|
|
|
Your donations help keep this valuable resource free and growing. Thank you.
|
78 GT JOURNEY |
Post Reply 
|
Page <1 23456 9> |
| Author | |
BassBoat 
AMC Addicted 
Joined: Aug/29/2008 Status: Offline Points: 1719 |
 Post Options
 Thanks(1)
 Quote Reply
 Posted: Feb/06/2021 at 8:15am |
|
Just found your thread searching for how to tuck the bumpers. The Gremlin GT is one of my long time favorites. I really appreciate all the attention to detail like filling the gap between the body and the back bumper. I look forward to the completed project!
|
|
 |
|
|
kcsamc
AMC Addicted
Joined: Sep/03/2011 Location: Denver, PA Status: Offline Points: 1974 |
Post Options
Thanks(1)
Quote Reply
Posted: Feb/06/2021 at 10:13pm |
|
I had planned to stay chronological in the storyline, but we haven't quite made it to the current state of the project yet, and I wanted to share this small story from today.
A build many times takes on a life of its own, and new friends are made all the time in this great little AMC community. Today, I got to meet Paul Erb from NJ. Paul recently advertised a set of non smog free flows on Facebook and I contacted him about buying them. It seems as if Paul was looking for an excuse to drop by and see the Scrambler, and offered to bring the manifolds on a trip he already had planned into PA for today. So we had a nice visit sharing stories and him getting to see Betsy Ross. At times we can all get frustrated that we can't find the parts we are looking for to do these cars justice, however the journey for each item is filled with new opportunities to make new friends, and you know what? I wouldn't have the treasure hunt any other way. The big 3 guys can keep their fat online catalogs and warehouses full of reproduced parts. Our hobby creates an experience that can't be bought with a credit card with no limits. Thanks Paul for the delivery service - hope you enjoyed the visit to Betsy Ross's house.   I've been told the right side will be super tight but will make it in the Gremlin engine bay. Either way, Eric has more motor component restoration work awaiting him in the shop now! Edited by kcsamc - Feb/06/2021 at 11:29pm |
|
|
|
|
bigbad69
Supporter of TheAMCForum 
Joined: Jul/02/2007 Location: Ottawa, Ont. Status: Offline Points: 6669 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: Feb/06/2021 at 10:47pm |
|
|
|
69 Javelin SST BBO 390 T10
|
|
|
|
|
kcsamc
AMC Addicted
Joined: Sep/03/2011 Location: Denver, PA Status: Offline Points: 1974 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: Feb/08/2021 at 9:53pm |
|
Tonight's short story covers some of the fall journeys for parts. As the leaves fell from the trees this past fall, one planned parts acquisition trip was scheduled for a Saturday that Eric could attend, and then one spur of the moment roadtrip happened a few short weeks later.
At the end of October, Brian Moyer and I made arrangements to travel about 20 miles up to Rodney Sander's place to pick a 78 Concord 2 door that he is scrapping out. Eric was able to break away from our newest little Gremlin (Amelia Shope, born Oct. 1st) and help us grab some items from the car. Brian had a shopping list of his own, and Eric and I had several items to get off the car. Below, Eric and Brian scope out the car before getting the tools out:  We got some great items off the car, and might still have a few to gather from it - after sorting, inventorying and packing for short term storage - two buckets were filled!  Rodney is currently selling parts off this 258 auto 2 door Concord - so if you want to make contact with him, PM me to get his phone number. About a week or so after this trip, a Gremlin facebook group had a for sale post for '75 Gremlin 3.15 posi rear & springs for $50, must pickup. Checking out the address quick, I saw that it was a nice 2.5hr drive down into VA from my house, and I was all over it. We had gotten a 3.54 open rear with the car, but the chance to grab this at that price was too tempting. So on the first Sunday of November (a great sunny day for a drive), I made the quick round trip to VA and was home by lunch. 65k miles, just out of the car. Springs were no good, but this rear ought to be a cleanup, paint and go in the car. Now with the other rear, if Eric doesn't like the setup, we can swap gears down the road. 3.15 rears are just too hard to find these days to pass up.  Things are starting to come together... Edited by kcsamc - Feb/08/2021 at 9:55pm |
|
|
|
|
XJ6
AMC Nut
Joined: Jul/09/2020 Location: SW Status: Offline Points: 293 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: Feb/09/2021 at 9:42am |
|
When I tucked my Spirit bumpers I drilled to drain oil then measured the depth and marked a line on the shaft. Then used a press to collapse to the length I wanted. Then I drilled a 3/8 larger hole through the absorber and shaft and put a clevis pin through the assembly for strength and in case I ever want to tow or get towed from either bumper. The back one was a challenge
|
|
|
|
|
javsst
AMC Nut
Joined: Jul/02/2007 Location: Lebanon, NJ Status: Offline Points: 435 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: Feb/12/2021 at 8:35am |
|
Kevin, Great work on the GT. I don't recall ever seeing one on the road. Once it's done, maybe you'll be able to bring it to the Lahaska show. Guys there would be all over it :) Steve
|
|
|
1970 Javelin SST Bittersweet Orange 360/T10 4 Speed AMC20 w/3.54s
1969 AMX BBO 360 with TF727 AMC20 w/4.10s |
|
|
|
|
kcsamc
AMC Addicted
Joined: Sep/03/2011 Location: Denver, PA Status: Offline Points: 1974 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: Feb/12/2021 at 11:07pm |
|
On the last project I pushed 100% of my time on the body, got it painted and then still had all of the rest of the car parts to restore. I decided to sprinkle this project with other side jobs as I work the body, so you will know when I get tired of doing something, I will switch gears and pull something else out to work on.
