"Underneath"; installment #1
Finally started on the underside of the Tiger this weekend, but
not for very long due to other obligations. I began with my least
favorite process, putting the car on jackstands. Right now, they hold
the car at the end f the front lower A-arms and the rear axle, as the
suspension is still on the car. Later, I'll transfer the stands to under
the "frame" so I can remove the suspension and I'll even be more wary.
The warning labels on the jackstands basically say "put these in a
corner of your garage and never use them, or you will die"; and I
believe them. I could re-apply the funds we've set aside for our
hot-tub, buy a lift for the garage, but then I'd die anyway when Susan
found out. :-)
Well, I have not yet found a hub puller for sale, I tried a
bunch of places Saturday; I have one more lead to follow then I'll
consider renting. Ugh. In the meanwhile, I tried my hand at removing all
of the undercoating from the car. I bought a bunch of various scrapers
from Home Depot, I particularly liked the Sandvik woodworking scraper of
the bear-down-and-pull type with the replaceable blades. I figured about
one hour sessions under there is about all my arms and neck will take.
Result: one square foot of the trunk floor, about the flattest, easiest
part of the car, is down to primer with some bare metal showing through.
Great, I'll be all ready for SUNI VII in Mexico City at this rate. BTW,
It appears that the original paint, BRG, continued under the car to a
point about 6-8 inches forward of the vertical seam under the valence,
if anyone keeps track of such things.
What are my alternatives? I haven't tried a wire wheel on a
drill yet, but I'd guess the wheel would load up in nanoseconds. What
about chemicals? My favorite method of removing paint, although I've
never used it in an overhead situation before (no, ain't no way I'm
tipping the car); I'd have to brush it on at arms length to prevent it
dripping back on my face, I'm wearing goggles but I'm not sure I'd trust
them to provide a 100% barrier. I went down to my basement, found a 1/2
full gallon container of stripper (aircraft coating remover, worked
great on pulling the paint off the topside of the car), but it had
turned to a waxy semi-solid over the years. Before I go out and buy more
of this expensive stuff, has anyone had luck removing undercoating with
it? I have a small belt sander, could put some 50-grit on it, but I
think that would load up faster than the wire wheel.
Guests arrived, preventing my getting back under there (thank
goodness!), but I should have started soaking all of the bolts that hold
the suspension on with WD-40. Perhaps a week of doing that daily could
ease removing all of those bolts. I was looking at Hemmings late last
night, comparison shopping on POR-15 to coat the underside. Hey, they
have black and silver (and clear) available. Gee, the silver would make
the underside brighter when I need to work under there, but would it
look funny in the wheel wells?
Oh; for our homebrewing Lister looking for Sunbeam-related names
for beer, how about Lucas Porter for a dark beer? A _very_ dark beer.
Lawrence R. Wright
Purchasing Analyst
Andrews Office Products Div. of USOP
lrw@aop.com
Ph. 301.386.7923 Fx. 301.386.5333
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