Next up, color matched struts. No stopping me now, I'm on a roll!

I'm wondering if there's a name for this affliction? Oh well, I'm having fun so WTF...
rob

 

Well, you can definitely tell you have done boat restoration - "if it's dull, polish it - if it won't work, replace it - anything else, paint it."

Great writeup - when I finally give up the 9-5 in 5 years or so I hope my garage looks like that. Really well done!

 

While the subframe was out, what the heck, I've cleaned and painted everything that would stand still long enough, so why not?
Plus my buddy was going to sandblast it for two 30 packs.

And as the Bumper Carrier was just sitting there looking scuzzy, AND jealous, that got it too. After sandblasting the first step was, just say "NO" to weld splatter. When are these robots going back to trade school to learn how to weld properly?

I think the subframe is going to have to harden up for 2-3 days, but I've got the second LCA to get back together and the struts to paint and assemble, and the hoses to go on the rack and pinion so there's a few things to keep me busy.

Subframe, Eastwood Chassis Black

Bumper Carrier, Por-15 Stainless Detail Paint

Robj



Just say "No" to weld splatter. [I mean it was right there...]


All Shiny! The guy I run over will appreciate my work I'm sure.


Because everyone will see this right?

 

Color matched struts. Can't wait to see them with the red springs and matching disc brake dust covers...
Of course the shiny metal part was clear coated as well.

I'm pretty sure these and the subframe will need to harden up for a few days at the very least.

robj

[This actually might be the last of the painting!]

 

Husky,

As a Mustang guy you might like this, 93 Cobra engine out cleaned up and waiting on getting the engine bay painted. It was my daily driver for about 10 years.
Another project in waiting.

robj

 

Very nice--and CLEAN!

I'll have to post some pics of my 5.0 some day. Not quite as clean as yours though. For some reason the site won't let me right now...

 

Love this! You are making me rethink my whole rebuild of my GP. I will be doing something similar to the subframe and LCAs now that I've seen what you did! Will have to get that sandblaster sooner, rather than later! So impressive!

 

Thanks there Soul,

Once you start with this it can become a mighty deep commitment [hole?]. Sometimes I wish I had not been bitten by the "shiny vampire" as just bolting **** back together and going for a ride is much easier.But it really doesn't cost that much money, just time and energy.
The other issue with striving for something close to "perfection" is it's only that way once, the day you drive it out the door. It's all down hill after that. But I live for that one day and I have fun doing it so that's what keeps me going.
One of my garage buddies thats restoring a 1932 Cadillac told me I needed to "take a pill". [like he has room to talk]

I told him, "they don't make pills for what I've got".

robj

 

That all started as it was a daily driver for 10years and the engine compartment got really scuzzy. I pulled the motor to repaint that then realized the motor looked just as scuzzy.
In that era they didn't paint the engine blocks, just left them cast iron which of course rusted.
I ended up stripping it down and treating the block then painted it with "cast iron look" paint. [photo is the Por-15 before the cast iron paint.
A guy said "that's not original it should be rusty". I gave him my best "bite me" look...
rj

 

Husky,
Thanks so much for the tip regarding the "Ireland Engineering" plates. Pelican parts did take the return for the OEM parts and the Ireland Engineering parts appear much more robust. And were maybe only $25 more than OEM!
Hard to believe a problem area such as this didn't show up in pre-production testing. Or maybe it did and they said "so what".

Anyway, thanks again.
robj

 

Turned out nice if I have to say so myself. I do have to go back to my friends shop and pop one back in the spring compressor as one of the lower cushions shifted a little.
Oh well.
rj

 

Glad I could help with the camber plates. Don't forget you'll need a new alignment!

Struts and springs do look pretty good! Did you do that blue with a rattle can? That's not bad work if you did.

I'm seriously considering picking up a quart of Hyper Blue to start de-chroming my car. I keep looking at these covers for the headlight rings, door handles, mirrors, and boot release--and realize I'd spend a heck of a lot less money on a quart of paint with my old spray gun. Then I could do the blue instead of gloss black (which would match my roof, but, I think the body color would look better.) I may keep the chrome door handles just to because of the wear that they get.

Of course, once I did that, I'd probably just go ahead and spray the whole bonnet to fix all the rock chips... Pretty soon I'll be qualified for a room in rehab with you.

