Zed Body Assembled

Quick post today. This past weekend, Boo, C and I put the hood, rear hatch and doors onto Zed, in that order. That's really all there is today, but we did learn some things, as we always do, along the way.

Hood

hood, door on

We started with the hood, not because we thought it would be easiest, but because it was the closest to the car, and we didn't want to trip over it. When I removed the hood to shoot it, the hood was open. Now, that sounds kind of obvious, but earlier, when I had it off, it had been closed. Back then, I could not get the mounting brackets to shift from closed to open position after I removed it. After all the prep work, I installed it to get the fenders and such to line up. When it came time to paint, I opened the hood and removed it vertically. I was by myself, but I figured if I scratched or dropped it as I removed it, it was not a big deal. For install, though, I needed hands to hold it steady or it would get scratched and that would have been super disappointing. I held one side and C held the other while Boo got all bendy, reaching into the engine bay with the bolts. Once they were fingered in, we lowered the hood (still unlatched) to put on the other panels.

Rear Hatch

hatch, door on

The rear hatch was the easiest of all 4 to install. C and I each held it aloft while Boo fingered on the nuts. The hinges were attached to the body, so they wanted to lay down in a way that we could not get to the underside to put on the nuts. C found some scrap foam and stuffed it under each of the hinges so they popped up enough to get the nuts on. The hatch still needs some adjustment to sit a little higher, I think, but I will probably wait on that until after I have the seal installed so I can get it where it needs to go. I figure I would have to adjust it after the seal goes on anyway.

Passenger Door

C and I planning

For the doors, I left the hinges installed against the car, and removed the bolts from the hinges into the doors. I did this for 2 reasons. First, and most obvious, the bolts that run through the hinges into the body are mostly covered by the fenders when they are installed... like they are now. With the body kit epoxied in place, those fenders are going nowhere. Second, the majority of the install wiggle is in the bolts the go into the car body. Once I got the doors where I wanted them before the last tear-down for paint, it is much easier to get them back where they belong with just the hinge-to-door bolts. Still, this is at least a 2-person operation: one holding the door (from the inside: protect the paint) and another threading in the bolts. I held the door, and moved it as requested while C did the threading. Boo, meanwhile, moved car-port supports and such out of the way.

Driver Door

The driver door was probably the hardest. Consider that the person doing the bolt threading needs to reach past the door from the inside, placing your head where the steering wheel is. Still, the process is the same: one person holds the door steady while the other threads the bolts. We took turns and after about 30 minutes we had the door on.

Front Bumper Adjust

bumper not yet adjusted

At this point, I cut C and Boo loose to get after their own Saturday afternoons while I fiddled with alignment of the various panels. I started with and got the hood square and evenly spaced on either side. I had to loosen the headlight bucket on the passenger side and push it outward, but otherwise the hood aligned relatively easily (read: 30 minutes). The doors latch, and they installed right where they were before, so I will probably leave them be until after the seals go in, like the rear hatch. Because of the nature of the latching mechanism for the doors, there really isn't very much forward/aft movement available, leaving just the height that you would really adjust. I am satisfied that the height is spot on, but once the weight of the glass is added, I may need to adjust them upward to compensate.

While standing back, admiring the front end, I noticed that the front bumper was much closer to the bottom of the passenger side headlight bucket than the driver side. It was a noticeable 10mm difference. I loosened the nuts holding the front bumper bar and tried to lower the passenger side or raise the driver side. It made very little difference (maybe 1-2mm). I had to loosen the front bumper brackets where they mount to the car and shim the driver side to make up the difference. They are exactly even now, but it took some doing.

Well, that's it for today. We have some housing things going on, so I'll probably go dark on the blog for a while. We had an unexpected opportunity to grab a small farmhouse on a large lot around the way. So, my time will be taken with home repair projects and then moving. Suffice to day, I will probably not be doing anything major on a car until winter.

Thanks, as always, for following along-

Zed Shot

Following the post from last week, I spent this past weekend getting Zed (1979 Datsun 280zx) painted. This has been such a long time coming, it is really hard to believe the painting is over. I may circle-back around and shoot some touch-up clear coat some day, but for now, the painting is complete. I have not color-sanded nor cut/buffed, but that isn't technically painting.... and I'm not going to do that for a while anyway. Unless I change my mind, cuz that never happens. About that painting...

Scrapping Booger Epoxy

base shot

I concluded my efforts the prior weekend with removing the clamps and confirming that the bumpers held in place. This confirmation was simply me tugging on them in various directions. Everything set right. Starting Saturday morning, I got after reducing the epoxy spread along the seams of the front bumper. Recall, I put that clear epoxy all over where you can't see, but wanted to make sure it really held to the fenders on the ends. So, I applied a bunch where you couldn't see and then ran a bead along the seam. this stuff sands off in boogers, so rather than suffer that again, as I did with the side skirts, I tried a different method this time.

Using the razor blade, I etched two lines, one a hair above and the other a hair below the seam. Then, using a piece of 320-grt sandpaper, I worked the edge of the epoxy until it lifted off a little bit. I grabbed that edge and pulled off small sheets that left a clean edge along the seam. This took far less time than straight sanding, and left a much cleaner finish. In the final picture below, you really can't see any evidence of epoxy peeking through.

more base

With the epoxy lines clean, I repaired some masking and performed my usual degreaser cleanse. Next, I set up for paint, laying down my air lines and mixing station, getting the supplies in place, etc. In the past, I did not get 100% ready, leaving things like lacquer thinner or a parts-cleaning brush in the garage. Inevitably I would have to open the garage door, letting all that stink into the house, just long enough to grab something. This time, I had my gun set up with the line drier, paint set out on a sheet of crap plywood, tarps on the ground, walls on the carport, etc before I even thought about mixing paint. Once I was set up, I took a break for food. Figure each coat takes about an hour, and I didn't want to be shooting hungry.

