I have a bench grinder with a wire wheel one one side, with the safety guard removed.

I use it to clean up bolts, calipers and caliper brackets etc... just about anything that needs some rust removal, but I don't want to abrasive blast.

Once it was cleaned up, I sprayed it with cast finish paint.

The bleeder was badly rusted into place. Eventually It broke after a lot of effort to get it out without breaking it.
I had a buddy, who owns a machine shop, try drill the rest of the bleeder out, without damaging the seat, but he had to drill it down to the last thousand. In the end he made the hole it a bit bigger, machined a new seat, and custom made an insert to adapt it back down to a normal bleeder screw.




I am !
For some reason I only got an email notification for this recent post.

Update ?
Well.... just when I was on the home stretch for the truck project, my friend, who owns an automotive shop, broke both his arms.
So, I had to manage his shop for the spring and summer, with 12 hr, or more, days. (And not just for 6 weeks as the doctor had told him)

Once the summer hit I focused on finishing refurbishing the sailboat I bought last year, with the hope I would get to use it this year.
I got the galley, table, wiring, teak trim, etc., completed just in time to put it in winter storage a week ago. The only water it saw was rain.

The clutch on my car died, so that used up a weekend. (Now has a performance clutch, lighter flywheel, short shifter, and urethane shifter bushings)

Next project is to finish the cover I made for the boat. (Much more work than I expected. I have a lot more respect for people who sew things for a living)

Then I need to confirm why our car is slowly losing coolant. (We ended up keeping it for her job which is on the opposite side of the city)

With luck, I'll be back to working on the Dakota, around Jan 1. :P

How's your own project going ?

 

Stoked for updates whenever they come, your excuses are definitely valid...that's a lot of freakin work you've had on your plate.

 

Well, you've definitely had your hands full. I'd love to know more about the sailboat, but I guess this isn't the forum for me to get that info! Was that your Subaru that you put the new goodies in?

Well, my convertible has been running on the road for a few months now, though I only drive it occaisonally. I've probably put 300 miles on it, and being a "project", the work will continue forever, or at least until something tears it away from me. Status currently:

-Right front wheel hub needs to be replaced. I will be installing both hubs and a set of KYB Gas-Adjust shocks, but I'm thinking of taking it to a front-end shop to see what else may need replacing. The truck had a lot of miles so I've been replacing everything that wears out, however, some parts may have been replaced by the previous owner, and I have little way of knowing which ones since I didn't get a history. To avoid going to the trouble of replacing front end bushings or ball joints, etc. that may be fairly new, I figure it may be best to have a good shop check it for me.

-Injectors need to be removed and cleaned, or replaced. After having driven the truck for a while with a stock ECM and a Mopar performance ECM, I've noticed it runs rich and two cylinders seem to be experiencing some flooding or dribbling by the injectors. I strongly suspect some sediment collected in the fuel rail or lines because the motor sat dry for so long. It won't hurt to clean them, especially since I'll be removing the intake manifold anyway (next item on the status list).

-Intake manifold gasket is leaking oil at the rear. Since I'll have to pull the intake to fix the leak, I'll clean the injectors, install a plenum kit (just ordered the parts), and maybe do a little porting work on the manifold. I'd like to smooth the edges of the runners, get rid of any burrs, and gasket-match the ports to the heads.

-Need a top. It's fun driving it a 4X4 "roadster", but when it's cool out I'd sure like to have a top I can put up. I'll probably order a top and install it myself. My top frame is fine, just have to finish cleaning up and refinishing the trim.

That's the status and the attack plan for now. A little further down the road I want to get the rust that's started on the back half of the frame. I've got an idea cookin' that involves removing the bed, rear axle, and tank, then building two plywood boxes around the frame rails that will allow me to do a hydrolysis-style de-rusting of the frame. More on that later though, I'll start a new thread on it.