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I can't say it enough times.. great job sam

The latest area of progress on this car has been all underneath, the part that never gets seen Lost count of how many Saturdays I've spent on the creepy crawler, on my back, with a scrubbing brush and spray bottle of the strongest cleaner/degreaser I could find. Usually followed by a Sunday of R&R; my bony frame doesn't agree with the hard creeper and reaching up into crevices is a very tiresome job.

This was all in preparation for a coating I've heard great things about which is the rubberized "schutz" underbody coating, 3M make one but I couldn't find it locally so went with Teroson record 2000 black. Pretty much the same stuff, comes in 1L cans for about $27 each. Buying from Blackwoods anything less than a whole crate came out at about $36 a can so I just ordered a whole box, 12 cans...may have over-estimated how much I was going to need a bit a special spray gun is required (a schutz gun) which works at around 30-40 psi and splatters the stuff out in a thick textured coating, and splatters plenty on everything around it as well including the floor. Dries to a flexible rubbery finish which is supposedly impervious to moisture, salt, abrasion, some fuel resistance and cold and heat resistance. With this stuff though you can't have any rust whatsoever on the surface before you coat it, even surface rust will continue to rust under the coating and you can't see it until major damage is done. So plenty of surface rust treatment (grinding, wire wheeling, gold galv paint etc) went into it and the rear section was the worst for this.

I got stuck into spraying it yesterday morning and after only 2 cans the spray gun completely packed up; on the third can it wouldn't suck the thick goop up the pickup tube and with air only rushing through the gun the stuff that was in the spray nozzle dried solid very quickly. Tried multiple times to clean it out with turps, only to have the pickup tube get blocked instantly every time with me getting more angry every time...eventually something in the gun snapped then I snapped and everything that was within arms reach now lies broken...black stains all over the concrete for ever more

Anyway enough rambling here are some pics of what I managed to get done; the 4 wheel wells and the rear section up to where the floor pan dips down for the passenger compartment. A new schutz gun is on order with a larger diameter pickup tube this time...

Before spraying, cleanest it's been since it was new!

From the front looking back

Rear wheel well and don't worry all bolt holes were covered up before they got gooped up




You can see some bare spots still in these pics, it's very hard to see up into underneath the car and see every crevice from every angle and the gun sprays in a very small area, I will go over it with another coat next week if the new gun gets here.

After this is done is when I start putting the suspension back together! Plan was to get this completely done yesterday, go round to a friends to use his hydraulic press on all my suspension bushes today, get all my suspension components sand blasted and epoxy primed during the week and start re-assembling next week...well that's all gone to pot pushed everything back by a week...oh well. Also need to buy some 50mm section to finish up a couple of missing pieces to my lift kit and some large diameter pipe and 6mm plate to make the front strut spacers/adapters for L series struts.

Nice work mate! I wish I'd done this sound deadener spray to Ruby Scoo when I had everything out and on the rotisserie...

What's your expected time frame of having this beast back on the road again?

Cheers

Bennie

Yes - well done ...

P.S. - A rotisserie is also on my list of things to get ( Could make your own )

Makes what your doing much easier ...

Cheers, Bantum ...

Yeah I thought about making a rotisserie, would have definitely made life much easier but it would just be another large thing to store somewhere and right now we are desperately short of space for anything. So I had to settle for jack stands and a creepy crawler As for ETA on the finished car well I want to be able to drive it to the next Xmas lunch do at work so end of this year. Considering we're nearly half way there it's a big ask! Now I'm almost ready to start putting stuff back on, after that milestone it should fly back together. Suspension components will get sand blasted soon, new suspension bushes are being ordered and I will buy some steel to finish off my lift kit this week. On that subject, anyone know what diameter tube is required for the front strut top lift blocks? I heard 90mm somewhere.

Got the new Schutz gun this week to finish off underneath, bigger pickup tube and a proper spray nozzle and there is no comparison to the old one, 10x better spraying and it was half the price of the other one! Anyway, ended up using 6 out of the 12 bottles of goo that I bought...anyone want any underbody spray? It has a limited shelf life so I have to get rid of it. And now it looks like a brand new car underneath! And if this stuff is as good as everyone says it is it should reduce the road noise and floor pan drumming a considerable amount and keep all moisture out for good.

Without a rotisserie this is a very physical job; crawling around underneath without the creeper trying to look up and spray into every single nook really takes it out on you! Couldn't use the creeper because this stuff has heaps of overspray; needed to put sheets down everywhere underneath the car or get little spots of goop everywhere for evermore. Also needed full overalls, full face shield, respirator, thick gloves and hearing protection for good measure because the gun is loud.

This is a very messy job

Also had to spend a couple of hours cleaning the front section again; I found more grease and dirt that I'd missed before

After spraying

Great job SB:D, bloody hard work I can appreciate

SB you have to be applauded loudly for doing that in such a confined space. It's akin to chopping vegies/preparing dinner/eating dinner/washing up all while sitting in the oven!!
Well done mate

Silverbullet wrote:On that subject, anyone know what diameter tube is required for the front strut top lift blocks? I heard 90mm somewhere.

I've got two types loose home here ATM, one of hollow steel block with internal crush tubes and one with solid aluminium blocks , both have steel strut tops of slightly differing sizes and thicknesses. PM sent

Mate that work is simply AWESOME! I'm jealous now that I didn't do this work as I've previously said...

It really does look like a factory job - coat of paint and you'll be in business - dunno how long that paint job would last before chips etc appeared in it.

Cheers

Bennie

Thanks guys all this hard work will just make me appreciate the finished product so much more; having spent so many hours and Saturdays lying underneath scrubbing the bottom a few inches from your face getting covered in dirt and wet with degreaser! Like I said at the beginning I want to do this right and this car will remain in the family for the rest of its life.

Proton mouse wrote: It's akin to chopping vegies/preparing dinner/eating dinner/washing up all while sitting in the oven!!
Well done mate

Yer I'll agree with that, see above! And Bennie I plan to leave the underneath as it is now/not putting paint over it. Although you can paint over this stuff.

Yep, top effort indeed

Love that underbody spary. I did it to my hatch many years ago

Paint it for that factory look - you won't regret it!

You've got everything out, now would be the time to do it!

Cheers

Bennie

Today I finally got a chance to use a press (having an engineer friend is very useful sometimes ) and pressed all of my old suspension bushings out, as well as front and rear wheel bearings. This means I can drop all my suspension stuff off at the grit blasters this week, start re-assembling the underside soon after!

Well I haven't really done anything to the car per-se but I just couldn't resist whacking up a couple of pics of this weeks "progress"
I had a few visits from father christmas (the courier) this week and got most of my bushes and bearings, AND got most of my suspension stuff sand blasted (as well as the engine drip drays, bash plate) and I'm really excited how good it's going to look under there when this is all back together. Going to spray the components shiny chassis black (was advised against powder coating for under-body bits) and with bright red bushes and new rubber boots all round it's going to look factory fresh Also lucked out at work and found the exact diameter pipe I need for the strut top lift blocks (110mm dia.) parted off two bits in the lathe for perfect size and parallel. This will save me a lot of money as there is a minimum purchase length on this stuff and it ain't cheap!

Also rang up and got the ball rolling re body respray. Chosen the place, got a rough quote (exact amount I was expecting) and lets just say it's very close now

That end of year deadline is looking 10 steps closer this week!

Woohoo.. that's looking good and should look schmick once all painted up black with red bushes

Really stoked for you Sam!

I hope you've got the guts to drive it after all of this!

It WILL be schmick as!

What are the plans for the interior?

Cheers

Bennie

Cheers fellas Interior will be a mix of re-coloured existing plastic panels and re-trimmed vinyl stuff (rear seats, door cards) Front seats dunno yet as long as it's comfortable. All charcoal grey/black and I'm thinking new moulded carpet Well all this is just a picture in my head at the moment but I find that's the best place to start

Also sorting out to get some chromoly steel adjustable radius rods made up, improve the caster angle a bit hopefully without stressing the LCA bushes too much. If anyone wants a pair let me know since I'll probably have to buy a minimum amount of steel bar as well

Silverbullet wrote:Also sorting out to get some chromoly steel adjustable radius rods made up, improve the caster angle a bit hopefully without stressing the LCA bushes too much. If anyone wants a pair let me know since I'll probably have to buy a minimum amount of steel bar as well

Depending on costs Sam, I could be persuaded in a set for honeycomb

No worries Paul, first it has to be seen if it's even possible; one end of the rod is forged flat and it's un-confirmed whether chrome moly steel can be forged easily. I can't see any reason why not though.

Anyway here's some pics of this weekends work. Had to set up every piece for spraying in my limited space somehow, just managed it by hanging the small stuff up. Having items on the ground meant I had to go over every thing about 3 times to make sure I hadn't missed any spots. But man does it look sweet 2 coats of this bituminous chassis black (like spraying crude oil!) and it looks better than new.

First a coat of etch primer

Then the chassis black



And I was fighting with the weather especially yesterday, didn't rain all morning until I put the paint in the gun, then it poured! After 2PM the temperature started to drop to 13 degrees C or so which meant the chassis black took all night to go off. With no room under cover for the compressor, something had to be improvised



This week I will pick up the steel for the missing pieces of my lift kit and the radius rods and start making the kit next weekend. For the sake of getting the car rolling ASAP for the paint shop though I think I will bolt up the bare minimal stuff without the lift kit, since I still don't know what bolts I will need. Installing the lift blocks will be easy enough afterwards.