Shooting Base

Once fed, I wiped the car and the detached parts with a tack-cloth. I felt ready to go, but a little anxious after borking it the last time. I had the paint-correct activator this time though, so I was hopeful. Similar to the prior paint shoot, I mixed 20oz at a time, pouring most of the mixture into the hopper on top of the gun, leaving a little in the jar so it wouldn't drip out the air-hole at the top when I'm shooting at a sharp angle. Unlike the last time, I literally used a jar to mix in, versus a plastic measuring cup. The paint would stick to the plastic cup; it doesn't stick to glass. I pre-measured my mix lines (4oz for activator, 12oz on top of that for base), and simply poured in the activator to the first line and filled with color to the second. I hand shake the can of base for a few minutes before each session, and then shake it for a few seconds before each mix into the jar... because this has metal flake in it. I imagine, if this were just color (no flake), I wouldn't need to do that pre-jar shake. I want to make sure there's plenty of flake in each mini-batch.

hood base close-up

Because I failed to set up the gun correctly the last time, I was a little more sensitive this time. I had at least one coat still on the car, so I didn't need multiple coats everywhere, and I didn't have a full gallon left anyway. So, to set up the gun, I roughed-in the pressure by setting the pressure at the compressor to 30. I have read that there is some pressure loss down the lines, so rounding up a couple of pounds is better. I have a pressure regulator with a gauge at the gun plus the pressure control knob on the gun itself. I understand that necking down the pressure only at the paint-gun end of the hose will reduce the pressure, but the volume of air increases. So, by setting the pressure at the tank closer to your end-desired pressure, the volume will not meaningfully change when you lower the pressure at the gun by a few pounds. Anyway, with the pressure set, I hooked up my in-line drier, opened up the paint volume knob and started shooting test fans on one of the replacement hoods I got for ToyoTruck. In my last session, I used some cardboard. I don't know if this made a huge difference, but I figure test-shooting onto auto-steel is probably a better fan-test than paper.

Satisfied I was getting a fan that laid down without orange peel, spitting or thin spots, I set to shooting the arrayed parts (hood, tail gate and doors) and then the main shell. I had thought I had enough paint for 2 coats. I was wrong. When I thought I had enough for 2 coats, I shot the most important stuff first (omitting the door jams), and then did not have enough paint to get the door jams. So, after the weather seals are on, there may be a few spots in the door jams that don't have the coverage the rest of the car enjoys. Since I was out of paint, I just moved on. I figure I can get a rattle can of this paint (9mm metallic) from Eastwood if it really bothers me.

Shooting Clear

hood clear'd

I have read that letting your paint dry for up to 4 hours before applying clear coat is a good idea. Others have said you can shoot it as soon as the directions for the base say you could shoot another coat of base (like 15-20 minutes in my case). I decided that a little extra off-gassing / drying wouldn't hurt so long as I shot the clear coat within 24 hours of the base. Outside of 24 hours, the base needs a scuff for the clear to really adhere. I figured early Sunday afternoon was inside the 24 hour window, since it was now past 4PM. My other options were to shoot right away or wait a few hours and shoot after dark. I didn't like either of those, so I cleaned up the gun, and the work area.

Sunday morning started similar to Saturday afternoon. I already had the walls up and the tarps down. So, I just needed to set up the painting rig. I had chosen Eastwood's Low-VOC High Solids clear. The reviews were not as good as some of their other clear coats, but most of the complaints were about it's ability to flow out the gun. The advice was to include reducer, which I did. The standard mix for the clear is 4-parts clear to 1-part activator. I added about 1.5 parts reducer. Similar to my use of a jar for the paint to get my measurements consistent, I used a different jar for the clear. Otherwise, the process was the same.

rear clear, in the sun

The weather for both Saturday and Sunday was peculiar for the west-of-the-Cascades Pacific Northwest. The sky was overcast, which made painting much easier. When I shot a few weeks ago, it was very sunny. You would think all that light would make it easier to shoot, but it didn't. Seeing the fan and the paint lay down was much harder in all that light. The overcast skies created a flat light that allowed me to see the target and the paint (and clear) much easier. Weeks ago, I used a GunBudd to help me see. This time, I didn't need anything to see. I did, however, have to wait for the weather to warm up to 70*F. It's a really strange feeling, waiting for the air to get above 70* in August, but that's the world we're in, I guess.

front p-side clear'd

The clear laid down very well, and flowed out the gun without issue. I probably could have used a little less reducer, as I suffered a few drips and sags. Still, I was able to get 2 nice coats of clear before I ran out of reducer. As the clear dried, I became less and less concerned about the drips/sags and more pleased with the overall look. From the pictures, everything looks a little wavy, but I'm okay with that. Without the camera, I think it looks amazing and the difference in the way the color looks between sunlit and shadowed is remarkable. In the first clear picture of the hood above, you can see my elbow in the lower right corner reflecting off the hood. My arm is probably 5 feet away, and that's not a shadow (I'm actually facing west); that's the reflection of my arm. I think that describes how deep this paint can look once it's wet sanded, cut and buffed. Thinking of the imperfections, I know I can sand those drips down and the waves will sand flat. I have more clear, so I can re-shoot areas if I really need to. For now, I am going to let everything sit for a few days, and then start gingerly attaching the hood, rear lid and doors.

