Mike's 1973 D22 Complete tear out. From the Roof down!

[Eyez Open]

Looking fantastic !! But if he replaces the center piece with a honeycomb grille he will lose points with the concours judges. 

No worries RWM has a truly independent mind, frankly honeycomb does not fit the bill,but it a proactive image is it not. There is a need for increased ventilation by the way

[RockwoodMike]

There is a need for increased ventilation by the way

Yes,there is!!  

Here is a shot of the engine bay with the engine cover on..Looking in from the front..Look at the distance from the horn of the carb to the bottom of the cover..

Now add in the big fat air cleaner on top of the carb..the high valve covers too..

How did any air pass through here? There is no clear way for it to pass through..

And the distance between the carb and cover with the air cleaner, if someone stepped on the cover from the top, it may have hit the carb with the weight of the step

 

[RockwoodMike]

Looking fantastic !! But if he replaces the center piece with a honeycomb grille he will lose points with the concours judges. 

I think Elandan2 has a good point!!Those judges can be harsh with their scoring..A few points here or there and you are no where to be seen being handed a trophy..  

So stock rebuild it will be..Here is a couple of picks in the building of it with fresh 3/4x3/4 aluminum

[Elandan2]

Actually, the idea is to force all the air through the radiator. On ours, there is rubber mat all around the opening around the radiator to seal off the engine "compartment".

[RockwoodMike]

Actually, the idea is to force all the air through the radiator. On ours, there is rubber mat all around the opening around the radiator to seal off the engine "compartment".

Yes, I had that thick tar paper rubber mat too..It is too torn up to reuse..

This whole ventilation concern really showed itself when I was first tearing it all apart..The back firewall of the engine compartment had the paint totally burnt off..

I am just wanting to increase circulation all over the engine area instead of shoving it through the radiator with that tar paper piece.

I was thinking of making a raised engine cover..give more clearance for the air to move around the engine..Give it more thought on all this..

Picture shows the new front piece installed..Now need to take it all back apart to buff it shiny..
Then it is time to look at the grill pieces..what am I going to do with those..    

[Eyez Open]

At one point, boats became quite an obsession for me. However, that obsession has since faded. I can honestly say that if I never have to polish, sand, or buff again, it will be too soon. I dread the time when I need to prepare the RV for paint.

On the other hand, powder coating has been a welcome change—almost priceless.

[LJ-TJ]

  awful quite out there. Must be buffing the grill.   

[Eyez Open]

awful quite out there. Must be buffing the grill.   

Polishing old metal can be mind numbing...also known as bat chit crazy..

To that note brushed aluminum is quite elegant...very stated. Along with easy on the temperament..

[RockwoodMike]

I am here...not going anywhere..Been raining for 4 days of the last 7..Not very good for making progress..But I did get my new buffing kit!!

3 wheels and 3 compounds..Right now I have been using earlier, the brown/white combo on the Harbor freight buffer..

Now I have a 3rd wheel..yellow!! with the black compound..this combo will buff the hide off a cow

So sand down with 400 grit sandpaper..with the RO sander..

Black (with the corresponding wheel
Beige...medium compound
White (about the same as cotton balls) with white compound..

There is going to be a whole lot of buffing going on..soon

[Eyez Open]

A note here. While it has been two yrs since I gave up on polishing alum/ metal I distinctly remember there were different grades of metal I was working on.

Meaning white polish did not get the same results consistently. I also used green and Grey. Until I had enough and went in another direction.

[RockwoodMike]

I think I am over my head here...

The grill pieces have me messed up..I decided to take them apart

Then each piece can be polished individually, one at a time..(Bat Chit hasn't happened yet, Eyez..or maybe it has and I don't know it)

Those tubes that hold the individual slats can be drilled out..then each slat is taken off..

Then to reassemble..All thread(all stainless) and nuts to hold it all back together..

I think I am over my head on this but it was all I could figure out..

Any opinions??

[Eyez Open]

You've been smitten with tinkeritis, a common phenomenon. It would seem it's sinking in deeply just how far you're going to need to go. It's not so much you "bitten off to much" perhaps your skilled enough to know what it takes to get to a conclusion. And that is quite a bit.

Just breathe your doing excellent work far above the cut. Hmm brushed aluminum anyone....

[RockwoodMike]

Hmm brushed aluminum anyone....

I wish I had done just that..Even just green scotch brite would have been good..

After polishing what I have earlier, I am too deep now..Gotta finish it..

So this is what I did today..Just trying to find the best but efficient way to do all this..


Step 1..don't use the the black(gray) compound..too harsh for this soft aluminum..I don't think the material is annealed (hardened)..And the black compound has some sort of ink in it and when I was trying it, it actually stained the area that wasn't being polished..The sides of the slats..

