Also pulled my front bumper and side steps since after 3 years of winter driving they wee looking a bit rough....



Going to strip them down and then prime, coat with a rubberized undercoating and then paint.....hope it last a little longer this time.

 

hate to hear your shaft is loose and sloppy...that happens to guys our age.....

 

...coat with a rubberized undercoating and then paint...

Does that work?

 

Don't know....having to rethink all my painting and coating methods since moving up North where we actually have harsh winters, so gonna give this a try and see.

 

Painting things then oil under coating [once or twice a year] is the way to got in the rust belt.

 

I had my flatbed and my running boards coated in bedliner...If I live long enough, I'll make a long term report, if somebody reminds me......Ben

 

The problem with bed liner type stuff up around here is if you get a small cut or crack in it, the salty stuff gets underneath and bubbles it up and rusts it out from underneath.
My old custom bumpers had Line-X on them and it was good for a few years, but once the surface had any imperfection the rust took over bubbling up huge areas around a tiny cut, or crack.

Fixing a small patch if it is just paint is easier as you can just sand and rattle can a small area My custom bumpers are just rattle can paint now, as they are cheap and easy to fix.

 

Yeah, you guys (or is it youse guys - I never can keep that straight) have unique weather problems we don't face here...But on the plus side, you usually don't have to dodge multiple hurricanes per year...Right now the heat is the problem for me...I'm doing some wiring for new lights on my flatbed today, and it's 93°, no clouds, no breeze and no shade...Since I'm 72 I'm doing 5 minute shifts with 30 minute breaks and plenty of water...You younger fellows could probably have the job finished by now, but I do what I can......Ben

 

Ben
Time to not put yourself through hell anymore.

I spent 9.5 hours yesterday, and 11 hours on Friday in the heat. This makes life much better, and can be used for BBQ, picnics , or just sitting in the shade..


A canopy and fan will change your life immensely. Anytime I work on the brick, or my other vehicles, the 24" drum fan and pop up canopy go into effect. They now sell the 36" and 48" drum fans. It's like working in 70 degree temps

Tractor supply, home cheapo, northern tool, global industrial supply all have them.

 

I have definitely considered that, but the city I live in has an ordnance against erecting temporary awnings, and they look for reasons to get fat from fines...I could probably get away with a carport if I wanted to bribe a building inspector, but they'd probably raise my property tax for the "improvement"......Ben

 

I'd look into what that ordinance exactly says. You can probably use an "easy-up" and take it down on daily basis. They probably don't want "temporary garages" everywhere. At 60 I'd die if I had to work in the blazing sun in 90* plus heat all day. OK, I'd probably survive, but not fun. I'm mellllllllting.

 

I like heat. I don't have to plow it, or scrape it off my windshield.

 

Me too, a lot.I have an advantage, when they radiated me for cancer, my thyroid stuck in the cold position when they cooked it and I live in the perfect place for that. I probably feel 10 degrees cooler than it actually is and I freeze my hiney off at around 60...Mark

 

You must save a fortune on your air conditioning bill, Mark......Ben

 

Yeah, 2 things, I don't recommend getting cancer to do it and I just have a swamp (evaporative) cooler anyway. That is going to change when I haul myself a couple of 1.5 ton mini-split ac units from Mexico. They are 1500 bucks or more in the states and around 650 in Mexico. I am currently doing sweat equity and anything I can to barter with the carpenter that is reproducing the 100 year old windows on my historic house. I had a quote of 45000 bucks from another guy. In a couple of weeks he will have his new York, heat, cold, inverter technology, 1.5 ton precharged, plug and play unit and I will have some very nice/inexpensive windows.


I can bring back 800 bucks worth of stuff from Mx per month without paying a tariff but the tariff is only 3 percent of the overage. If I was interested, and I'm not, I could bring back 2 per month and double my money. That is something that anyone living close to the border can do. The top pic is what they looked like and is the next to be done. The other is the carpenter and his work. I work on his cars too...Mark Edit: that lower pic doesn't do them justice because of the resolution, they are perfect...