GlenYappa

I just about ready to paint the engine bay of my car and the bottom also. Of course the bottom is covered with oil, road grime, grease, sand, tranny fluid and just about everything else you can think of including some rust. Besides sandblasting which is not an option what do you guys suggest as the best way to strip this car and prep it for painting? Check the link for some pics.

Car on jig pics

Thanks,

Glen

philoldsmobile

not sure about prep for paint, but the best way to shift the grease and grime is to spray the car with traffic film remover (TFR) this may not be available in normal motor stores so if you cannot get it try either a profesional valeting company or contacting any body shop outlets.

spray the body with TFR and then work it in with a stiff brush then blast off with as high presure water as you can.

TomP

You could think about painting over the rust with http://www.por-15.com . But as for removing the gunk, why not visit a local do-it-yourself car wash, with the power sprayers? You coul... uh, stupid me, I saw your website with the car on the rack, and I'm telling you to drive it to a car wash. If you can't find Phil's stuff, what about a regular engine cleaner, or simple green? How messy can you get the garage? I wonder if a regular 'ol can of paint stripper would do the job.

Phil, is that the stuff a paint shop uses before they paint a car?

TomP

Oh and by the way that's the coolest f'ing thing I've seen in a while. That must be a great way to weld on sub-frame connectors! I get Automobile Restorer magazine, and they had a bodyman give a parts list and instructions on how he built his own body rack. I would never put a car on the rack he made; talk about some thin frickin' steel! I'm still not sure how that jig was able to support the all-steel classic he was working on.

HaroGt14

If I were you, I would "E-Coat" your car. My High School auto teacher is the creator of it. It is a coating that he puts on your car that keeps it from rusting. Its cool cause he dips it in chemicals and your car will never rust again.

If you want more information e-mail me and I wll get you som prices. By The Way hes based out of Livonia Michigan I think.

Sean

GlenYappa

yeah the frame jig is pretty cool. This is my first full rebuild and I have a few other vehicles to rebuild after this one (72 Blazer, 75 Camaro) so I thought I would go ahead and make the investment. I had the subframe connectors welded on before I put the car on the jig because you should have the car sitting on its suspension. I didn't know how to weld so I had a guy come out and weld it in my workshop. He did a horrible job. Most points where he touched the cars frame he turned into swiss cheese. At that point I bought a welder and started fixing what he did. I actually grinded down a lot of his welds and started over in some places. I have a pessure washer and I guess I will do what I did on some other parts like the K member - Lots of degreaser, lots of scrubbing, and lots of water. If I could just get this part done the engine is pretty much finished - 4 bolt 350 with Weiand blower, AFR 190 heads, roller rockers. Thanks for the input.


Glen

Mathius

Where'd you pick that up at? A friend of my parents has been considering renting me out her polebarn, or at least part of it, and I've been looking into picking up another chassis. I get Autobody toolmart's catalogs regularly, and they have all the big lifts, frame pullers, etc. but now jigs.

Mathius

GlenYappa

I got mine from www.whirlyjig.com. It took several weeks to get one but they are very helpful people. I think it is a father and son business. The version that I have uses old bumper jacks to lift each end. You used to could find bumper jacks laying on the ground but not now. I had to get 2 of them off of e-bay. I think Whirly Jig makes a model now that uses bottle jacks. Check them out.

Glen

Scott_92RS

About how much does one of those puppies cost?

GlenYappa

Whirly Jigs run 1000 to 1500 depending on the options. I have only seen one other commercial jig like that and it was much more cumbersome and you couldn't roll it around like this one. On the web I have found some people that have built them obviously at great savings. Considering the design and quality of parts I decided just to buy one of these. Not to sound like a commercial for Whirly Jig but it was easy to set up and it is of high quality. I did make the brackets that bolt to the car frame but that was it. It is a lot of money but like I stated in an earlier post I have other old vehicles I would like to rebuild so the Jig wouldn't be used just once. If you go to the link I posted at the top of this topic there is a link at the top of that page called 'Whirly Jig' and it is a quick and dirty movie of the jig in action.

Glen

Kj Rockz

That's figgen kewl

I wish I had a garage, just so I could get one of those jigs..


That is so friggen awesome...

philoldsmobile

Not sure - it is sometimes sold as truck wash. it is a powerfull degreaser, so it's quite possible they do!

Simple green should also do the trick, as should engine cleaner

Scott_92RS

What about sand blasting it and painting it black? Now that would surely get it clean.

GlenYappa

The reason I am against sandblasting is that I have tried sandblasting small parts before and I am still finding pieces of blast media in wierd places. I just don't want to get the blast media into everything in my shop which is also where the engines are. I am currently building a paint booth on a budget in one corner of my garage. I just don't have the space to build some sort of blasting room also.