Roundel mount shaping tool

For a long time I planned to shape the circular, recessed roundel mount with a self made tool. During that time the design changed several times. Today I made the tool, so it was time for all the alternative universes to collapse.

I knew I needed a tight grained wood ... plain old pine from a 2x4 just wouldn't. I ended up buying a piece of Popular from Home Depot. A bit expensive, more than what I usually spend on lunch, but a nice piece of wood and mostly left over for future projects.

I decided to use the wood on edge. After cutting out the piece of wood I needed I had to drill a hole for a 0.25 in. pin, which will keep the tool centered. My new Craftsmen drill was perfect for this (okay, a good drill press would have been better but I don't have one) because it has a spirit level in the handdle. Thank the bathroom renovation project for the new drill. I clamped the wood in the vise, clean length-wise edge up, leveled it, then drilled successively bigger holes which keeping the bubbled centered in its circle. I stopped one size short of 0.25 but the fit was so tight I was afraid I would split the wood, but after drilling out with a 0.25 bit the pin was not as tight as I wanted. Oh well.

The block rotates around like the hand of a clock. I had to cut away most of the underside to clear the steel plate and bolts that go through the holes used to mount the roundel. The last step was to shape the working end to for the curve that will creat the radius at the edge of the recess. File and check, file and check. You can remove wodd, but you can't add more.

When at last it was done I used it so sand off the filler that already extended too far into the mount. More than half would need more. I sanded off the primer and was applying a new batch of POR Epoxy Putty when I was struck by an inspiration. I could use the tool to mold the fresh putty. Worked like a charm. There will still be some sanding, but I will be starting much closer to the end point.

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Lotus wiper, E9 nose

Started off working on the Europa's RH wind shield wiper arm. The rivet holding the solid outer part to the formed sheet metal inner part broke, due to corrosion. This released all tension of the spring. Once I had the old rivet drilled out I went shopping at Redline and Checkers, neither carries rivets. Finding one could be difficult.

Back at the E9 I marked a low spot at the LH front corner which has some rust damage that could be repaired with fiberglass applied from the outside. I thought I might get a layer on today, but time ran out and I think I'll wait until after the welding is done.

The rest of the day was spent doing to the RH nose what I did last week to the LH side. I tried a new flapper wheel sander on the CP grinder; it cut through bondo really well but wore out rather quickly. Removal of the side marker light revealed more bad wiring, as I have come to expect. Some PO even used a tap to splice one of the light wires. No wonder the electric gave me so much trouble!

The big disappointment here is the bad fit of the nose section at both sides. Looks like damage repair, a poor job of splicing on a new nose. I'll just have to make the best of it.

Another Patch Welded On

I was hoping to pick up the pace by welding on the next three patches as a group. That is why I had previously painted all three with Weld-Thru Primer. Last week ended in a lesson about what happens when the desire to finish gets too strong. The patch for the right side still did not fit right, and instead of taking the time to tweak it the way I had the left side, I thought I could force it into position and let the welds hold it in place. The tack welds failed, and that was when I realized I needed to slow down and do what needs to be done. In my defense, it is not always obvious what the right thing to do is when you are learning as you go without a teacher. The trick to learning from your experience is to recognize and make use of learning opportunities.

In his book "Positive Coaching" Jim Thompson descibes a similer situation, which he calls a coachable moment. In sports, there are times a player can receive instruction and times they can't. There is no point in trying to explain some fine point of the game when the athlete is not in learning mode. As a rule, game time is not learning time. Even during practice there are surprisingly few coachable moments. This is why so many coaches complain that their players don't listen, that what goes in one ear goes out the other. What makes a successful coach is the ability to spot those coachable moments and make the most of them.

My point is that when I get all spun up working on the car the effect is the same as being "in the game." If I am doing something familiar I can charge along without worry. It's when I am doing something unfamiliar that I need to resist the temptation to put on my game face, because that is when things are more likely to turn out badly.

As I was tweaking the right hand patch I ran into a problem getting the top edge of the patch to fit tight againt the opening. The problem turned out to be the original seam, which is about 1/2 in. back. I did not want to grind it flush because that could weaken that joint, which could make my patch fail in the future. At the same time I did not want to rely on spanning the gap with the welder. I decided to drill a series of holes through the sill, one per tab, on or near the seam line, and to weld through those.

