Now the Fun Begins

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Although we attended a couple of car shows towards the end of this summer, the 33 really was not finished. There is still a lot of engine polishing, hood, engine side covers, engine tuning, transmission tuning and the trailer. None-the-less we can still drive short trips.

It's been a while since my last blog. We have another project started in the house but I'm only watching. Just not enough time to be doing all of these other projects.



This is the before picture





This is the during picture



I need to bring the car in to a dyno tune shop so we can take full advantage of the LS3. Right now it runs ok but according to Dan H, Vetteworks, Auburn  http://www.vetteworksonline.net  he thinks the current tune is way off.

We worked on and off  for about two months trying to get the cruise control working. Very frustrating. Everytime I would hit the "cruise on" button the engine computer would go crazy. It would shut down half the engine cylinders, and I would loose all gas pedel control. I would have to turn the car off and wait about 15 seconds for the computer to reset itself.

 Although I never wanted to have to remove the dash it was necessary so I could track the wires between the cruise control switches and the ECM  (engine control module).

 Eventually the problem was found and not by Current Performance, Florida where I bought the ECM and engine wiring harness. When they put together the engine wiring harness they had one of the two purple wires, in the lower wiring plug placed in pinout #34 and it should be in pinout #30.

It is amazing the information you can find on the internet. The problem could have been solved quicker if the people at Current Performance would have had better customer service. I can understand where their engineering dept, who does their custom harness and was responsible for the design of this harness, can make mistakes, since using a cruise and TUTD (tap up tap down) are a little out of the ordinary for hotrods, but their lack of response and communication is their real problem.

In my search to remedy the cruise control problem,  I contacted Speartech, Anderson IN.  Now you want to talk about a great company, I only wish I would have contacted these guys two years ago. Between Speartech, Dan at Vetteworks and internet searches the cruise is now working.

The final step is to get the TUTD working. We will be going after that this weekend. Dan H. will be connecting his laptop to the 33 and will reprogram the ECM and TCM (transmission control module) to operate the TUTD.

None of this is a problem in a modern day car since there is a BCM (body control module) which is like the master of the modules. In the new Corvettes the BCM controls the brakes to each of the wheels, controls the throttle, security, door locks, temps, ECM and TCM. But there are problems using a BCM in a hotrod.

Therefore the bottom line is, we loaded an early Trailblazer vin (no BCM required and will run a cruise control, but only 4speed transmissions) into the ECM and will eventually do a late model corvette tune at the dyno shop. Loaded a Yukon vin (no BCM required, will run a 6 speed transmission in 08, but no cruise) in the TCM, thereby allowing us to run the engine, transmission, cruise control and the TUTD.

The trailer is almost complete but the third brake light had too much black paint over the red lense. In addition, there was a small line in the clear right along the edge of the lense. The whole idea here, as in the car, is to have the third brake light complete invisible in the black paint until the brakes are applied. So to fix these issues we had to sand down the back of the trailer and repaint.

In this picture the masking tape is still over the red brake light lense. Once all of the grey primer is covered with black color coat we removed the masking tape and applied just enough black over the red lense to make the red disappear. Then clear, buff and polish. What could be easier?

Here's what we woke up to this morning.

Merry Christmas to all, including Phil Robertson

9/25/2013 The end is in sight

Not too sure what happened with my lackoblog in Aug. Summer time in the Northwest is just too good and it left little time for the computer.

As for the progress on the 33Ford, a ton of work has been done, as you should see in this post. So, let's get right to it.



More sanding, but this time I've decided to use this oscillating sander with water injection and 1000 paper to start then on to 1500 and 2000.

The water is coming out in a very small stream from the black circular tube.



The entire body has now been sanded and buffed. The running boards and back fenders have been installed. I really need to clean these chrome wheels prior to our first car show.



Now the front fenders have been installed.

It's time to reinstall the grill.

I brought the car back home and started to finish the wiring.

All of the wiring is complete, the A/C charged and working, and the heat complete. Now it's time to install the dash and windshield.

Back to the upholstery shop for the installation of the side panels and seats.

This is an unaltered video shot by my son Todd from a rolling start of about 10mph to 40mph. Nothing official and just the start of some timed shots to come.

The top has been installed and the wheels and tires cleaned. All ready for a car show, except the engine side covers and hood are not installed. Actually, it kind of looks like a hotrod this way. Imagine that.




I really hate to say it, but I might as well get it out right now. Yes, we are trailering our car to the car show in Walla Walla. This is our first stop at the top of Chinook Pass. With only 12 miles on our 33 the thought of a 500 mile round trip just didn't sound like the thing to be doing. Walt k to the rescue, once again with his trailer, although we would have prefered to have them along on this trip.  

Next stop, Whistling Jacks for breakfast



This is just prior to the car show tour of Walla Walla. The people of Walla Walla are absolutely great about their support of the car show and their participation and overall help.



Just sitting around during a car show.



Heading back home with three hotrod drivers in the lead. We decided to come home via White Pass due to highway chip sealing over Chinook Pass. It was good to see new country, although it wasn't as much fun as the three drivers out in front of us.



7/21/2013 Finally Paint

What a great time. Moving on to a new phase, and by now you know how happy I am moving on to new phases. We have finally added some final paint and some clear coats to the body, but still more sanding. Since I'm still sanding, maybe this can only be considered a half phase move.  Anyway, counting the final sanding of the unprimed body with 400 grit paper, there are a minimum of six more times the body and fenders will need to be sanded. Only then, can we start with the buffing

So far, I have progressed from 80, 150, 220, 400 and 600 paper, prior to color paint. Now it's time to go to 1000, 1500 and possibly 2500 paper after the clear coats. Then at least two levels with a buffer and maybe some wax.



Here's our progress for the past few weeks. But first,        I think I'd mentioned we were not going to make it to the NSRA show in Ridgfield WA this year with my 33 but were pushing to go to car shows in Hamilton MT and West Yellowstone MT. during the last week in July....... Well nada this year either....... I really hate to mention the  upcoming Good Guys car show the end of July, here in Puyallup, or the Good guys in Spokane during the second week of Aug. for fear of not being ready for them either. Hey, there's Walla Walla the second week of Sept............ At this point one never knows.


 All of this time and push, push, push leaves me with little time to do anything else like flying or hitting the treadmill like I'm supposed to. When I go to my cardiologists this fall and hand him my treadmill schedule for July is going to look rather weak. I'm in trouble now. 



Even though we were not able to bring our American Speed 33 to the Ridgfield WA NSRA show this year I was lucky enough to ride in with Eddie R. and be with a great group of our very good friends. As Dave D. a friend in Spokane says "Good food, good drinks and good friends, it doesn't get any better"

This picture shows the line up of cars waiting to get through the entry gates. Those in the line on the right are heading down the road about a mile, they will then do a 180 and head back this way. Sounds kinda  crazy, if you're to really think about it.

On to the progress.

The second coat of primer has now been wet sanded with 600 paper.



The color paint will be purchased from PPG. I decided not to go with flames on the 33, although they look rather striking on this PPG truck at the NSRA display in Ridgfield WA.



In this photo, the first coat of actual color is being applied over the the dull black primer. Both coats of primer were lightly sanded with 320 then final sanded with 600 paper.

 Speaking of primer, I feel very fortunate that I didn't have to use a fill primer, which is tan in color. Therefore, everything we applied to the body and fenders of the car is now black in color (should there ever be any rock chips the underlying color will be black and therefore the chip will be visually more difficult to see) If you recall the pictures of the trailer, it was primed with the tan filler primer, due to the trailers overall unevenness. Fill primer needs to be used if there are larger imperfections or an unevenness of the surface that needs to be filled prior to the next level of sanding. The type of black primer I used has very little of this filling property but offers excellent etching properties, which acts as a bond between bare metal and another layer of primer or paint.



More color coat being added over the primer



The first coat of the black color paint is now almost completely applied. An  identical second coat of color will be applied over this coat.



Once the color coats have been given about 45 minutes to dry the clear coats are applied.

In this picture,  two double coats of clear have been applied and we're starting to see some shine.



After the clear has dried for a few days it's time to finish sand to a 1500 or 2500 level of paper. Since I will be using a rubbing compound after the finish sanding, the level of final sanding paper is actually determined by the coarseness or roughness of the compound and buffing pad a person chooses. So, if your compound will remove 1500 sanding scratches there isn't much need to sand with the finer grit 2500 paper. Let the buffer do the work.


A very common problem in painting is a slight unevenness of the applied paint and/or clear coats. This unevenness results in a surface like the surface of an orange or the surface of a basketball. Now, think of a surface with mountains and valleys. What our goal is is to sand off the tops of the mountains until they are an equal height to the bottom of the valleys and we end up with a flat surface.

I'm told there are many causes for the orange peal effect, distance the spray tip is away from the surface, air pressure, temperature, paint viscosity and over spray or drift. The above picture is an example of orange peal I could find and by lightly sanding it stands out very well. At this point, I have lightly block sanded, dry, with 1000 paper on a taco board. Thanks Tom M.

You can also see three dots which are dirt specks, which will be sanded from the surface. This is one of the trailer fenders I brought home, after the two coats of clear.

So here's the bottom line, the better the painter the less orange peal that will need to be sanded. I think anyone can apply paint, but it takes a painter to eliminate or reduce the orange peal.

 

Here is the fender after entirely sanding the orange peal off the top half, where the color now appears 100% grey. I used 1000 and finished with 1500 paper. Now, all of the orange peal will be sanded off and the entire surface will look like the top part of this picture.



This picture is actually a reflection taken from the top of the above trailer fender prior to any sanding and shows the average of the irregularities in the surface of the trailer fender prior to any sanding. There is a small amount orange peal in this surface, which was about typical for most of the body and fenders.



Here is the exact same area of the fender after I sanded and buffed. It still needs to be polished and waxed.  



Back to the body shop. Over the weekend, the painter said he decided to lightly sand the last layer of clear on the entire car with 600 paper because he felt he could apply a smoother final coat of clear. Here is the car after two more coats of clear have been applied. I think it was a good call on his part. I can tell you, just by looking, that this decision will save me many hours of sanding with 1000 paper. He paints and I sand. Thanks Gary D for this decision.

This picture is another reflection and it shows another car that's about 15' away, after the side and door have been sanded, buffed and polished. It's finally coming together. Now, on to sanding and buffing all of the remaining parts and then on to putting the fenders, running boards etc. back on the body for the last time.

5/12/2013 Wiring, Tires, Rear Bumper

Winding down to the finish, or so I thought, but there is still more work that wasn't really foreseen. It just popped up and needs to be taken care of prior to final body, paint and assembly.




And I was told once that the Jeep and the Harley were the most accessorized vehicle in the country........guess I was not told which country. this picture was actually taken in Puyallup, WA.

 

It's absolutely amazing how a couple of out of line contacts in the steering column can drive a person crazy. It's about the last place to be looking for a problem. Well, not in the future. I had a problem with the turn signal lights on the right side of the car. I rechecked my wiring, grounds for the lights, still the lights were not working correctly. Then I noticed that the third brakelight was coming on with the right turn signals and not the left turn signals. Well, it's not supposed to come on with either turn signal. The only common place that the turn signal circuits and the brake circuits, including the third brake light,

Steering columns are delicate and complex, with little springs that are hidden and just waiting to jump out and get lost on the floor. And I mention that there are over 6 trillion little things in there. Yep, there are more things in there than our national debt, well anyway at the time of this posting. Besides, I have pictures. As I was taking the gut out of the column, I would take a few pictures, just in case the grey matter didn't retain everything for re-assembling. Eventually, I found the problem, moved some little brass contacts and put all the little things back in place. Thanks you Mark L for all of those operating room instruments. they worked great.



Although it is a little difficult to make out in this picture there are three panels below where the dash will be installed  (just below the lower horzontial 1x1 tubing). In the center of the picture is the radio panel, to the right is the cup holder A/C vent panel and to the left of the steering column is the switches and A/C vent panel. The panels are in their down positions in this picture, which will be used for driving.



This is the same picture as the previous one although the panels are now in the up position, which will be used during car shows.

I think all of the wiring is complete...................also the vent work for the defrosters is complete.



235-70-15 too small



275-60-15 too big



255-70-15 just right.  29"tall and 10" wide. With a 29" tire, .67 drive in 6th gear and 3.25 final gear ratio the calculators tell me that 60mph the engine will be turning 1520 rpm. Looks good to me.

The rear bumper is now installed and looks way too far from the car.

 


All that's necessary is to reshape the bumper brackets.



Not only reshape them, but close them in.



This is a no brainer, if the brackets don't look good after the car is painted they can be remade back to stock with 1.75X3/8" stock.



Back to the scales...............the front end weighs 1350 lbs. Not too bad.



The rear axle weighs 1600 lbs.......................a little more than I'd hoped but with this weight and the above gearing etc another calculator tells me that my 0-60 times should be 3.7 seconds. I can live with that, but in all reality, I have to add weight for the seats, front bumper, windshield, convertable top, and more than only 4 gals of fuel.  http://www.060calculator.com/


When I stopped by the scales I was on my way back to the body shop for the final body work and paint.  I hope to have this completed by the end of May since we are trying to go to the Street Rod National this year in Ridgfield Wa, just north of Vancouver Wa. during the last weekend of June. I would like to have a few miles driving time prior to this trip. What could possibly go wrong.