Here's pics of my Mustang motor. This was after we first rebuilt it. Since it's going in a 67, I painted the block Ford Blue. Shouldn't have done that--it looks funny once installed, but didn't realize it until much later in the game.


Here it is in its new engine bay. Definitely not as clean as your work, but most of the time the hood will be hiding it.


Here's a pic of the car. Putting EFI in a 67 is easier than it used to be, but it's still not for the faint of heart. This is what I'm supposed to be working on instead of working on the Mini. Your posts have been inspiring me to get back out in the garage and get to work!

 

Husky,

Well that there is one serious looking piece of gear! I wouldn't worry too much about the fine points of detailing there, all anyone will see is taillights!
Nice to see I'm not the only one with more than project going!
Thanks for sharing that.

robj

P.S. Although I've painted a few cars in my past I've become a real rattle can artist mostly for the convenance of no mixing but mostly not having to clean the gun. For little stuff I've had good luck with"Eastwood" Under-Hood paints, but I recently started using Por-15 detail paints. They have in general a larger can and they spray with a nice.fine pattern.
For color matching I've used www.theautopaintdepot.com.
The match is spot on and they spray nice. Definitely not cheap at $39-49 a can, but sooo much less hassle. I wouldn't want to paint a hood or a door with it but for little parts it worked great.
I also have to give a shout out to them as one of the cans sprayed a little "funny", like the can is being held at too much angle or was near empty. I was able to use it on the flat dust shields, but I wrote to them describing the issue and asking for any suggestions, and they sent me a free can!

 

Deleted

 

Steve,
No problem. Highjack away. I'm not wound so tight that it would bother me, so long as it's somewhat close to topic. I'm not sure I would want to hear about your great golf score this weekend though. Learned a long time ago you can learn something from anyone.
robj

 

LOL. I was going to contribute to the "my Mini is keeping me from my other projects" portion by including my Mustang (since you are also a Mustang guy) and one other OTM (other than Mini). I have over a dozen other projects waiting for my retirement. Since you encouraged...

 

Steve,
A couple nice cars there that's for sure! I really like the black and red on the fastback. I think that was the best looking mustang they ever made!
But I do have to say they look like they're finished. What good is a finished project???
[just kidding of course]

Besides the Mini, the boat and the Mustang, I have a '73 VW camper with the engine out and a '92 Cherokee on a rotisserie with everything out [ but the new floors are in] and a '72 CJ5 Jeep that's been dipped and engine is back from the machine shop and waiting for assembly.

At this rate I'm going to need to live to about 120...

Thanks for sharing,
robj

 

They are close but need finishing. Squirrel! Mini Cooper!
Minis, Mustangs, VWs and Jeeps... you sure you aren't my long lost relative? I have way too many VW's (12 at last count) and recently got the last Jeep out of my driveway, but still have a set of wrangler wheels. If you say you were previously into Miatas and Smart Cars I will ask for a DNA test.

Back to your build thread! When does it burn gasoline in anger again?

 

Getting closer...



Before, Pretty Crusty...



Much better...



Another view of "Purdy"...

 

You realize those are going to get dirty right? Sorry, mood breaker. Amazingly detailed.

 

Like I said before, It'll only look "perfect" the day you roll it out the door, after that it's all down hill, especially for a daily driver type car. But I live for that first day.

I think I'm going to hold off putting the subframe back in to remove the exhaust for the "one ball mod". A little more room to move around that way.
That's coming up next.
rob

 

It might be a little hard to see but I've gotten into the habit of putting a dot of paint, [color immaterial] on every fastener after it's been torqued to the correct value. I do it right away after bolting each item on so I don't have to recheck it later.
You can then tell at a glance that it's been done and keeps you from missing things. [I use a toothpick]
It's a little hard to see but there's a tiny red dot on each fastener that's been torqued.
robj

 

If you're handy with a welder, removing the precat on the header gives a little extra power and will add a bit more noise if you've got the rest apart! Looks great, btw.

 

Steve,
No Smart car but a Miata was under consideration before I stumbled across the Mini. I have a 2002 Chev. 2500 with the 8.1 liter engine and I was looking for something that got better than 8.1 MPG to run around in.
rj

 

Soul,
Does that upset the computer or emissions? Tested every 2 years in Maryland. I have a nice Miller mig welder and have gotten pretty decent with it. But still, about half my welds look great, and half demonstrate my skill with a grinder... I think it's all about the ground.
rj