I don't know for sure what's next. Well, strip the masking, but maybe I'll clean the engine bay and then start re-installing the electrical stuff. Or do I do windows next? I don't know. I suppose the next logical step is to sort through the shed-room and figure out what I have and don't have. Let's not forget, when I inherited this project, it was a basket case. After all the painting, I still have boxes and piles of unlabeled parts. So, I guess the next step is to empty out the jigsaw puzzle pieces and start sorting.

That's it for today. Thanks, as always, for following along-

Hapy Cab Gets Quiet

In my last post about noise containment, I posted about getting the main living area floor noise controlled with Heat Wave Jute and MLV. Before that, I posted about the application of the constrained layered dampener (CLD) on the ceiling and easily-accessed exposed steel (See Noise Control Update). There has been a lot of foundational work and many posts leading up to this next step. I removed the drop ceiling. I ran the rough electrical for the luxury items like accessory plugs, dome lights, etc (See Ceiling Wiring Rough In). I found and resolved holes from the old Westfalia pop-top. I removed the old shelf, designed and installed a new one (See New Cab Shelf). So finally, today, I will focus on getting the cab area practically noise controlled.

 

Cab Floor Prep

cab floor, nose quieted

Many years ago, I applied something CLD-like to the floor of the cab after addressing the rust with naval jelly and rust encapsulator (see Rust Never Sleeps). That post was so long ago, it pre-dated my now-common efforts to identify the products I am using, but I am fairly sure it was B-Quiet. Regardless, the stuff available in 2007 may not be as effective as the stuff available now. I suspect the old B-Quiet has since been reformulated to have more Butyl and less asphalt. So, I started working on removing that old stuff. It did not want to let go, and in some cases it left a sticky mess behind. I found that I was most effective at removing it when I cut 2" squares into the foil topper and removed a square at a time. For the spots where tacky goop remained, simple scraping worked a little, running the grinder was ineffective, and multiple passes of Goof-Off was moderately effective. After multiple rounds with Goof-Off, scraping was much more effective, and I was able to get most of the asphalt-y sticky off the floor. Still, the effort to remove that old stuff took most of a weekend.

With the old stuff gone I discovered that I needed to address rust in the floor again. Long ago, I abandoned Naval Jelly to get rid of rust, believing that it just is not as effective as the converters currently on the market. Perhaps, it was user error, but I followed the instructions. Anyway, this floor had been worked on with the Naval Jelly before I changed and it showed. I like Eastwood stuff, after trying and abandoning others. It is a simple spray-on product that I then spread around with a gloved hand to make sure it gets everywhere. It dries with a thin shell that could be painted on top of, but Eastwood recommends their encapsulator (of course) on top. I thought about adding another layer of paint, but decided it was unnecessary and left the floor "top coated" with the black Rust Encapsulator.

Cab Floor Noise Contain

Once the cab floor was rust treated, I applied some fresh CLD. Even the Noico was an improvement on what was there before. Before I started, the floor still had a fairly noticeable "ting" when smacked with the roller. Perhaps part of the reason the B-Quiet was not as effective was because it was trying to adhere to rust, not to steel and converted rust. Similar to the cab ceiling, I did the larger panels with the ResoNix, and did a few smaller areas with some leftover Noico. I had not previously applied anything to the walk-through, but that got CLD this time.

I used the rubber mat as a template for the next 2 layers: Heat Wave Jute and the Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV). I under-sized the front edge so the kick panel/card that runs along that leading edge can seat against the floor later. Then, I did the walk-though floor with Heat Wave and MLV, following its basic rectangle shape.

 

Cab Doors Contained

door Mega Zorbe'd

The amount of prep work needed in the doors was not as extreme as the floor, but there were some needed steps. There was some surface rust down along the bottom and in the spots where the different metal bits intersect. After the rust was addressed and some Rustoleum was applied, it was ready to go. The steel also had some of that B-Quiet, but it seemed much more effective in the door than it was on the floor. I only removed the pieces that came off easily. Oddly, the passenger door stuff came off with little effort and the driver side stuff would not budge. So, the driver door was pretty much left alone (just CLD'd one section) and the passenger door got a full replacement treatment. Thinking about how much material I have on-hand, and how small an area I needed to solve, I used the Noico. While I test-tapped each door, I noticed both doors had a rattle that I traced to loose fasteners on the window mechanisms and door latches. A couple of passes of tighten-loosen-tighten eliminated those rattles.

 

Unlike the floor, I used Mega Zorbe in the doors. This stuff is so easy to work with. It is self-adhesive, so you figure out exactly what size you need, cut it, test fit it and when you're ready, you peel the paper off the back and stick it on. Of course, clean the surface really well first. The self-sticky is super-sticky, so I suggest the first time you play with it you apply it in areas which won't be seen until you get the hang of it. I got the 1/2" thick Zorbe, and it easily fit against the outer door skin without impacting the action of the window. If I have material left at the end of this project, I may apply some to the side of the door card that fits into the door cavity for more sound absorption. 