In the next post I'll start to talk about the long drawn out affair of removing all the undercoating (of which is still ongoing even now), but tonight I will finish off the storyline of the front bumper brackets final mods and restoration. After taking the brackets off the body following the tack welds from bumper tuck, I welded the hole shut at the back, and then made (4) short welds around the circumference of the new telescoping location - enough to hold it, but possibly just enough that it could break and push in the event of an accident - theory I guess as we have no interest in a real life test as proof of theory. From there we started teardown for powder coating.  During the last project I invested in the Eastwood powdercoat system - a rather inexpensive system for home use and I've been getting very good at the "hot coat" process of baking the part and then quickly applying the powder and then baking again for 20 minutes or so. With the hot coat process you can get just a slightly thicker millage of coating buildup and that makes it nice for restoring old parts. Because this is a CA car, a lot of the undercarriage parts just have a minor rust patina on them with little to no rust pits. That make powdercoating look great as an option. For this driver car, I have chosen to use the Eastwood Semi-gloss Black which gives a finish very close to the Seymour Underhood Black - which is a great OEM finish look. The 2 piece brackets now look great and are now packed away for future assembly. The square grip plates on the body side have been plated in the Eastwood tin-zinc bath to keep from rusting again.     This powdercoating system pays for itself real quick verses outside services. These parts would have probably cost me $75 or more to have done. Powder material is fairly cheap and amounts to maybe 50 cents per part - far cheaper than rattle can or 2 part epoxy primer / urethane top coats. I am already eying up an IR Lamp in the near future to do items bigger than the oven will handle. We will be using this finish on as many undercarriage parts as possible. |
|
|
|
|
6t8amxetc
AMC Addicted
Joined: Mar/11/2008 Location: Washington State Status: Offline Points: 631 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: Feb/13/2021 at 10:31am |
|
Just curious, have you done any durability testing with this powdercoat? I have always thought about investing in something similar but was concerned with the durability compared to commercial. I imagine it should be just the same as long as prepped the same. Thanks for any insight...
|
|
|
|
|
kcsamc
AMC Addicted
Joined: Sep/03/2011 Location: Denver, PA Status: Offline Points: 1974 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: Feb/13/2021 at 12:06pm |
That's a reasonable question. I can't say that I have strapped a test panel to the wheelwell of my daily car and run it through a salty winter but I do believe the Eastwood powder is a quality product. The very first pieces I had done my local commercial plater didn't have the semi gloss black I wanted to use for the rear drum backing plates so I asked them if I got the Eastwood stuff would they use it? They looked up the specs and agreed it was just as good as the stuff they use. I think it was a temp rating or something - can't remember now... Anyway, they used it and said it worked fine. I didn't have them do more work because I thought it was so expensive. I supplied the materials and gave them clean white metal backing plates and the bill was still $55 for (2). I realized I couldn't afford to pay them for all the rest I wanted to do and then took a trip to the Eastwood store ( lucky enough they are only 45 minutes from me). They sold me on the ease of using it. I like the hot coat process as I can get the coating as thick as I want and to make sure sharp edges are covered - I think that is the important piece of durability - you don't want a bare edge to let in moisture. Beyond that you need dry powder and very clean surfaces with a good blasted bite. I got into the hot coat because they recommend a 20 minute bake after blasting anyway to bake out surfaces oils etc. It just became natural then to quickly move it to the booth and lay on the coating. I think the instant hot fusion to the surface helps too. If you get on it right away you can see the first layer actually surface baking and getting shiny as you lay it on - that means it's melting right to the metal. I can also say that the resulting powdercoat is very hard - much harder than epoxy primer / urethane top coat. Put either one back in the blast cabinet after 24 hours and you can't blast off the powdercoat. You can get it to etch the surface but it won't debond from the base metal. So from that perspective it works for me to use powder verses even a good expensive and time consuming to coat painting system. Getting special mix single stage urethane paint is not cheap - this process is very cheap when you do it yourself. Must have a blast cabinet and oven system for 400 deg F... Hope this helps!
Edited by kcsamc - Feb/13/2021 at 12:08pm |
|
|
|
|
6t8amxetc
AMC Addicted
Joined: Mar/11/2008 Location: Washington State Status: Offline Points: 631 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: Feb/13/2021 at 8:56pm |
|
I can also say that the resulting powdercoat is very hard - much
harder than epoxy primer / urethane top coat. Put either one back in
the blast cabinet after 24 hours and you can't blast off the
powdercoat. You can get it to etch the surface but it won't debond from
the base metal. So from that perspective it works for me to use powder
verses even a good expensive and time consuming to coat painting
system. Getting special mix single stage urethane paint is not cheap -
this process is very cheap when you do it yourself. Must have a blast
cabinet and oven system for 400 deg F... Hope this helps! That is exactly the info I was curious about. Sounds great to me! Thanks for the detailed reply. I think we have all grown to expect that from you!
 |
|
|
|
|
Post Reply
|
Page <1 23456 9> |
Tweet
|
| Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
Click for TheAMCForum Rules
Topic Options
kcsamc wrote: