Forgot to mention that I removed the upper/lower a-arm bolts and dropped the rear axle hub assys. Need to de-slime them after 9 years of road action!! Lots of brake dust and grease oozings around the pivot points. (I'ts a pretty empty chassis now!!! No suspension, no wiring, no hoses.....! Scary!!!)
I should also point out that some of my NEW rubber Unibal (spherical ball joint) booties, so carefully replaced back in 2001 and a couple of years later, are already hardening up and will need replacing again! I have a stash of spares set aside.....if not, they can be replaced fairly easily while on the car. Amazing what grease will do to rubber!
Cleaned up the mounting points with solvent to get the greasy stuff off before sanding and grinding.
OK, last nite I dug out a new toy. A 6" orbital sander. While it tore thru some material with 120 grit on it, I used 220 for a lot of the areas to keep from scratching the steel up. I hate that when it bleeds thru the paint and you can see all the scratch marks..... Took a little longer and a bunch of sanding pads, but I got about as much done with power tools. The sander can only be used on about 50-60% of the large flat panels, and 50% of the frame pieces, namely the top, bottom, and inside surfaces.....
Oh, and wear a dust mask unless you like breathing iron oxide....(rust!)
So tonite, I go primitive. Just some 220-320 wet/dry paper and fingers. UGH!!! Need to get around all the wire retainers, the occasional pop rivet, brackets, and wiring, and power tools just won't cut it.
I hope that I can complete the sanding portion of this adventure tonight. Gonna be tough... I already don't like the orbital sander....but I'm sure on regular panels and roofs, it would work fantastic!
By tomorrow this time, I will hate sandpaper in general.....
))What else.....?
*Clean the rear crossmember- degrease with solvent.
*Weld on the ebrake cable support. It broke off after crouching on it..... it may break again too.....not much room in there!!! A 4 point hoist would be a dream about now.....
*Wipe the entire mess down with PrepSol, rinse, and apply GalvaPrep.
*Dry thoroughly!
*Prime within 24 hours of chemical baths.
*Paint within 24 hours of priming.
I have Thursday off(vacation) and Friday is a company holiday (Blue Moon Anniversary- 11 years since we shipped the first TiVo unit...been changing the way that millions of people watch TV and a couple of Cable companies manage their DVR's...ever since!
)As I mentioned, I will be taking Fridays off to work on the car from now until June. If there are any PCNC members with nothing to do.....I'll be hanging in the garage futzing with something! Can't guaranty you a beer, but I can provide a refrigerator to cool what you like!!!
Drop me an email for an address!!!
Ciao!
Steve