This plan almost worked. For some reason the outboard end ended up with a little more gap than I had expected. The only explenation I have to offer is that I relaxed my grip on the rod lifting the piece into place before the weld puddle fully hardened. I ended up trying to fill in the gaps around the holes and along the edge. The result looks messy but it should have enough strength. I did not apply putty because I think I need more welds along the bottom.

One last item. Previously I mentioned getting a welding blanket to prevent setting things on fire. For this session I did a lot of welding, and when I was finished it looked as if a bunch of oily rust flakes had been dislodged by all the grinding. It turns out the spots on the blanket were burn marks. I even burned a hole in my pants. Anyone contemplating welding on a car should consider a welding blanket mandatory equipment.

Second patch after initial weld.



Another view showing welds through holes in window sill. Inboard hole (net to vise-grips) not filled in yet.



After filling in more of the gap along the top edge.



After a little grinding. I think I need some more welds along the bottom edge.

Got Putty

Last week I was disappointed with POR Patch. I was expecting something like the old lacquer filler that came in a tube. Maybe it still does. The stuff was green, didn't run, dried fast, and sanded easily. POR Patch is a thick liquid, so thin I had a hard time filling even small holes. During the week I discovered that Red Line Automotive carries POR-15 Epoxy Putty, and stopped by after work to by a box. Inside the box are two heavy plastic bags, marked A and B. The instructions say to mix equal amounts. Sounds like what I was looking for.



In the same photo is the tub of micro-balloons I bought to thicken POR Patch, and a bottle of POR-15 solvent. The micro-balloons are used in fiberglass work. Finding the putty may make this solution OBE, but I want to try it. I got the solvent because both times I painted with POR-15 my latex gloves leaked and I had black fingers for a week.

I must admit I was surprised to discover that the patched areas from last week were incredibly strong. I thought I would be able to push the paint right out of the small holes, but no such luck. POR-15, including the patch stuff, cures to something like phenolic. I pressed really hard with my fingernail and did not leave the slightest impression.



I decided that the best way to use the putty would be on top of a POR-15 base coat. Otherwise any rust remaining under the putty would continue to spread, weakening the foundation and eventually breaking through the surface. Maybe, maybe not. So today was about preparing a place to try the putty. I won't be able to try it until next week.



The area I chose is above the RH rear tail light. There are several small rust-throughs I thought might be suitable. To find out I had to grind away the thick layer of filler and primer that seems to be all over this car. Sure enough, what appeared was a perfect place to continue practicing the POR-15 application sequence that would provide a few places to try the putty.

After grinding away the first section of filler just above the tail-light I paused to take a picture, to show how thick the finish is. I don't thing the photo captures how much junk is on top of the sheet metal. I think the rust-throughs are an example of what happens when bondo and filler were used to repair damage. Even the best top coat is not waterproof. Eventually enough moisture can leach through the paint to reach the steel. Left untreated, it slowly starts to rust. Not so much deeper as spreading out. As I ground out the rust-through I would extend the area, exposing a thin layer of rust under the primer. I kept going, and eventually the metal under the primer was clean.



The next set of photos are after I treated the area with Metal Ready. This time I worked extra hard rinsing after using Marine-Clean, the super-detergent degreaser, but again I got bubbles what I applied Metal Ready. I hope it does not interfere with the process. I didn't bother taking a final photo; just imagine the treated area all shiny and black, and you've got it.



This time I used double gloves, and not a drop got through. But, stupid me, after everything was cleaned up I decided to get back to my shrinker tool, which meant moving the paint pot, which had drips running down the outside. So I got to test the solvent, and it works fine.

To recap, I spent about an hour grinding, ten minutes to apply Marine-Clean, fifteen minutes to rinse (a lot of trips to the sink to get clean water), a break to let it dry followed by a heat gun to finish the drying, fifteen minutes to apply Metal Ready, going around and around to keep it wet, then break for lunch. After lunch I hit it again with the dryer to ensure a bone-dry surface (rust soaks up liquids), ten minutes to paint. The trick is to clear the right amount first, and today I got it just right.

With the painting done I used the rest of my time, about an hour, tweaking the rear window patch. I finally trimmed the ends a bit. Not to final size, but enough so that I could lay the piece closer to where it will end up. It was back and forth between the shrinker and stretcher, starting with the stretcher to undo some of last week's effort. In the end I was a lot closer, but there is still a little tweaking to do. The piece still has a twist to it, which I never could control with the new tools. I got out most of it just twisting it -- it is steel, after all. I am more worried about a little arch that may have crept in. In other words, the piece is now almost perfect viewed from above, but viewed from the back the upper edge might be high compared to the ends. More next week. Maybe I'll even weld it in!

Rear electric window removal

I never got around to ordering the sheet metal shrinker but there is no shortage of things to do until I get that worked out. Today I painted the area where the rear window patch will go with POR-15, and removed the right hand rear electric window.







Previously I had removed the interior panels, but to get to the rusted areas I needed to remove the electric window lift mechanism. First I removed the six 1Omm bolts that attach a black bracket to the body, but the bracket would not come out. A chrome trim piece running along the door jam was in the way, and it was attached with pop rivets. Out came the drill. I only had to drill out the top two rivets to free the bracket. At the top of the bracket are two unusual looking bolts that appear to be adjusters. The bolts have slotted ends and lOmm lock nuts. I think they center the glass in the slot. Anyway, I loosened them to get the bracket out but I'm not sure I needed to. One more thing. The rear upper corner is sandwiched in with two other pieces. Check the photo.



After I had the first bracket out, getting the actual motor bracket was a snap. The motor has two wires, one black, one blue, black going to the forward connector. Turns out the window needs to be mostly down to get the thing out; I used a 12 volt jumper battery to crank down the window. Removed two bolts at the bottom and lifted the whole thing out, glass and all.



Behind all this, stuck to the body sheet metal, is some soft stuff probably intended to damp vibrations. I think that needs to come off to treat this area with POR-15, so I'll need to come up with a replacement, something that doesn't absorb moisture.



Another thing. The upper portion of this panel is painted, but the bottom is bare galvanised. I wonder if some rust repair was previously done. Given the amount of moisture this area gets because of the window opening, I wouldn't be supprised.

Finally, here are some shots of the area I painted with POR-15. I used the same little can that came in the kit, which I had sealed with plastic wrap the last time I used it. It was in perfect condition.

New bay, new plan for rear window

First of all I have to say the the weather has been terrible the last couple three weeks. Now I know "terrible" will make mainlander's laugh, but seriously, in Honolulu it rarely rains continuously for one entire day, and for two weeks now it has hardly stopped. Yesterday was pretty good, and finally today was back to normal. Just in time for the Pro Bowl.

Today I moved the car to a different bay at the shop. The guys who work there decided to move the used tire storage from where it had been to where my car was. Something to do with keeping an eye on it. Maybe some folks thought the tires in the pile were useable -- ka-raish! The good news is that the new spot is on the lee side, so when it rains, like it has been, I won't have wet air blowing in on my rust spots. The bad news is that the lee side is the West side, so it gets the afternoon sun. This summer I'll probably lose ten pounds every Sunday from dehydration.



Last Sunday being Super Bowl Without Green Bay I worked on the car. Previously I had cut and bent the patch for under the rear window. Now it was time to curve it.

In cross section the piece looks like a V with a base, like this:

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The sides are almost at right angles, which ASCII art will not depict correctly. On the car the above section will rotate about 120 degrees, so that the left side will be vertical, the base will slant to connect the edge of the window opening and the edge of the trunk, and the right side will angle down slightly, overlapping under the window opening.

The bend is mostly a bow shape with the base on the long edge. My plan was to hammer the base with a smooth hammer to stretch it, and hammer the two edges with a shrinking hammer. The combination should produce the necessary bow.



It didn't work. I got a beautiful bend, but in the wrong direction. In the end my interpretation, which is almost completely without experience, is that even though I was hitting the edges with a shrinking hammer they still stretched, and the base stretched in all directions when all I wanted was to make it longer. At first I used a steel die, then later I tried a wood die thinking it would help with the shrinking. No change. I never did snap a pic of the result. Probably because I was too mad. Bit I should. I finished the day cleaning up the repair area, thinking I would get on a coat of POR-15. But it started to pour, really hard, so POR-15 was out. I just hit it with a lot of metal-prep.

During the week I thought about what to do. My first idea was to abandon the formed patch and attempt a built-up patch. The problem with that is that one of those edges is exposed, and should be a bit radiused. A welded joint would be ugly, especially if I made it. I could set it down and build up the surface with bondo, but on such a big area it will eventually crack and fall apart. I ended up deciding to buy a shrinking tool. As soon as I post this I'm going to check out Harbor Freight. Good thing I kept that failed attempt, maybe I can save it. Or most of it.