 

Nose Noise Contain

original Styrofoam

Most of the metal on the inside of the nose is inaccessible or at least very hard to get to. The pedals make getting to that lower section difficult, but not as difficult as the area behind the dash, especially on the driver side. Accordingly, I did not get very complete coverage of the inside of the nose with CLD. Before I could start, the bus originally delivered with some foam stuff glued to the lower section (below the mid-point). This stuff looks like old Styrofoam cooler material, and made a mess similar to a broken cooler with those little white dots everywhere. It was very thin, so I doubt it did much. Once removed, shop-vac'd and surface-cleaned, I used ResoNix, hoping to maximize the vibration deadening from covering such a small percentage of the total surface. I removed the windshield washer bottle and successfully fit a full one-foot-square sheet of ResoNix on the nose in that area. I cut a second square, fitting material up behind the glove box and onto the big metal airbox on the passenger side. On the driver side, access was even more limited. I was unable to fit a full uncut square directly in front of the pedals, but I was able to get a pair of rectangles applied there. I consumed the rest of that sheet plus another, getting coverage above the running light (beside the headlight) as well as onto the airbox. It is hard to know how much those sections will help, but I used the higher quality ResoNix, so maybe it will matter. Because of the foil topper, I figured putting CLD anywhere near the fuse-box would be a bad idea, so the whole upper left side is CLD-free.

I had originally intended to use the Jute inside the nose, but I changed my mind after wrestling CLD in there. First, the Jute needs adhesive to stick. Second, it is stiffer than the Mega-Zorbe. Third, the foil on the Jute is electrically conductive, so, like the CLD, we do not want it near the fuse box or electric controls. So, while we would have probably appreciated the temperature management of the Jute, there is no way I could have constructed a thermal wall in there. This is all about absorbing sound, and inside the nose can't be seen nor felt. So, I used and will continue to harvest for use, trimmings from other applications of the Mega-Zorbe and patch-work my way to sound control on the driver side. On the passenger side, I was able to place a single sheet of Mega Zorbe in pieces. The driver side was very difficult to get to, and handling the super-sticky self-adhere was not working out too well. I was able to get some larger cuts (maybe 4 inches by 8 inches) along the lower section, but that was about it. As I generate trimmings around the rest of the bus, I will return to the nose to add more.

Cab Ceiling

Mega Zorb'd ceiling

After all the efforts in previous postings, from the rough-in electrical to the mounting of the luggage tub and the shelf, I was finally ready to do the cab ceiling. Recall that the drop ceiling has been removed, the old shelf came down, and the original 1972 Westfalia supporting superstructure was removed. I used a combination of ResoNix and Noico for vibration control, thinking that an extra pound was worth minimizing the noise closest to my head. Similar to the doors, I used the Mega Zorbe on the ceiling. I covered the ceiling from lip to lip, front edge to the cross support. Simply sitting in the seat with that single layer of 1/2" foam was incredibly quiet just sitting in the driveway with the engine off. It is quieter inside the bus than outside. If I utter words, they are simply gobbled up by the noise control material in a more pronounced way than a gentle wind takes your words outside. I had originally planned for a second layer, and still may before applying a true headliner, but it will not be because I need more sound taken out of the air. It will depend more by how to contour the ceiling and remaining steel so the transitions are smooth. I will sit with it as-is for a little while, as I do other areas, to see how I feel about it. I may get some basic automotive foam if I need to add something. I don't have the headliner material yet anyway. Seriously, this bus is getting crazy quiet.

Under the Seats

view of the under-seats

Moving on to the seats, I used the Heat Wave and MLV combination again. Consider the little compartments along the inner edge of the seats. These compartments accepted 6-inch wide, 26-inch long Heat Wave on the floor. Against the wheel wells, another 26-inch long 5-inch tall stretch of Jute was set. Then, I got to thinking about the MLV. Consider, the access is very limited and the side of the wheel well is vertical. Simply brushing or spraying on contact adhesive was not viable. I cut 2 sheets of MLV for each compartment, with a combined overall average length of 25 inches each (d-side shorter, p-side longer), but 12 inches wide. Dealing with a half-length, I rolled it up and stuffed it through the access hole, unrolling the 12-inch width in place. So, the bottom edge is against the inner edge where it meets the floor, and the MLV runs up along the side of the wheel well with the top edge roughly against the ceiling. I set the second sheet in similarly, and with an overlap, the compartments are covered.... mostly. The driver-side compartment has the brake reservoir and tubing, so I was not able to get as deep. Hence, the shorter length of MLV. Still, I knew this was not going to be 100% sealed/covered. This is about as good as I could have expected without putting MLV around the outside of the entire seat pedestal, but that would have intruded into the limited walk-through space, for what I think would be little improvement. I accept that the MLV may not stay in place long-term. Since there will be a card on the walk-through side, I can access it and check up on it periodically. Being honest, I probably won't. If I have left over MLV, maybe I will figure out a way to put it inside the walk-thru card. We'll see.

Other than the little compartment, the under-seat space was controlled rather simply. I put one piece of both Heat Wave and MLV under each seat, running from the outer edge of the little compartment (under the seats) to the door's edge. To fit, I cut a channel around the outer seat runner. I thought about lifting the seats, but decided that having an additional 1/2" of squishy lift was not desirable; having some noise travel through the rails was an acceptable tradeoff. After the seat compartment efforts, we are no longer looking at 95% containment anyway. Between the inner seat rail and the inner edge, I set another section of Heat Wave, covering up the remaining bits of steel. This final section was not rectangular since the seat pedestal is not exactly square, but it rests above the little compartment, so MLV was unnecessary. The Heat Wave, however, will allow the carpet to lay flat.

Wrap It Up

Once installed, I taped all of the MLV bits together. Why? Audiophiles suggest that the MLV works best when it hasn't any breaks in it. I know there are breaks under the seat rails and inside the little compartment, so the tape may not be as effective. Still, the metaphor I have read is that the seams are like slightly cracked windows in your house, letting in the noise of your neighbor mowing their lawn. If the window is completely closed the noise is much more contained. So, having lots of open seams is like lots of cracked windows, versus a couple around the seat rails. Since I have not been taking noise measurements along the way, I cannot say whether the patchwork MLV will help meaningfully more than just the CLD and Heat Wave. The sound experts swear by this stuff though.

