Archive for 'Car Chatter'
CarCast Open Track
Posted on 08. Apr, 2009 by sandy.
The Ripper
Can you hang with the CarCast Crew and “The Ripper”
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Removing Powder Coating
Posted on 07. Apr, 2009 by sandy.
I have been working on the Sunbeam Tigers front suspension and the spindles were powder coated but the masking on the seal surface was not so good. So need to remove some baked on plastic as it be. Looked around and didn’t find much except the ‘Commercial’ solutions.
I found this on the web, cut and pasted the text but can’t remember the dang site for credit. It was a motorcycle site and I thank them (would post a link if I could find it again)
The easiest and cheapest way to remove paint and powder coating is with gasket remover. The product we use in our shop is Permatex Gasket Remover (item #80646). It comes in a 12 ounce aerosol can which is more than enough to do even large projects like engine cases. It is available from most auto parts stores. Other products, such as Zip Strip paint remover, may also work, but the Permatex product is what we have had the most success with.
Simply spray on a liberal coating to the part you are trying to strip, and wait 10-15 minutes. Be sure not to get any on areas that you do not want stripped. Make sure to wear eye and skin protection as it can irritate both.
After 10-15 minutes, the powder coating will bubble and peel. Wipe off the gasket remover and loosened powder coating with a disposable rag. You may need to reapply as some areas will be missed the first time. That’s it! Your part should be stripped down to the bare metal. Make sure to wash with wax and grease remover before you try to repaint.
Well seems problem might be solved. I’ll give it a try and report back. I’m not a huge fan Powder coating, it does look nice and is durable, but sometimes a pain…
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Wheels for the Tiger
Posted on 02. Apr, 2009 by sandy.
Had to pick up a set of roller 5 lug rims for the Sunbeam in anticipation of the axle changes. I found another Tiger owner that had used the 2005 16″ Mustang Halibrand style rims with some spacers and it looked pretty good. I found a set off of ebay which was local (save $100 on shipping) and picked them up. The 16″ rims have plenty of room for the 11.75″ brake and Superlite 6 caliper even without the spacer. The wheel offset for these rims are 39mm so a good amount of spacer will be required on the front, maybe .75″ or so as a guess and maybe .5″ for the rear. Baer brakes makes some that can be used with long studs in a lot of sizes so should be easy to get close. The goal is still to use 15″ rims for the race tires but for now these should do just fine. They even included the mock spinner. I should paint them black like ‘The Rippers’ rims, maybe the Tiger needs to be red and black now 
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Mustang Motor Back from QMP Racing
Posted on 24. Mar, 2009 by sandy.
Totally forgot to post an update on the Ripper Motor. The motor is sitting in the warehouse and ready to be dropped in. The question is do I have enough time to do it. Motor made right at 5##hp at 7500 rpm. The sad part is that it was not as huge as I would have expected it. The last motor has a ported Victor intake and this one a dead stock one. The cam is the same that is in the GT40 motor with a different set of heads (Edelbrock Victors) made 620 at 7500 or so and I think the tune that is on the carb might be a bit fat on the top according to the dyno guy, and maybe 20hp left on the table. That sounds about right as where it should be (If you knew the real number you would say the same). He could not quite figure out how to keep the curve right as it seems the DamBest carb might be on the smaller side, but he had never played with one so hard to say. I think it might be too, but he said he had not seen as good as throttle response on a carb motor for a long time. When all said and done made about the same power, but up on the RPM scale a bit, which is actually good since the 3.89 in the Mustang is at the limiter in a couple of spots at Willow and this will help keep things closer to where the power is.
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Man Down, Man Down… The Excursion is in the Shop
Posted on 11. Mar, 2009 by sandy.
Well after 5+ years my trusty 2003 7.3L Powerstroke Diesel Ford Excursion had to be taken in for a repair. I had the smell of diesel fuel coming into the A/C system and decided to pop the hood. Looked at the engine valley area and saw a puddle of diesel fuel. Checked around and it seems to be a common problem for them to have a bad o-ring seal in the fuel separator area. Figured that would be it a couple hundred bucks. Well get the call and they also found another leak at the top of the high pressure pump. Another set of bad o-rings. And finally it was in for the recall of the camshaft sensor that was a freebie. So out of pocket about $1000. I hope that is all for a while, and over the life of the truck so far it’s still not bad. Picked up some coolant additive as I figured it might be another $100 to add a $9 bottle of additive. Will have to make sure I have the right amount now that I think of it. Oh well the sound of another credit card swipe for car stuff…
