James & The Sahara Build Thread

Well my ideal rims will be a dark grey. I don’t like silver or black rims on my rig. Its between clear and black on them. Going to give clear a shot and see how it holds up. Scotchbright and quality clear coat sounds easy enough.

I would go black. It would tie in with the front and rear bumpers.
 
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I would go black. It would tie in with the front and rear bumpers.
Dark Gray FTW! If and when I buy a set, the backers will be black to blend into the body, and the steps will be dark gray to match my wheels.
Yeah after yesterdays storm the steps protected surface has completely broken through. Rust is starting to get an upper hand so going to remove ‘em and CC them today. It it doesn’t hold up to my standard I’ll just prime/paint then black. With nutserts in place, its not that much of a PITA.
 
Yeah after yesterdays storm the steps protected surface has completely broken through. Rust is starting to get an upper hand so going to remove ‘em and CC them today. It it doesn’t hold up to my standard I’ll just prime/paint then black. With nutserts in place, its not that much of a PITA.
Or one day down the road get them matched and painted professionally to the factory PW1 Stone White paint.


Its too bad the JK got the bright white paint code.
 
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Today was the 4th time I’ve hand sanded down the sliders and rub rails. I removed them to do so. Something I did not think of was the water sitting against the aluminum and the SS. I really thought about putting just a clear coat on, but after pulling this crap off again I really don’t want to remove it again. I talked to Blaine about it a day or two ago and he stated explained the properties of stainless steel to me. Looking at the original post on JF about rub rails ect, they are 100% not intended to be kept raw. Painting them or polishing them is required. Not a show Jeep so had to make a choice..

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Was that a lesser grade of stainless than 316? 304 maybe? - 304 will do that around salts and I would expect this.
I use 316 when making water hookups for mild saline waste waster applications and it does not do that even after several years --you say it was against aluminum?
The staining on the backside from mild steel or was it actually pitted like the top side of the rails?
 
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Was that a lesser grade of stainless than 316? 304 maybe? - 304 will do that around salts and I would expect this.
I use 316 when making water hookups for mild saline waste waster applications and it does not do that even after several years --you say it was against aluminum?
The staining on the backside from mild steel or was it actually pitted like the top side of the rails?
Wow...that must be a 400 series stainless...300 series shouldn't rust like that.
Unknown grade of stainless. No salt on the road currently, just one rain storm. It was pitted really badly. It took quite a while to clean them up. The rub rails were holding up better but I figured I’d just get them both done. I can’t imagine what they would do with salt on them.
 
Unknown grade of stainless. No salt on the road currently, just one rain storm. It was pitted really badly. It took quite a while to clean them up. The rub rails were holding up better but I figured I’d just get them both done. I can’t imagine what they would do with salt on them.
Swiss cheese
 
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Good move to paint them- they look nice. If they would have been made from 316 grade you'd swear from the price they were made from unobtainium. We bought a 20' stick of 8" 316 tube for a recent pump project and I think that was $2500-3000 wholesale (304 grade was 1K less) and 8" ansi flanges were about $375 each (as an example the latter would be $45 in mild steel and $65 made from high end billet aluminum.
 
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Swiss cheese
Agreed ahahahah.
Black is gonna look good
I think it may look weird with the hardtop, but with the soft top down (75% of the year it will be perfect). I appreciate that!
Good move to paint them- they look nice. If they would have been made from 316 grade you'd swear from the price they were made from unobtainium. We bought a 20' stick of 8" 316 tube for a recent pump project and I think that was $2500-3000 wholesale (304 grade was 1K less) and 8" ansi flanges were about $375 each (as an example the latter would be $45 in mild steel and $65 made from high end billet aluminum.
I agree about painting them. Wish I had some stainless steel in the form of unobtainium. ;)
 
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I know where there is about 200 tons of 316 stainless laying in a meat processing plant's boneyard--equipment pulled out during an upgrade. It will lay out there for years without corroding until someone decides to sell it or use it. 316 is the grade used in food processing and farm milk equipment since it will handle cleaning acids, chlorides, ALMOST anything without corroding. It remains bright and polished with a mirror like finish and paint generally would not stick to it.
 
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I know where there is about 200 tons of 316 stainless laying in a meat processing plant's boneyard--equipment pulled out during an upgrade. It will lay out there for years without corroding until someone decides to sell it or use it. 316 is the grade used in food processing and farm milk equipment since it will handle cleaning acids, chlorides, ALMOST anything without corroding.
Impressive stuff, make some TJ stuff out of it and I’ll buy it ;)
 
Whoa! That was rusting badly, very quickly. I’d hate to see all your hard work go to waste. Good call in the paint. Ever think of painting the hard top black? I’m sure you have
 
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Whoa! That was rusting badly, very quickly. I’d hate to see all your hard work go to waste. Good call in the paint. Ever think of painting the hard top black? I’m sure you have
Yeah, scary to imagine what salt would have done. I have considered painting the hardtop black, although I probably won’t ever do it. Have considered getting a twill soft top for year round. Just a matter of finding a TJ owner locally with one so I can see how well it holds up. Hardtop season is nearly over hahaha, can’t wait to take it off!
 
Good move to paint them- they look nice. If they would have been made from 316 grade you'd swear from the price they were made from unobtainium. We bought a 20' stick of 8" 316 tube for a recent pump project and I think that was $2500-3000 wholesale (304 grade was 1K less) and 8" ansi flanges were about $375 each (as an example the latter would be $45 in mild steel and $65 made from high end billet aluminum.
I must have been our of my mind last night, I started doubting so I looked it up at work tiday- I was way off on the cost of 316 stainless. We sold the 20' of 8" pipe for $1457, half of what I said. And the Ansi 8" flange was only $170. 304 grade is about 75% of the cost of 316 so it is not worth the sacrifice in quality. My bad- sorry to mislead but for what it's worth- now you know.
 
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Painted the other side today, so letting it dry. Supposed to rain this whole weekend so hopefully will get it on tomorrow. Like many other members I also purchased the Cobra75 cb. One popped up for $70 on amazon so snatched it up. Finally going to get the CB setup later this week. My tire carrier hinges still work perfectly but they appear to be stripping the paint and rusting. Do I need to PC the tire carrier and the hinges to keep this protected and not rusting? (Its not the brass washers rusting, its the steel pivot point on the hinge).

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