. No baking required. We'll see how long it lasts.

(The photo doesn't really do justice to the clearcoat; it shines. And I have no idea why my camera turns some 90° and not others. Gotta love AI.)

Since I had not planned for this headgasket R&R, I also didn't plan to refurbish the manifolds. I'm really interested in Cerakote for mine. I used VHT's primer/paint/clearcoat system (faux ceramic) for Charlie's. It only needs to cure on the engine. Finished as per VHT's recommendations: 2 light coats and 1 wet coat of each primer/paint/clear. That's a lot of paint for $30.

Since it's (presumably) ceramic, I'm not going to reinstall the heat shields; they're rust eaten anyway. We'll see how that works, too.

I'm planning to copper color the intakes, and later the throttle body. VHT has almost the same colors as Cerakote, so this will give a good impression of how the "pro" job will turn out.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Vht hasn't held up on my truck, but the exhaust is hotter. I have a ton of cerakote left over if you want some.

 

[FJ Noob]

Vht hasn't held up on my truck, but the exhaust is hotter. I have a ton of cerakote left over if you want some.

I’ve been less than impressed with VHT myself. I’ve followed the prep and application instructions to a “t” and have yet to have it not start flaking off or some other version of failing after a few months.

I’m planning on moving to the high-temp air dry cerakote next. What did you spray with?

 

[fj40alex]

Praise due to the old Optima Red Tops. Needed a battery for another project and will put a new one in the 40. This battery is 11 years old and I don’t think ever been on a charger, never stumbled, and was worth the seemingly high amount paid back in 2011.

 

[Malleus]

Vht hasn't held up on my truck, but the exhaust is hotter. I have a ton of cerakote left over if you want some.

I'm definitely coating mine with Cerakote. In the same color you used (I like your style). The lack of a decent curing oven is the real stumbling block at the moment. That, and the HVLP setup, but that'll give me an excuse to buy something else. Like that bigger compressor I now need (I consider you an enabler). The oven I don't want, because then I'll just powder coat stuff, and there are enough rabbit holes near me as it is.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I'm definitely coating mine with Cerakote. In the same color you used (I like your style). The lack of a decent curing oven is the real stumbling block at the moment. That, and the HVLP setup, but that'll give me an excuse to buy something else. Like that bigger compressor I now need (I consider you an enabler). The oven I don't want, because then I'll just powder coat stuff, and there are enough rabbit holes near me as it is.

I cured all my parts in the kitchen oven. Other than a weird smell at the time, no damage or lingering smells in the oven, thanks to the no VOCs in the paint.

 

[jfz80]

Installed White line and slinky bits today

 

[joyRidaz]

New Tie Rod Ends and lots of de-gunking and wire wheeling followed by rust coverter and then some flat black. Definitely improved the death wobble but didn’t fully cure it, maybe 65-70% better but based on the amount of gunk caked on my front end I’m fairly certain a knuckle rebuild is in order…. Hoping that will cure the final bit… and probably some shocks.

My steering stabilizer above was actually not yellow underneath all that gunk, quasi white…. And shockily still good-ish! It must be old cause it’s a Monroe that is made in America…anyone order a grease cake?

Decided to also clean up any brown glitter I could get to while I had everything accessible…. FDC Rust Converter Ultra is my new favorite tool…

After several evenings of getting messy and frustrated… sadly I got inpatient and installed the rods and ends before the paint cured so it got a bit messed up but nothing some sandpaper and another rattle rattle can’t cure


Loved seeing the brown turn to purple and then black to visually confirm the rust demons are dead…. Then some flat black to finish it off…

 

[Malleus]

I cured all my parts in the kitchen oven. Other than a weird smell at the time, no damage or lingering smells in the oven, thanks to the no VOCs in the paint.

That thought crossed my mind, but it would definitely be a bridge too far
...at this point I like the kids too much.

 

[Malleus]

Anyone tried this to remove carbon from engine parts? I've tried everything I can think of, and still can't get the carbon out of the intakes. Brakleen worked, but it would've cost me $100 to clean one half. Some parts were so baked on that the bead blast media wouldn't take it off.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Oven cleaner.

 

[Malleus]

Oven cleaner.

That was the first thing I tried. Had no effect at all. I was slack jawed. This crap is welded on.

 

[Hokie LX]

That was the first thing I tried. Had no effect at all. I was slack jawed. This crap is welded on.

What kind of engine parts are you needing cleaned?

Could try soaking it and then using steel wool

 

[fj40z]

That was the first thing I tried. Had no effect at all. I was slack jawed. This crap is welded on.

I would be surprised that oven cleaner didn’t work also. You by chance didn’t use the less harsh oven cleaner without lye did you? Usually comes in a blue can. The yellow cans wether it’s Easy Off or an off brand are the ones that contain lye. When we did the head gasket on my white 80 I dropped the intake off at a machine shop so they could dip it. It was filthy and came back stupid clean. May be able to go that route if nothing else seems to work.

 

[Malleus]

What kind of engine parts are you needing cleaned?

Could try soaking it and then using steel wool

80 series upper and lower intake. I can't find anything to reach inside the bends.

 

[Malleus]

I would be surprised that oven cleaner didn’t work also. You by chance didn’t use the less harsh oven cleaner without lye did you? Usually comes in a blue can. The yellow cans wether it’s Easy Off or an off brand are the ones that contain lye. When we did the head gasket on my white 80 I dropped the intake off at a machine shop so they could dip it. It was filthy and came back stupid clean. May be able to go that route if nothing else seems to work.

I've used 5 different lye compounds; none worked. The machine shop I used (Quality Auto Machine, in Monroe) managed to get the head clean (mostly, but their work isn't as good as mine), using a steam cleaner (industrial dishwasher) and some cleaning solution they wouldn't share with me, but
a) the head wasn't as bad as the intakes, and
b) I'm not game enough to put the intakes in my dishwasher, with industrial solvents. They then bead blasted the ports. I have no idea what the interior of the head looks like, because it's built.

I managed to get most of the crud off using my bead blasting media, but I can't get into the bends of the individual passages, and some areas (the tube feeding the EGR pipe and the port above the throttle body interface, which feeds the system vacuum) will not come clean no matter how long I blast them.

I'm going to try Carbon-Off and see where that gets me. I'll post the results. It's made for restaurants and, unlike lye, is advertised safe for aluminum.

 

[Malleus]

FWIW, as I posted above, Brakleen does work, it's just ridiculously expensive. You'd need a dozen large cans for the tubes and at least three for the main plenum cavity. For that price, I'd just buy ortho-dichlorobenzene. This is the mystery ingerdient in Marvel Mystery Oil that dissolves carbon. It was formulated for fertilizer production, but it's used as a carbon softener & remover.