At this point, I have the floor completely noise contained, from rear hatch to the front nose. We have CLD to contain the vibration, Heat Wave to absorb some of the sound that makes it through and MLV to block most of whatever remains. Since most of the noise comes from the engine, drivetrain and wheels, the work to date should have addressed most of the problem. I am continuing down the noise elimination path, though. I will be applying Mega Zorbe onto the rear ceiling, adding some deadener between the 2 rear ceilings, and solving for the slider and mid-bus driver-side wall. I feel that I have turned an important corner, however.

That's it for today. Thanks, as always, for following along-

Zed Primed Again

I get that this is becoming almost comical in how cyclical the priming on Zed (1979 280ZX) has been. Today's post is another "Priming the 280ZX" posting. As much as I would like to say it is the last, I know there is one more primer shooting day coming, when the body kit arrives.

I did this work around another heat wave here in the Pacific NorthWest with temps pushing 40*C (104*F) at the peak. I spread out the final prep work over the full day Saturday and shot the primer Sunday morning. All of the other final sanding was after work in the heat of the day the week prior, causing me to literally pour sweat. Anyway, off we go.

Why More Primer

First, the obvious question... why more primer? For starters, this shoot was black 2k primer intended as the final coat of pre-paint. Hi-build primer can absolutely be your last coat of primer. In the reading I have done, many people have had great success with shooting their base/color coat(s) on top of the hi-build. I decided that I wanted a harder shell underneath the base than the hi-build provided. Also, the primer immediately under the paint is what is exposed when you get a rock chip. I think the light grey would show more than the black. Consider too, the color of your primer has a subtle impact on the color of your base coat, unless you put extra coats of color on to cover that. I felt that the black undertone beneath the gun-metal grey would darken the grey. Last, through the final rounds of Bondo, I sanded through to bare metal in a few spots. Those, at least, needed priming.

Preparation is Key

If you have read any of the posts about my efforts on Zed, this section is probably moot. Still, it is worth underscoring the importance of getting the panels as flat and straight as you can before you start spraying. Why? Because the paint is a very thin film of color laying on top of whatever your body shape is underneath. So, if it is lumpy, bumpy, or even deep scratched, it will show through. I performed many rounds of Bondo application and sanding, each time getting a little better at it, and each time getting the panels that little bit nicer. My final process has proven effective: mix a small batch (250ml / a US cup or so), applying slightly too much Bondo to the imperfection area on one pass (and don't touch it once it's applied), sand with less coarse paper (150 grit) for shaping and 400 for smoothing, and last, circle issues for further repair with chalk. This worked for me, and would probably work for others. The higher grit number means you use more paper and it takes longer to get the shape. I hand-block rather than use a DA orbital sander, which is additionally slower. I found this to be a fair price to avoid over-sanding.

Once sanded and smooth, the dust needs to be removed. Pigpen, my shop vacuum, is relatively effective at removing dust. The dust is so fine and Pigpen is so old that dust finds its way around the filter, creating a small cloud of dust around the canister (hence his new name of Pigpen, from Peanuts). I followed the vacuum with blowing compressed air on the panels (after the dust cloud passes) and then I set up for shooting. Since this shoot included the insides of the hood, tailgate and doors, there was considerably more prep than the last few cycles. I repaired the masking at this point as well.

For this spray session, I also prepared the hinges. I started with spray cleansers, but found they were not efficient with the 40 years of grease embedded in the hinge works. So, I grabbed a bucket, tossed in a dishwasher detergent pod and dropped the parts on top. I filled the bucket with a garden hose and then moved the parts around with a pry bar. I let the parts sit for an hour or so, agitating the bucket or moving the parts with the prybar periodically. I drained the dark grey wash water and rinsed the parts with the hose. All of the grease was completely gone.

Set Up

With the panels off the car, I need a wide area to shoot everything. I use a second carport space, laying a big blue tarp down as a floor. This keeps the dust away and protects the driveway. Onto the tarp, I arrange the panels to I can easily move from one to the other without drooping my air hose onto wet paint nor creating a weird maze to navigate while trying to spray. Once arranged, I blew off the panels again with compressed air and then cleaned the panels with oil/grease cleaner (Oil Eater). I do one last check, by holding the air hose and walking the area, making sure I can get to everything.

I have gotten relatively quick at getting the gun ready now. The 2k primer is a 4:1 mix. So, for a 20oz ($20US<) Harbor Freight purple gun that means 16oz:4oz of paint to reducer. I pulled a clean pickle jar out of my glass recycling to use as a mix jar. With a measuring cup and water from the kitchen, I marked a 16oz line and a 20oz line on the jar. My process was to pour in 16oz of primer to the first line and then add reducer to the upper line. A quick mix, and pour into the gun and I was ready to go. Doing it this way gave the air compressor time to catch up to me.

The Shoot

I checked my spray fan against some of the masked off glass, as well as the underside of the hood (it was flipped upside down so I could shoot that side first). With a decent fan, I started shooting around the radiator support first. I figured if there were any mishaps, better they happen in an area that will be almost completely hidden from view later. There were no real issues. I had a few "tiger stripes" where the gun would sporadically not produce a paint fan... resulting in what looks like a tiger stripe. I believe this could be attributed to either too much air pressure or a crappy gun. I will recalibrate for the next shoot. Overall, though, the primer laid down very well. Once all of the undersides were done, I sprayed out the rest of that batch and flipped the doors, hood and tailgate over. Then, I shot them. One thing I did this time was take advantage of the 1/2 squeeze on the trigger to blow air: If you press the trigger halfway, compressed air comes out, but the opening isn't big enough to pull paint. So, I was able to quick-blow the panel immediately before spraying. This trick will be more useful with the color, but it was good to practice it.

After I was done, and the primer all dry, I looked back over the spots where there were significant Bondo sections (again, not thick, just a wide area) and they look very good. Even the middle of the hood, where all eyes will be most of the time, the center ridgeline is exactly centered and looks just as I intended.

The pictures on the right show the before and after of the passenger rear quarter panel. I think they show how careful work can produce some pretty great results. I really like the satin glow. It shows the body contours very well, allowing me to look for remaining imperfections fairly easily when compared to the hi-build which sat flat. Everything looks pretty amazing to me, and I do not intend to pursue any additional rounds of Bondo on these panels nor the main shell. That is a huge milestone.

Next Step Musings

I am still waiting for the arrival of the body kit that I ordered in June. This is not a supply chain issue, really, it is about a manufacturer getting their business back operational after a CoViD shut down. I understand that my kit has been produced and is in transit. Depending on timing, I may 400-grit sand what I just shot and then plan for base coating the areas which are going to be either under the kit or under other body panels (like, maybe paint the front supports for the fenders, for example). I know I want to do those on a different day than the rest of the body, but I don't know how far ahead I want to get without the body kit in-hand. I understand that these kits are really one-size-fits-none-perfectly. So, there will probably be some shaping at least. Regardless, these kits need to be minimally surface sanded to remove the gel coat for paint to adhere. Last, I have read some advice about leaving newly formed fiberglass panels in the sun for a week so they get nice and warm help to complete their off-gassing / curing. Apparently, they will behave better over the long term if this is done. I recognize it sounds a little odd, but this came from someone who does these body kits all the time, so I'll trust it. If the kit arrives soon, I should still have time to finish the prep and paint before the weather turns... assuming the weather stays warm/dry until the middle of October like it usually does/used to. If necessary, I will switch it up and paint everything I can, leaving the body kit for next year.

Anyway, that's it for today. Thanks, as always, for following along--

Zed Body Progress

With the weather shifting warm to cold to warm again, Zed (the 1979 280ZX) work has been a little bit on-again / off-again. With the weather returning to hot for what looks like the Summer, I shifted efforts back to Zed from the other projects (you've seen the posts)... well, until this past weekend when everything came to a complete stop due to the record-setting high temps (over 45*C / 113*F). Today's post focuses on Zed's body work again, solving for the missing rear bumper and getting after some priming. Again.

Bumpity Bump

A lingering question for Zed was how to solve for the rear bumper. The original was a rusted out mess, and donorZed was about as bad. I was considering how to construct something one-off custom, but decided that an off-the-shelf fiberglass kit was a better looking, and fastest-to-implement approach. Rather than just do the rear, I got a full kit, so the front-to-back is consistent. Of course, this will delay the paint a little bit, as I have more body panels to solve for. Plus there is the added delay introduced by shipping. Ultimately, Zed will look better, so it's worth it. The kit I ordered looks like the one pictured on the side here, without the big wing on the back. That's not my style, but everyone gets an opinion. Later, I will add louvers to the rear window since that window lets in a ton of heat in the summertime if left uncovered.

In order for the rear fiberglass to mount, I needed the rear bumper bar that sits inside the big rubber ugly. I reconnected with the local Z parts-hoarding-guy to whom we sold donorZed and bought a rear bumper bar, and mounts... for about 1/2 what we sold the entire donorZed to him for. Funny how this all works. Perhaps, in retrospect, I might have saved the original rubber bumper support bar and mounts. Anyway, next was clearing the rust off the bumper mounts, and getting them ready for action. I used multiple passes with Naval Jelly followed by a coat of Eastwood Rust Encapsulator and then a coat of rattle can primer. I will shoot these with the hinges and other tiny bits that we want the color of the finished body.

Following that, I removed the front bumper support (4 16mm bolts each side) and the bumper from the supports (4 14mm nuts each side). Next, I wanted to remove the rubber ugly wrapped around the bar so we were ready for when the fiberglass kit arrives. The Phillips screws that hold the ugly cover on, however, were rust-locked in place. Multiple passes with the Kroil didn't allow them to budge. So, I had to grind them off. It is interesting how much rust was on the bumpers and how little the rest of the car had. Those front bumper mounts had virtually no surface rust on them while the bumper itself had been impacted. These mounts will also get the color spray with the other bits I mentioned above.

Prime Time

Last, I finished enough of the Bondo cycle to feel that I could lay another round of hi-build primer. The Bondo-cycle took an awfully long time, and I got far too into it. I imagine I still missed a bunch of things and it still will not look as good as a real pro paint job, but at some point you just have to stop dicking with it and go. Otherwise, you will never get to enjoy the fruit of your labor. It's just labor. I am enjoying the heck out of bodywork though, which I kind of surprising. My first round of high-build primer was both too light and mostly sanded off so if you are concerned that there will be this huge stack of paint layers, rest assured, that is not happening. I did have to wait for the weather to get warm and dry enough, though.

Once the weather turned warm again, I acted like the primer had not happened before: restoring the masking, vacuuming and blowing air, cleaning the snot out of it, etc. so it was ready to get primed. Then, I laid the body panels out under the car-port cover again and repeated the multi-passes of primer, just like I did last Fall (See Zed Prime), with a few differences. My set-up this time did not include the in-line line drier nor extra pressure regulator. I had not gotten another disposable line-drier, and without it, I could not attach the regulator. So, I set up my pressure with test fan blows on one of the fenders instead. Total Roadkill. I figured I could reduce the moisture if I kept the air compressor tank warm, so I moved it into the sun. Since the air around here is super-dry right now (humidity below 30%), there isn't much moisture in the air to get compressed into the air line anyway. This may sound sketch, but the primer landed fine.

As to shooting, I did a light first coat to give subsequent coats something to adhere to, while also avoiding runs or sags. The sunlight was so bright, it was hard to really see the fan, since the color of the primer was the same as the target panel most of the time. Similar to the 1st shoot, I did not meaningfully stop between coats 1 and 2: fill the cup, shoot the cup, repeat. Why? Because, by the time I got all the way to the end of the light coat, the place where I had started had sat for longer than the minimal flash-dry period, and it was warm enough to dry fairly quickly. The surfaces were tacky when I went around for my heavy pass, which, I felt, was just right.

The 2mm tipped gun got clogged about halfway through my 2nd coat. As I attempted to unclog it, I lost about half of a shooting-cup (or about an actual imperial cup) of paint: it turned to Jello. I think I mis-measured the concentration of hardener. Could it have been from the lack of an air-drier? I dunno. Undaunted, I grabbed another gun which had not been drilled out to 2mm; it was a 1.8mm tip. I did not clean it first, I just blew a few seconds of primer through it and got back to the job. Yes, that was lazy and yes it could have allowed for some shipping oil/crud into the primer. I considered all this and used the first little bit of shooting to second-coat the nose section that will be mostly hidden from view (under fenders, radiator support, eg). More Roadkill; maybe that show is a bad influence on me. Anyway, I finished the pieces I had not gotten with a 2nd coat after I shot some hidden areas. I found that the 1.8 tip flowed better, gave a smoother finish and had a more predictable fan than the 2mm drilled tip. So, I take from that either (a) I drilled the tip wrong or (b) my 21gal compressor, pressure set up, gun and material were all better suited as a unit to the 1.8mm tip. I'm not sure how you drill wrong, so I think the difference is really tied to my compressor, and it's ability to keep up with the air-pressure demand of the 2mm tip. Regardless, I will be shooting this high-build with the 1.8 tip on a very warm / hot day from now on.

Reviewing the Prime

None of these changes, including the especially Roadkill-inspired ones, appear to have made much of a negative impact on the primed surface. Quite the contrary, actually. I started setting up the first gun at 10 and finished spraying by 2. I took an hour to clean up work area and the second gun (first gun went into the garbage) as I let the panels sit for the rest of the afternoon. Late the following afternoon, after the panels had sat in unseasonably warm temps (30*C+ or 85*F+) most of the day, I did some test sanding on the mostly-hidden areas with some 320 grit paper. The primer powdered smooth very quickly. If this is any indication, then this priming session was much better than the first. Perhaps this high-build poly-primer is more temperature sensitive than the Eastwood folks indicated on their site: warmer drier days are much better. The first time around (when it got into the lower 50's*F/11*C overnight after shooting), there was meaningful stippling on the surface. This time, when the overnight temps barely got below 70*F, the surface is much less dimpled. And, it sands smooth much more easily; like, a few passes with 320 and it's smooth. Last Fall, I tried pre-warming the panels inside my garage but that had no effect: the shell which sat outside the whole time had the same little dots peppering the surface. I think the real difference was the long warm days both the day of and after shooting.

Learnings

My big take-aways from the shooting the hi-build poly-primer from Eastwood: use a 1.8 tip and an in-line drier on a warm-to-hot day when the overnight temp will not fall below 18*C or 65*F for best results. Do a quick-coat first for the next heavier coat(s) to adhere to. Last, it is a good idea to have an extra gun as an emergency fall back in case you mess up the hardener concentration and jack up your gun in the middle of your spray-sesh.

Go Forward

Next, I will be sanding the rest of the body panels. Then, once it arrives, I will be handling the body kit. At some point, there will be paint, but I may shoot a urethane primer/sealer first (once Eastwood has it in stock and ships it to me). And, of course, the body kit will probably need some tweaks and then priming. I sincerely hope I can get it all done before the weather prevents it. While the Fall rainy season is a distance away, we cannot guess whether we will be revisited by toxic smoke again, scrapping late-Summer plans. For that matter, we are having triple-digit heat waves (40*C+) that are keeping me penned inside as effectively as the smoke did last summer. 

I expect that if I have to wait too long for the body kit, I will set up and shoot the parts that will not be impacted (like the underside of the hood, the hinges, the bumper mounts, etc) so I can make some headway and save myself some shooting time later while also getting a better feel for the equipment and material. Some of this stuff may not be terribly post-able, but I will try to at least put a little message here about the work.

Thanks, as always, for following along-

mount re-started

Hal (the VW friend I mentioned in the last post) get a big jump on the rear engine mount last night. Here's a picture of him working the hand-grinder. His design is really very nice. There's a rectangular bar running across the rear of the engine bay from frame rail to frame rail. That mother is heavy. It is welded to 2" angles that were cut and drilled to re-use the bolt-holes that the bumper bracket threads through. As a result, there are no new holes, no cutting of the bus. The mounting bar has slots instead of round holes so there is some flexibility for mounting. The bar floats about an inch in front of the rear apron. This weekend, he'll finish by fab'ing a tower on the bar to get up to the stock TDI engine mount.

I pretty much stayed out of the way, and held stuff when an extra hand was needed. Otherwise, I popped a rivet onto the triangular pop-out driver's window, and messed with the luggage rack. Like I said before, that thing was dirty, and the bars nasty. They all had some surface rust, so I sanded them down, did a Naval Jelly treatment and shot them with Eastwood's Tank Tone product. It was the only gray or silver paint I had, and I figured the high zinc content wouldn't hurt. I'll push a picture of the painted bars, but in the meantime, here's a picture of a pre-sanded (the 2 on the left) and a post sanded bar (the one on the right).

I don't expect to make any additional headway until Friday. I still have a garage full of stuff that didn't go during the garage sale. Apparently, the Salvation Army won't tell you when they're coming, and so unless you wait around all day, you miss them. Great. I guess I'll be hauling that stuff down to Goodwill so I can get to my ATV Jack. I need / want to get the fuel tank in and he engine back in place before we finish the mount work, but I'm starting to think that may not happen. More next time,

fuel tank prep inside and out

I haven't documented this process yet. Now that it's about to go into the bus, I wanted to snap a few pictures and write down what I did. I thought that pulling the tank and sealing it would be a good idea before changing fuels (gas to diesel). Add to that, the fact that the fuel tank had probably never been out of the bus, there was a pretty good chance that there was a bunch of gunk in there. Maybe rust. Maybe some kind of foreign objects. Oooh.

Supplies-
So, if you're going to do this, I bought my tank coating stuff from Eastwood. Many sites recommended using muriatic acid to clean out the rust. I found something at HomeDepot that claimed to work as well. "Hmm," I thought. "Sure." I bought a bottle of it, thinking it could only waste my time and money, but wouldn't make things worse. I also got a spray can of "TankTone" from Eastwood for the outside. Of course, you need a bucket for the cleanser stuff, rubber gloves to protect your hands and rags. You may want a replacement fuel level sender or at least a new gasket. I didn't replace either, and I'll post if that decision ends up haunting me.

Getting at it-
You don't have to remove the engine to get the tank out, but honestly, you'd be crazy to go through that much effort. If you want to go that route, you have to pull the ignition and fuel system out, and even then, its harder to get the tank out. So, you (wisely) drop the engine. Once out, pull the firewall. There are the obvious screws, but on an older bus ike mine, there are 2 hidden screws on either side of the transaxle. After about 30 minutes of looking and poking around, I grew impatient and pulled those last 2 screws with a pry bar. Not exactly pretty, but effective. So, now you're looking at the fuel tank in its native state. Remove the ground screw for the fuel sender from the ceiling and unplug the signal wire from the right side. The tank is held down by 2 straps that have a bolt that goes through the floor and is held down by a nut. 13mm, IIRC. Disconnect the fuel feed hose from the filler (behind that paintcan lid looking thing to your right), disconnect the vent lines, and the tank is ready to come out.... almost. Two things first: 1 - disconnect the fuel line from the fuel pump and drain the tank (completely) into a bucket. 2 - remove the fuel line from the bottom of the tank.

The tank takes some wrestling to get out, but it will come out. My tank had some surface rust on it, and a little varnish on the inside, but otherwise, it was in really good shape. The tank bay was dirty and had some surface rust too, but it was solid. So, once it was out, I took a bunch of pictures, and got to work. The step-by-step how-to comes with the Eastwood products, so I won't detail them and possibly do it out of order. Basically, the varnish is removed, the rust is neutralized and the inside is coated with this white milky stuff. The picture to the right is a poor picture of the inside of the tank. That shiny column in the middle is the fuel level sender.

After the inside was done, I shot the outside with the TankTone. Now, its ready to go back in, and it looks great. Hopefully, it can withstand the wrestling back into the bus without getting all scratched... not like I'd really see it anyway.

Tank sealed

Brief posting. I finished sealing the tank on Sunday (3/16) with the stuff from Eastwood. Easy to use, easy to follow instructions. I went off-script only with the rust-killer. The Eastwood and ratwell.com instructions both indicate to use muriatic acid to eat the rust. When I was at Home Depot, I found a "zap" product that claimed to eat the rust, and do so with a no-toxic formula. Now, I've got kids running around all the time, so any opportunity to use something that's less harmful, I'm taking it.

According to the instructions on the bottle of Zap, it works considerably slower than muriatic acid. When I got it home on Saturday, I took a long look at the insides of the fuel tank, and my rust was very minimal. I used the Zap stuff, and it ate the rust that I had in there in about 30 minutes.

I used the Metal Etch according to the instructions, but I didn't clean up the excess with the Acetone. Instead, I let the tank drain overnight and it was dry and had that hazy light gray color anyway. I'll be returning the Acetone later. The liner poured in easily, and coated very well. It was pretty easy, just move the liquid around the tank so it covers as well as you can get it. Drain it well when you're done. I stood the tank like I did the night before - with the fill spout at the very bottom, so it couldn't pool as it dried.

If I had to do it over again, I'd set up a saw horse or something to set the tank on. Leaning over a tank all afternoon got my back hurting. One of these days I gotta remember that I'm not 20 anymore. I didn't get to paint the outside. The weather turned rainy, so its sitting under a tarp waiting for the next sun break.

I should be cleaning, vibration & sound insulating, etc the tank bay this weekend. Hopefully, I'll have some before-after pictures. I expect to start posting pancake (type4) engine parts for sale soon. If you have needs, email me.