Another Fantastic car , true craftsmen of your caliber are few and far between , cant wait to see what you do next . grins As discussed by pm , I sure would like to see how you achieve the finish on your motor and im sure other would love to see what steps you take to achieve such amazing results . thx in advance
Cheers for the comments mate, few & far between !!! Not on here it isn't there are many craftsmen on here with amazing builds, check a few out, i'm sure you will be impressed !!! Anyway back to your question about the smoothing out. Its not a difficult thing to do but can be time consuming, with the modern paints available you don't need to get it as smooth as you might think, most of what i do is finished to 120 grit, the paint will do the rest of the smoothing for you. I usually start with a angle grinder with a flap disc in it, this is used to get to the vast majority of the surfaces. For the castings such as blocks, heads, water pumps etc etc I start off by using a angle grinder with a 60/80 grit flap disc in it, this is good for removing the big unwanted lumps and smoothing off the large areas and any corners, basically get in where you can with this. Next I go around all the curved corners and awkward bits with a Tungsten burr in a Die grinder, I use burrs of different diameters and shapes depending on the raduis. Then for the small areas between the corners and large areas i use an electric finger sander and 90 degree die grinder with Rolok discs. Thats about it really, just get it all reasonably smooth, you don't need it perfect as the primer will do the smoothing job for you. This head was done this way and only has 1 coat of aerosol primer on it to see how it would look. Heres a few pics of my 26T block, master cylinder, water pump & intake etc etc I did. Hope this helps and inspires you to have a go, Its a lot of work but more than worth it. .
What paint did you use in the lifter valley? I have heard this helps with drainback but have always been scared of peeling paint plugging the pickup tube.
Yes it does help with drain back, In my old racing days i used Rustoleum but these days I use Epoxy primer because it adheres so very well.
It's called Glyptal or Gyptal (sp). It's used (or was) by the electric motor manufacturers and rebuilders. The can I have says "insulating varnish...red oxide." The key to making it stick is for the surface to be scrupulously clean and free of any type of oil, solvent, etc. I always use lacquer thinner as a final cleaner/prep solution, allowed to air dry if you don't have an air source. I was also told many years ago it was a way to assure any casting sand or metal particles would not enter the oiling system.
I don't know how many times I can bow before your feet before it becomes less then meaningful but you sir are a true inspiration!!! Everything you touch turns to gold.....even fiberglass!!!!! I always get a kick in the ass every time I frequent your threads....so thank you!
Yes thats other paint used, Your right about absolute cleanliness. I also got told about the casting sand but i just can't see it still coming out of a seasoned block.
Hi Langy, I just cleaned out my old majestic block in the summer (40-50 years old) it was full of casting sand (among other detritis)
Langy, you are on a roll again on the Willys - looking' good and as usual the amount of detail is "smokin" good - how have you been? I've got a couple shirts for you and Brian but I've yet to send them - my bad..... My best to your lovely wife .... keep up the good work - I expect it to be finished on my next visit (whenever that is?!)!
Hey Tom, how ya doing, I was only thinking about you the other day and thought i must drop you a line, then promptly forgot !!!
Luckily it was mostly lodged in crannies with a nice covering of sludge. As always a great build. I follow them all!
Only about 20 miles. I was going to come and borrow a wing years ago. Lost my job and workshop so my project went on hold for a while. Just about to loose my job again. I've been working or waiting with this car for sooo long! Maybe I could come by sometime?
Sorry to hear that mate, hope things turnaround for you, If you speak Hotrod your always welcome here
very impressive, took me a few sits to get through the thread but you are a true craftsman and it was worth it!
Well the weather has been very kind the last few days and my old mate Garry Bennetts was staying over for the NSRA swapmeet on sunday, Garry has had a blower on every car he has owned and knows his blowers and suggested we should dummy mine up in the car to see how it all looked We got it all in position and was surprised it all fitted under the stock hood !!! This was due to me fitting the motor a little lower in the frame than usual. I really liked the sneaky pete look but over the next hour Garry convinced me it should stick up through the hood. then 7 of the boys north of the border turned up on the way to the Swapmeet and all said "its gotta stick out the hood" , It was settled Heres a pic of it fitted under the stock hood line. The hood clears it by about 3/8" Here its spaced up with 1" Phenolic spacers and bits of wood under the carbs, still not enough to stick out of the hood but i don't want to go with thicker spacers so I decided i would make up some spacers for the scoop and raise it slightly, I'm looking to have the scoop intake just clear of the hood lip. Heres a pic of it raised slightly, better ??? Ideally i would like a thicker carb mounting plate as the existing one is only 1/2" thick, something around 3" thick would be perfect, packed up at this point has it would have to be ordered from the states This morning we set off for the NSRA swapmeet and after about 15 mins of being there i spied Nigel from UK Blowers walking towards me, got chatting and suddenly realised in his left hand was a 2.5" dual carb mounting plate, near enough to do the job, I couldn't believe it !!! Its even a Weiand plate the same as my blower Anyway I asked about it and Nigel just said have it, Thanks Nigel your a star !!! Next job was to rough cut the hole in the hood, no going back now !!! Unfortunately in my excitement i forgot to take a picture, Will take one tomorrow when i mock it up again. Thanks for looking.
I agree! Looks great, and will look much better sticking through the hood! I got my engine really low in the frame on my Austin also, and ended up with the Hilborn style scoop under the hood. Had to get some polished aluminum spacers from Richie's Scoops to get it out into the fresh air. I like 'em peeking through a lot better!
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