Just gonna use brown and white and to finish some Mother's polish..

First pic..Made this slat in the bench to hold the single slat..Sand off the extrusion markings with 400 and soapy water..

Second pic..using ordinary blue painter's tape, mask off the shiny (sanded) area..

Third pic..hanging it up with copper wire to act as a conductor for the ground of the powder..Spray the powder, insert into hot oven ..keep an eye on the powder, till it just starts to get wet and shiny..10 minutes or so..

Pull it of the oven and shoot another layer of powder..You will have 2 coats and much more durable than a single coat..

Carefully pull the tape off without touching the powder..You can't have the tape go through the full oven baking..It will ruin the shiny area with the adhesive of the tape..

25 minute bake..You really can't over bake it but you can under bake it..

Pic 4..1 down, 2 ready for powder and all the others need to be torn apart to start the whole process..

A nice brushed look..Perfect hind sight..   

[Eyez Open]

Building a finish with a powder coat, now that's interesting, but it makes perfect sense. I've done up to four layers of two-part polyurethane on fiberglass to achieve a final finish...Great solution. I'm looking forward to seeing the final results.
Frankly based up your efforts and the outcome I believe a clear coat would be in ordèr...lmao I think that is

[LJ-TJ]

  Oooops! Well your into the grind now. This is when it gets tough. This is when sticktoiteveness and tenacity come into play. From here watching this come together is amazing. If you can hang in there. Hang tough. From the out side looking in,when it's finished it's going to blow your mind. The finish product is going to be so worth the effort. Your setting an awful high bar for the rest of us to follow. Keep up the good fight. Your doing fantastic.

[RockwoodMike]

I believe a clear coat would be in ordèr.

Good idea.. exterior high gloss..permanent shine..only have to remove everything I have so far but I think it will be worth it

I made this rack thing..can hold 4 pieces at a time..little bit faster than 1 at a time as shown earlier..

The front grill(all of it..top and bottom..is built with 4 sections..The top section is 3 sections..left middle and right..

With the oven that I have for the powder, I can only do the left right sections..

The middle section is to long to fit..24 inches is the width of the oven..so max width for anything is 23.5..

The bottom section is way bigger..Better than 4 feet wide...

All shown in the pictures..

what to do about that??      Build an oven!!    

This is when sticktoiteveness and tenacity come into play.

Yep!!

[RockwoodMike]

skip to the 4 minute mark

I was thinking the same design idea..2 foot tall..2 deep and 5 foot wide..
I could fit everything in there

[LJ-TJ]

Hey guys! How do you put a like in?

[RockwoodMike]

I am working on it..This picture shows the carport shop that I have..It just to keep my plasma cutter and these ovens dry..In the fog of winter, everything gets soaked in there..

But where the ovens are, move them out and build a platform 5x3 feet in size and then make an oven similar to the YT video..

Change in plans for the oven..New size..5 feet wide..3 deep and 3 tall..A wall in the middle to divide the oven that can be removed..So that you can use the full size or half when you are only doing small parts..

With both those ovens on, it draws 8.1 kilowatts  And here in Kalifornia in the middle of the day, at 80 cents a KW..running this would cost over 6 dollars an hour..

With the new oven, each side would have a oven control and 2 burners..giving about the same as these 2 ovens that are here..

All this so I can have a shiny grill..    

[RockwoodMike]

Here are some pictures of the remodel..

Attached the table to the frame of the carport and 2 concrete stands..Pressure treated wood and 5/16 carriage bolts to tie it all together..

1 of the factors in the cost of this thing is using what you have laying around..A sheet of 1/4 plate for the top of the table..

An then the first attempt at making steel studs work..Clamping each intersection is a must while you use the self taping screws. This is the frame for the floor of the oven.

The video shows the table top as the floor on YT..I decided to put an insulated floor in instead..

Still working on it..

[RockwoodMike]

Sheet metal floor installed..

Flip it over and stuff with insulation..then cover with more sheet metal

[RockwoodMike]

Stuffed with R-13 insulation..The type that doesn't have Kraft paper attached to it..

capped off with steel..this is the floor..Now need to make the ceiling..It is a copy of the floor..

I know this isn't much to show and I am slow at this..But it is raining and cold right now and doing the best I can..  

[Eyez Open]

Hmmm now the question is will the bumpers fit into that oven? After all one just simply cannot have a grill that's stated and bumpers looking a bit edgy?

Just saying...
 

[Elandan2]

I'm thinking that the next project will be a chrome plating operation. 

[Eyez Open]

I'm thinking that the next project will be a chrome plating operation. 

Powedercoating can yield extraordinary results; I've seen some candy finish results that surpass professional paint applications for thousands of less money. Having your oven is quite a unique opportunity.