Painting the Front Sub-frame
Alas! I have finally painted the frame I disassembled in July. I haven't been too busy with the Nova since my last post as I have been busy with many other things. But I have accomplished a big step in the restoration of my Nova.
I prepared the garage and frame awhile ago for painting it. I put cardboard down and then a plastic drop cloth on the floor of my wife's side of the garage. I walked the frame over to that side of the garage and stood the frame up vertically, just under one of the rafters. I had Andrew hold the frame upright while I rigged the rope around the rafters to hold the frame from tipping over. After doing this, the frame sat for about a week-and-a-half.
I had intended on painting the frame standing vertically like it was. Then I realized that the application of POR-15 (the rust preventative) is a three-step process and the frame would need to be moved outside several times. For the life of me, I could not figure out how I was going to carry out the application without sacrificing time, energy, and quality. I took my dad's suggestion from the last post and used my ratchet straps to hold the frame upright.
On a sunny Saturday in September, I decided, that I was finally going to paint the frame. As I mentioned before, the application is a three-step process. The first step is the application of Marine Clean, which is a de-greaser that removes any oil, grease, and grime off the metal. After spraying this on, I took a small paintbrush and made sure I reached all of the visible and not-so-visible areas. After drying, I moved the frame outside to better dry in the sun and to see if I missed any areas. The control arms were hanging by the ropes in the garage and I applied the Marine Clean to them as well. After completely drying, I hosed off the entire frame (in the directions) and let it dry again. I used my air compressor hose to blow out any moisture that hadn't dried completely.
I carried the frame back into the garage and attached the hooks again for the application of the second step–Metal Ready. This product provides a better adhesion surface for any paint that will be applied to metal. It also leaves a zinc phosphate coating that "insure[s] chemical bonding of paint and steel". I sprayed it on, brushed it into the cracks, and let it dry. I brought the frame out into the sun to dry and hosed it off after awhile. Again, I brought it back inside the garage and attached the hooks. The hooks I'm sure were a lot easier than having to fiddle around with the rope that I originally used.
We had company coming over that day, so I wasn't able to apply the paint the same day. I did, however, find times during the weekday evenings to apply the paint to the frame in a few coats. This paint is very powerful and the bond is very strong to almost anything. With that being known, I wore long pants, a long sleeve shirt, and rubber dish washing gloves. It is also recommended, that if you are not going to use the entire can of paint, to drill a hole in the side of the can and pour into a container only the amount that you will need and to put a screw into the hole when you are done. The reason for this, is that if you get any paint in the rim of the paint can, the bond will permanently seal the can shut anyway.
Anyway, I started painting the frame with the paint in a plastic cup; like the ones you use at picnics. After about 20 minutes, the cup started deteriorating and I realized that I need to be using something a little thicker and more durable. As I was painting, I was hearing the paint drip off the underside of the frame part onto the drop cloth.
It was late before I finished painting the frame, so I decided to paint the second coat on a different night. The next night, I bought 320 grit sandpaper, as recommended, and I roughened up the entire frame. I also noticed a few drip spots where I applied too much paint in some areas. A few days later, I actually hung my frame horizontally for a couple reasons: 1) I wanted the drips, if I had any, to drip down and be on the underside of the frame and 2) I would have a different angle of light, so I could see if I missed any spots.
Anyway, to make an already long story short, in the 4 painting sessions (2 for the frame and 2 for the control arms) I got paint in my hair, on my arms, hands, knees, and the back of my legs when I was sitting down. I scrubbed all parts with a hard bristle brush and it didn't seem to work. It took about 2 1/2 weeks before all the paint wore off.
The second coat didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I used a horse hair brush for the second coat and I could see the brush stokes. I talk to Uncle Kurt about it and he recommended using 220 grit sandpaper and a sponge brush for the second coat. I used the foam brush for the control arms and they turned out a lot better than the frame. I have a little bit of the paint left, so I might scuff up the surface again in the bad areas and apply a 3rd coat.
This concludes the story. Sorry for the wait people. I should have another post and some more pictures shortly.
Patching the Front Frame Horn
Another day back in July, we decided to do some cutting and welding. Because of the fact that the Nova once had a lead-acid battery, a bit of corrosion formed on every part located directly below the battery tray. This included the front frame horn in which the bumper connects to. The corrosion also occurred on the front passenger wheel well and part of the radiator support. These two areas will be addressed at a later date.
The air hose, the grinder, the face shield, a few new cutting wheels, a permanent marker, and a piece of stock sheet metal were all brought out to begin the patching process. Uncle Kurt aligned the piece of metal to the rusted frame and a rough outline was drawn with the marker. He handed me the necessary equipment and told me to cut the piece outside the line drawn and he left to go inside. After about 20 minutes of cutting at a minuscule speed, the rough cut was finally finished.
He came back outside and redrew the line in the sub-frame and had me cut out the deteriorated section of the frame. He then took the metal piece that I cut and used the bench grinder, a few hand grinders, and the bench vise to get the exact shape that was needed. When the shape was achieved, the patch was clamped into place. The recently returned, smaller, flux cored welder was brought out. He put on the welder's mask and tacked a few spots around the edge of the patch. After a few tacks, he ran out of wire. I won't go into details about who is to blame, because that's not my territory.
