1930 REO

 

1930 REO

(photo record for work performed in, Invoice #10)

Photo 10-1a) Photo shows beginning of work on interior reveal panels and other interior parts, acid etching each part prior to epoxy coating.

Photo 10-2a) The photo shows parts that were under a mouse nest in your trailer. The mice peed on the parts and caused them to rust. It was only the few parts shown and I got rid of the mice. I now have four cats living out there and they like to hang out under the trailer, so hopefully no more mice.

Photos 10-3a thru 10-3c) Photos show the interior revel molding and other parts after acid etching and ready for epoxy coating. The heat lamp is on them to keep them warm. It was 71 degrees in the shop already so it was not cold, but I wanted to keep the parts warm, not hot, but just nice and warm to avoid any residual moister before primer application.

Photo 10-4a thru 10-4b) Photos show parts after epoxy coating. Note that parts are in the shade. No parts were ever painted in direct sunlight or allowed to dry in direct sunlight. Direct sunlight can cause the primer surface to dry too fast and trap uncured solvents underneath.

Photo 10-5a)  Photo show water jug used for soaking small parts in vinegar to remover rust. Parts were put in container several weeks ago (see photo descriptions for invoice #7). Notice how the rust has bubbled to the top to form a head of rust-foam. I drained this off and rinsed the parts with clean vinegar (see next photos below).

Photo 10-6a thru 19-6c)  The first photo shows parts after soaking in vinegar for several week. The blackish stuff seen on the parts wiped off super-easy to leave perfectly clean bare metal. The second photo shows the preparation process. The parts go from a rinse of water/vinegar to acid scrub with the new product before being thoroughly dried. Enlarge the photo if you want and see how clean the parts came out. In the near future, I will use this process to de-rust the hood doors. The third photo below shows hardware parts stored in baggies after applying oil. Note the oil turned the hardware parts dark in color.

Photo10-76a thru 10-7b) Photos show console parts, cowl vent mechanism parts, park-brake parts, and other parts after acid etching, ready for epoxy coating.

Photo 10-8a thru 10-8c) Photos show parts after epoxy coating.

Note: About 147 bare metal parts have now been cleaned, acid etched, and coated with epoxy. One more batch of parts should complete the work, or maybe two more batches.

 

 THANK YOU, JERRY!

 

 

1930 REO

1930 REO

(photo record for work performed in, Invoice #9)

Photo 9-1a) As you know, I have been using vinegar as a replacement for the no-longer available DuPont product called, 5717s. Vinegar is excellent for small parts (see photos for invoice #5). However, when I prepared the next batch of parts (invoice #6, the fenders and gas-tank), I was not happy with the way the vinegar performed on large sheet metal parts. Therefore I used DuPont 5717s because I had just enough here in my personal stock to prep the fenders and other parts in invoice #6. So that worked out well. However, I still needed a replacement product and after some research, I found one that I am very pleased with. I did not yet have the replacement product when I prepared the floor pans and other parts however (invoice #8). And because I was out of my 5717s, I used the vinegar in a careful process (describe in next paragraph). This did the job for the floor pans. For this current batch of parts (invoice #9) I used the new replacement product called Klean-Strip, Metal Prep. I am very happy with its performance.

Photo 9-2a) The photo shows frontmost/floor-pan with right side prepped with the new product. The photo is very similar to photo 8-2a from the last batch of photos (invoice #8) which shows a panel half-done with vinegar. The vinegar works on large sheet metal panels but the new product is superior. With the vinegar, one has to be very careful and use a high-heat air gun in combination with  a compressed air-blower to remove all traces of moister from the surface after scrubbing it with scuff pads and then wiping it dry with towels. It’s tricky business, but can be done. Fortunately, the new product solves the problem. If you look closely at the above photo, you will see the excellent bluing of the two sections to the right of my boot (enlarge the photo if you can). That bluing is exactly what one wants when acid etching metal.

 

Photos 9-3a thru 9-3c) Photos show the front frame rail cover panels. The cover panels had gray primer on them so the first thing I did was to use thinner to remove any oil or other contaminants from the primer. However, when I started wiping the frame rail covers down with  thinner, the primer just melted away. This surprised me because epoxy or urethane primer would not do that. I realized that the primer must have been spray can stuff, which is bad news for expensive paint jobs.  After I cleaned off the primer, I found pitted rust underneath. Someone had obviously sandblasted the panels in the past but they had not been through in their work and had left dark spots in the bottoms of the rust pits, and that dark stuff is rust. It has to be sandblasted out completely to assure that the rust does not come back. For now, I thoroughly rust-busted the panels and epoxy coated them. I have a good sandblaster and I can blast them later. The panels still need some work anyway including welding and bodywork. Then I can sandblast them. For now, my focus is on getting all bare metal parts protected with epoxy coating. Otherwise, we could have a disaster on our hands with over two-hundred rusty parts, but do not worry because that is not going to happen.

Photo 9-4a thru 9-4c) Photo shows hood panels and other parts prepped and ready for epoxy coating.

Photo 9-5a thru 9-5c)  Photos show hood panels and other parts after epoxy coating.

Photo 9-6a thru 9-6f) I looked through the trailer and got out bare metal parts for epoxy coating. The third photo down shows the seat frame mechanisms I fabricated. The seat frames are still in original paint and need sandblasting, so I oiled the mechanisms for now and stored them back in the trailer. The parts from trailer are interior reveal molding and other interior related panels that will be epoxy coated in the next batch (invoice #10). Years ago, I fabricated these parts and scrubbed them thoroughly with acid etch and then boxed and stored them. I was very careful and if you look closely you will see that there is virtually no rust on them. They still need to be acid scrubbed however to remove oxidation and allow for good paint adhesion. I am showing them here to show something important. Please see and read the below.

Photo 9-76a thru 9-7d) Photos show box of hood-door parts. These parts were fabricated and boxed much more recently than the parts mentioned above. I had nothing to do with the fabrication or storage of these parts. The other day, when I opened the box, I found them as shown in photos. I will de-rust and epoxy coat these parts in a later batch (probably invoice #11).  Please see note below:

Important temporary Note:  All the parts that were rusted were parts that had been metal conditioned by Skyler (the shocks, the steering box, the hood-door parts), but it’s not his fault. He was new at this. There is only one right way to metal condition parts in my book, and that is to thoroughly scrub them with a scuff pad while applying the conditioner. This method works the acid into the metal and therefore etches it completely. I know that some people say its alright to just wipe the conditioner on with a damp towel, but that does not work. Skyler prepped the aforementioned parts under Jim’s supervision. I was not involved. Now, it is true that Jim wanted me to manage the REO project but I refused and here’s why. When he first asked, I agreed, and I told him I need the south side of the shop (the paint booth and the stall in front of the booth) plus an organized storage area in the attic. I got everything organized and went home for the weekend. When I returned, Jim had invited one of his buddies to work on his buddies car as a friendship-thing over the weekend. His buddy’s car was in the stall in front of the paint booth that I had carefully prepared for the REO before leaving for the weekend. And everything relating to the REO had been moved from that stall into the paint booth, some of it pushed right up against the back of the REO. I damn near quit, but instead, I cleared stuff away and went to work. For months after, Jim’s buddy’s car remained there in front of the booth, and when it left, another car came in behind it. It was an impossible situation and I don’t know why I put up with it. I was never in charge but just trying to do my best under the circumstances. I should have quite and come to you and told you sooner than I did. I apologize for not doing so.

 

 Note: There are more parts to prep and prime but I am making good progress and should soon have them all cleaned and coated.

 

THANK YOU, JERRY!