Going KA-T

[Gregs672000]

Amen to That! The last step of a journey cannot happen without the first! Or hundredth, or billionth like in 36 years later and CONTINUING!

[Mattk]

Well it’s 2 1/2 weeks since my back surgery and I’m happy to report all is well. Compared to my first surgery 15years ago this was a cake walk. I’m up and only on light restrictions; lift no more than 20lbm. Otherwise back to normal with a lot less pain, amazing!

I took a vid of something I was working on before surgery. This just a test with a 30A power supply powering only the M.unit. All the lights are led. This is all rigged up with spit and thread; ran out of duct tape.

[beebo]

Nice work Matt! That is awesome.

[Gregs672000]

So glad to hear your surgery went WELL! Congrats on all the progress!

[Mattk]

It's been a long time since my last post, almost a year. I really didn't get much time at the beginning of the year as i got Covid twice and a couple of sinus infections; so yea i was having fun.

During my down time i was looking to get the paint off the car and purchased a couple of bristle disks from 3M just to see how the work. So, I did finally get a chance to work on the little beastie but soon found that there is lead (Pb) on the car that was used as body filler from the factory! WTF!! I did a search on the forum to find very few posts about this, which perturb me!! So yes, I sprayed lead dust all over my garage. And let me tell you that made me super-duper happy like a bad colonoscopy. I then spent the rest of the summer and then some doing lead abatement in said garage, made feel joy like finding out the butt and gut doc used broken glass instead of KY. Oh, so much joy!

Bye gones!

So recently I have gotten some work done though. I finally got the alt mounted on the left hand or exhaust side of the engine.

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It's a tight fit but it's there.

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I still have to fab up an alt tension adjuster but that is a project for Future Matt. I also got some new smart coil on plug coils and printed up a distributor delete. I think im going to lower the alt a 1/4" to 1/2" down for a little more clearance when I make the final alt mount bracket.

On the paint removal front, I have decided to try chem stripping. The product I used is called Cooper's Strip Club from New Zealand. Its great for keeping the lead, and other stuff, from becoming a dust/powder that goes airborne. Its pretty simple to use its not to strong of a smell; but I got a bum sniffer, so theres that. DO NOT get it on your skin! It does burn a bit, even in small amounts.

So heres how the trunk lid did as a test panel. I started with this, if you look closely, you can see the infamous hole from mounting the luggage rack. Those will be going bye bye.

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After wiping down the panel with wet rag to get the dirt off, you get the spray bottle of this stuff and you simple spray the panel. Let it sit, dont touch it, keep it wet with the spray and watch it work. With the first minute i started seeing the paint bubble.

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I could only hold myself back for about five min before i had to mess with it. After messing with it a bit i could tell the lid had two layers of paint. In some spots it went to bare metal, but for the most part it went down to the next layer. Some spots are tougher; reapply scrub with steel wool wipe off. When it came to the red primer, though, it was tough going but it did get through with a bit of elbow grease. Sprayed it down with the other spray bottle of a type of rinse and wipe. ta dah two hours later;

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Sorry for the upside downs, I cant seem to fix it.

The panel ended up being smooth as can be, and if not for the needed metal work it would be paint ready. I think I will be ordering more of this stuff.

So thats whats going on hope to have more soon!

Cheers

[JT68]

All the bodies had factory leaded seams from the factory. There is no good reason to remove it (unless damaged) since it lasts forever. Bondo is not a better replacement.

[Gregs672000]

Yep, what JT said... I ran into the same issue 37 years ago, but was a novice and the 311 family did not exist so I didn't know! I also had 10 coats of paint on my car when I went to strip it... a job I described as "perfect practice for people who are going to hell" at the time. I used a DA orbital sander and a million filter masks.

As I recall, the lead is found where the top of the rear fenders meet the trunk opening and upper back panel and where the front of the hood scoop connects to the front panel of the hood in front of the scoop at the ends (left and right) of the scoop. Clear as mud eh?

[Mattk]

Well it’s been awhile and I’m just sitting watching the kids swim so here a quick update.


I stripped most of the leaded paint off chemically.
warning “X” rated pictures…..nudes!

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Found lots of lead. It’s al over the car!!
But that’s a problem for future Matt!
Moving on.

I want the most air flow I can get, being in Texas, it can get hot. So I have two front…what ever they’re called, I call them the nostrils. Between the two I have one good one. Will be getting rust treatment and primer soon.

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Let’s see….um. Oh I have repaired the major sin of a previous owner. Picts speak for themselves:

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Well birthday party is over gotta go!

Cheers,

[Gregs672000]

Cool stuff, thanks for the pics. I just recalled all the lead in the rear taillight area...
I know you don't like the lead, but I don't know (from both ignorance and experience) what will work better, particularly in the upper trunk area seam. I removed all the lead (probably not safely either) but any filler I have used in that area has always cracked over time as there seems to be a lot of stress in that spot, at least on my car. Lead is different and I wonder if that's why it was used there... thoughts anyone? I don't know if there are specific substitutes for lead, but if there's ever a next time for my car I will seek something that works better than what I've done in the past.