Jeffbucc

That must be the reason Hornet, can't see any other reasons they have ignored me for the past 2 weeks.

I'll probably just get the custom fit padding from BG, less work that way.

Scrappy Jack

iTrader: (2)

I have the Hard Dog padding with vinyl cover and it really does look more finished.

Jeffbucc

Cleaned the rust off the control arms and the rear bumper bar...time for a bit of painting! Powder coater wouldn't touch the upper control arms due to the ball joints literally exploding out of the arms, when they removed them from the oven.

Jeffbucc

This spray paint bottle attachment handle makes painting a breeze. No more tired finger and getting paint on your hands.

All done, won't be able to come back for a couple days so it should leave it plenty of time to cure without me fiddling with the part due to impatience.

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

Looking top ****, man. I can't wait to see all these parts go back onto your pretty new painted chassis.

Whats the finishing date for the paint job?

Jeffbucc

Should be the end of this week. Thanks! I'm too critical of stuff you won't even see.

Jeffbucc

So considering my OCD nature I just randomly(unfortunately) came across a build thread where the fellow replaced all his bolts with new shiny bolts.

What is the easiest, cheapest solution to clean your bolts? Only reason I ask is I just realized the heads of all the bolts are painted white and most are covered in 20 years of nasty. I know, I know, ignore it you say, install it and get over it you say....well, I can't!

I'm considering using a tupperware tub and sectioning it off in little boxes and emptying all the labelled bags I have with bolts into it and letting it soak in a mixture of lime-away/purple power/ aircraft stripper. I'll have to see if any of those chemicals are on the no-no list to mix(deadly fumes) but I believe this would be sufficient enough to clean them all correct?

My worries after doing that is stripping the rust-inhibiting coating off the bolts though.

Thoughts? I am pretty OCD, but wire wheeling every god damn bolt makes me want to cry at the thought.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

I seriously love your OCD

if its just goo then yes purple power or lime away or something. You wanna get hardcore fill tub with gasoline

Jeffbucc

Hardcore it is. I'll step it up a notch with diesel fuel and cetane booster though!


Sometimes while doing all this cleaning work with very nasty chemicals I look back at the best $30 I ever spent.

turbofan

iTrader: (1)

My token comment in this thread, inserted again for effect:

You're insane.

But great work.

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

This is one area where I think you need to back-off.

Give the connectors a good cleaning with diesel, parts cleaner, or something else that leaves an oily residue. Avoid anything stronger, including wire wheels -- you do not want to strip the black oxide, zinc, cadmium or other coatings that Mazda thoughtfully applied.

If there are any bolts that are visible and will really drive you nuts, they are all available new. 100point restorations usually replace all fasteners -- so if you want to be the first Miata at Pebble Beach, that's what you should do.

BTW, I suspect you would make a fine showing at Pebble Beach.

Jeffbucc

Admittedly so, and thank you.

We'll see, I think I'm mostly considering it just to remove the grime gunking up the threads and heads of the bolts. If I can strip the paint off of it that would be awesome as well. I'd rather have bare bolts than painted bolts anyways. Paint always chips when you remove the fastener, which looks terrible.

I don't think Pebble Beach would give it a second thought! But my own Pebble Beach in my head would appreciate the hard work.

Most people probably think with all this hard work in cleaning and painting and restoring that it is going to be a garage queen type car and I won't drive it hard. I only care about this type of stuff up until it is done. Then I'll drive the **** out of it, give it a quick wash and detail and not worry about it. It is the initial base-line work that is the most important, anything following should just be maintenance and general care for the things you own.

I called the paint shop today and since the car is so stripped down they said if I said yes, they would give me a heavy discount on painting the interior, engine bay, inner door panels, and trunk. After the price was given to me, I quickly said yes. It was over half as much as they originally quoted me, and they won't charge for extra labor as well.

So thank god for that. Last thing I wanted to do after getting the car back from painting this weekend was get everything covered in paint dust to paint the engine bay and interior.

I'm slowly learning that SOME things are OK to pay others to do. Especially considering that updates are going to be fairly intermittent in the coming weeks due to the Christmas season, busiest month of the year for me business wise.

Scrappy Jack

iTrader: (2)

I think this is worth reiterating. A soak in some cleaner to remove the worst of it, but this is a spot worth trying to find a balance.

shlammed

iTrader: (8)

I went to a local brafasco and bought stainless steel allen head bolts and washers for my visible connectors when I painted my honda (for the same reasons your stating here)


Might be something to look into.... I got about 100 bolts and washers for $30.




They look pretty clean from far too....

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Send them all off to a zinc plater. They'll strip and re-finish them all in a nice pimpy gold zinc coating. It's surprisingly affordable.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

holy. ****. me.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

I'm buying a Zinc plating setup so i can do that myself this winter. I already have a nice big blast cabinet, so the prep will be simple, if time consuming.

shlammed

iTrader: (8)

yeah, a vibratory cleaner would be a lot less man hour consuming to prep the parts. lol

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

I have one of those, too.... but i've had a hard time finding the right media for bolts.