Other Projects - Car and Non Car Related

[Gary Lewis]

I was more thinking the style of the wheel, which just looks "new" to me.  But the center cap does as well.

[Gearhead]

Primer. It was a Florida truck, so the drip rails were rusty  and a leak around the windshield.

[Gearhead]

Thanks. I have no ideas how I got rubber side up.

[Gearhead]

The rims are off a 95 E350, powder coated argent. NOS factory caps. Axles are dana 61 rear, factory, and front is just 2wd.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Van rims explain modern equipment with fractional pattern.

It really does update the look!  

[Nothing Special]

Is '95 modern?  What does that make my '97 then?

Seriously, the pickups didn't go to metric rims until '97 for F-150 and '99 for F-250HD and F-350.  But as you know, vans stayed with inches much longer.

[Angelo Voltura]

Played around with my C6 today. Pressure washed and degreased, primed with self etching primer and painted except under the bell by the pan for now. Pulled the pan and it looks fantastic inside and I was informed fluid and filter were changed less than 20k miles ago. It has been rebuilt at some point. I was missing the filter housing gasket for my new pan so tomorrow my local trans shop is hooking me up with one for $1. I couldnt install the pan tonight, but I couldnt help but set my new bling on there ;)

[Gary Lewis]

Looks great, Angelo!!!!  Well done!

[Angelo Voltura]

Thank you sir! Cant wait to get over there and sand the frame. Maybe tomorrow.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Does anybody use a needle scaler?

Air hungry, but not more than blasting and a WHOLE lot cleaner.
Put a piece of plastic underneath and just roll it up.

If it was southern surface rust I'd just etch and paint.

[Angelo Voltura]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Does anybody use a needle scaler?

Air hungry, but not more than blasting and a WHOLE lot cleaner.
Put a piece of plastic underneath and just roll it up.

If it was southern surface rust I'd just etch and paint.

I used a needle scaler on dad's truck when we were doing the frame on his 85, but I don't have a compressor that can really run it (it doesn't like even running a nail gun). What I have been doing is putting a wire wheel on a drill or angle grinder depending on the size of the area I'm doing. Seems to work out alright. I've used that method on a lot of things.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Hard to get into a corner with a rotary tool though.

I hear you on the air.
I went from a 7hp 2 stage120 lay down, to a 5Hp 2 stage 80 gallon upright to a 2 1/2 Hp single stage 30(ish?) and that's keeping up with my die grinder, jitterbug or $9.95 Horrid Fate purple HVLP gun.but not much else.

It's also set at 125 instead of 175, which makes a huge difference with an impact gun.

[Angelo Voltura]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Hard to get into a corner with a rotary tool though.

I hear you on the air.
I went from a 7hp 2 stage120 lay down, to a 5Hp 2 stage 80 gallon upright to a 2 1/2 Hp single stage 30(ish?) and that's keeping up with my die grinder, jitterbug or $9.95 Horrid Fate purple HVLP gun.but not much else.

It's also set at 125 instead of 175, which makes a huge difference with an impact gun.

It is very hard to get into corners, I do agree with you on that. For that stuff I use small tip wires. Usually before I even attempt this from the get go I knock off everything loose with a small hammer.

I was looking at air a few years ago but compressors are super expensive. Most of my stuff is Milwaukee Fuel battery powered stuff. I went with that mostly for the warranty and the portability. Their stuff has come far enough ahead in technology that I really don't need air anymore.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Slag chipping hammers work.
But it's slow.

Yeah good compressors are expensive.
If you can find one from a shop going out of business (that isn't rusty inside) it's worth it

Milwaukee has some great tools in their lineup.
Unfortunately I'm too heavily invested in legacy DeWalt tools to bail on them.
Things like a battery operated finish nailer are very convenient for me.

[Angelo Voltura]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Yeah good compressors are expensive.
If you can find one from a shop going out of business (that isn't rusty inside) it's worth it

Milwaukee has some great tools in their lineup.
Unfortunately I'm too heavily invested in legacy DeWalt tools to bail on them.
Things like a battery operated finish nailer are very convenient for me.

I was looking at well over $1500 for one that was going to do everything I wanted, and I wanted something a little overkill so that there was never any question of it's capability to run anything I could think of. That was not including the cost of hoses, fittings, tools etc. I can snag old hoses from work, but still. I have air tools at work since the shop has a compressor, but 90% of my stuff is battery powered. My next buy from Milwaukee will most likely be the battery die grinder.

The other issue I have with a compressor is space confinements. The garage is small as it is.

I'm sure I could make it work, but it was more cost effective and efficient to go electric/battery. For example, my 1/2 Milwaukee impact gun has more torque than my Air Cat 1/2 gun, and is portable. The warranty was 3 years longer on the tool itself vs air (3 vs 5), and the battery/charger were also warrantied for 3 years. Not only that, but the cost of the battery tools themselves are similar priced, sometimes cheaper and sometimes more expensive which is ok. I simply couldn't beat it.

[ArdWrknTrk]

It's really amazing how far they've come.
I started out with a 7.5v nicad Makita drill driver in the early '80's.

Put the compressor outside under a shed roof.
 There's no reason to listen to it.

[Angelo Voltura]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

It's really amazing how far they've come.
I started out with a 7.5v nicad Makita drill driver in the early '80's.

Put the compressor outside under a shed roof.
 There's no reason to listen to it.

Yeah they aren't like they were even 10 years ago.

I could do that, but for that money I'd rather it not be out in the elements. I'm going to probably buy one eventually anyways, but for now I'm pretty ok with what I've got going on.

[Angelo Voltura]

Brought her home last night. Boy, does it feel good to finally see this girl coming together. This 400 is going to RIP.

[Gary Lewis]

You've had the block cleaned and machined?  And the truck was brought home?  Or the whole engine built and installed?  I'm confused.  

[Angelo Voltura]

Gary, the truck still has a 351M short block sitting in its perches, I had 3 other blocks laying around to pick from and a complete 400 bottom end given to me for free since I helped do an engine swap in a 78 F250. So, instead of trying to do it in a 10x20 storage unit as I had been doing, I put it on a trailer, swapped my Bull with it in the unit and brought it home while the new engine remains at the machine shop.

We are going .040 over (410ci) with Tmeyer flat tops, Trick Flow heads and a retrofit roller cam. I am almost having a custom torque converter made for the truck and looking into a True Trac for the rear end. Everyone I have talked to said the engine should be in the 475-500 horsepower range. This truck is going to absolutely rip up the streets, and I couldn't be more excited.