The flux cored welder was set aside and the MIG welding cart was wheel out to the middle of the barn. He finished the tacking and removed the clamp. We then rotated the sub-frame so that the patch was on top of the frame and we propped it up with car jack stands. He showed me the best technique for welding on a small section of the patch and then he handed the welder to me.
I finished the job and you could definitely tell who did what section. My section had what he called a "booger weld", in which the welding material was splattered all around the area that was welded. This was, after all, a new experience and I will get better over time. After the welding was done, Uncle Kurt took the grinder and made the weld flush with the patch and sub-frame.
After finally getting the photos off of the photographer's camera, Aunt Tina, I have finished this post and included the before , during, and after photos below.
Swap Meet, Ball Joints, and Bushings
Sunday, July 19, Uncle Kurt, Uncle Jim, and I took at trip to Canfield to spend the day at Dave & Ed's Canfield Swap Meet. Uncle Jim bought the most stuff and he did end up visiting the ATM only once. I had been looking for a product called Por-15 for the past few weeks. It is a rust preventative. After spending a bit of time talking to a very knowledgeable person about it, I left the swap meet with a can at reduced price along with another product used with it. I also bought some work pants that ended up being too tight, a few chuck keys, and a few chamois cloths.
After the swap meet, my two uncles met me at my house, so that Uncle Jim could see my garage and my progress. He had a little fun with the neighbor kids as they rode their bikes up my driveway. We then took a trip to Harbor Freight before it closed to pick up a few things, before heading to Uncle Kurt's to do some more sandblasting. This visit was when the sandblasting pot was taken apart and the sand was filtered.
One of the days it rained last week, I couldn't do any sandblasting outside, so we decided that this would be a good time to remove the ball joints and the bushings from all four control arms. This involved a lot of hammering and the use various punches, the impact hammer, and the bench vise. Nothing too exciting happened when removing them, but we did have to consult the Internet for an image of the bushing to see what part actually needed to be separated from the control arms. The Internet is a wonderful thing.
Sandblasting
It's been a few weeks since my last post, so I thought I'd post today before I forget everything that I have done thus far. There are a couple things I need to mention before getting started. There is someone that deserves to get credit for his help and is entitled to be publicly recognized. This person, despite the fact that he is a hardcore Ford guy, has been helping me with my Nova since the day I made the purchase. Uncle nameless, with his permission, will now be referred to as "Uncle Kurt", or Kurt for short. Please see my previous posts for references to Uncle Nameless. And while I'm at it, I might as well say that my self-proclaimed "Fav Uncle" is Uncle Jim.
The Saturday after my last post, Uncle Kurt and I made a trip to the west side of Cleveland to pick up my brother's winter tires for his newly purchased Chrysler Crossfire. We were talking on the way and I ended up passing the interchange I was supposed to take and we were about 10-15 minutes later than I anticipated. On top of that, it rained the whole time we were at the dealership, so we were not able to look at the engine. We did, however, sat in and inspected the interior with our approval. We headed back to my house in the rain and our planned out day was not looking too great.
When we got back to my house, we put the tires in the rafters of the garage, to keep them out of the way. I showed Uncle Kurt my whole garage setup and all the work I had done thus far. The pictures taken don't really do any justice. We had planned on removing the front sub-frame and taking it to his house. Since I had sprayed the body mount bushings a few nights before with PB Blaster several times, we spent only a few minutes removing it. Since it was still raining, we decided not to take the frame to his house to start the sandblasting. Instead, he helped me fix a few things in my garage like, the sagging support for the garage door opener.
We made plans for me to go to his house on Monday with the frame and start the sandblasting. He called me Monday after work and said that the plan is a no-go. His well pump failed on him and he would be replacing it that evening. Since I had planned on going over there anyway, I offered my assistance to carry out the replacement. It's a good thing I did, because the sucker was heavy and awkward to pull it out of the well and lower the new in. Plus, I was there until nearly midnight. As a side note, the pipe that had been replaced is still laying in the grass in the side yard (as far as I know).
I believe I came over the next day to start sandblasting. The picnic table was moved over to the corner of the garage. The sandblaster was filled with sand. The "beekeepers hood" and the hot gloves were brought out. The air hose was unreeled to reach outside the garage. All vehicles were moved out of the sand over-spray zone. And finally, the frame was moved and set on top of the picnic table. Uncle Kurt started sandblasting and getting the pressure and the sand velocity dialed in. He handed over the hood, gloves, and the blasting tool and said that he'll be a few yards away, splitting wood.
It was going pretty smoothly for about 5 minutes, until a few things went wrong. There was a lot of stopping, shaking the tank, adjusting the levers, emptying the moisture filter, unhooking the air hose, emptying the air, unscrewing the nozzle, and unclogging the pebbles. These pebbles, we thought, were the remnants of unfiltered sand that was reused by the last operator of the sand blaster—Uncle Jim. After we completely emptied the tank, unhooked all the fittings, and unclogged the lines, we filtered the sand we just emptied and put the sand back into the tank. We found a couple handfuls of pebbles that were waiting to clog the nozzle.
After a few debates and accusations of how these pebbles got into the tank, we decided to filter the next bag of sand before using it. Surprisingly, we found a handful of pebbles in a single bag. We did point out that the bag does say commercial grade sand and says nothing about use with sandblasters. A big apology was made to the accused and he was let off the hook. We have all learned our lesson and will now filter any kind of sandblasting media before using it.
Here are a few before, during, and after pictures.
