Wildman's TJ is getting a face lift

Well since I hadn't heard anything from TNT Customs I sent them an email this weekend to see what the status of the steering rotation/stretch kit was.

Just got an email from them saying that there had been a delay in getting all the parts together but they'd got them all on Friday. So projected ship date is today or tomorrow. So I'll have that soon too which will allow me to move forward with that. Once the stretch rotation is done I can set the engine back in place. Then I can start on the wiring. And the exhaust.
 
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Well since I hadn't heard anything from TNT Customs I sent them an email this weekend to see what the status of the steering rotation/stretch kit was.

Just got an email from them saying that there had been a delay in getting all the parts together but they'd got them all on Friday. So projected ship date is today or tomorrow. So I'll have that soon too which will allow me to move forward with that. Once the stretch rotation is done I can set the engine back in place. Then I can start on the wiring. And the exhaust.
You can do it.

Screenshot_20210118-100348_Countdown Time.jpg
 
Damn 95 days.....

I'd like to say I'm gunna make it but.....

So woke up around 1AM and couldn't get back to sleep so I went out and threw two more coats of primer on the engine. So now I can head out there and start with the color coats of paint. Once it's painted then I can paint things like the front cover and accessory drive brackets.
 
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I'd bought this flat Blue to do some of the accessory drive brackets in.

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But the Blue fuel rails I thought I could use on the intake won't fit.

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Instead I have flat Aluminum for those pieces.

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I also have a 8 quart oil pan I want to use but need to wait until I get the engine back in place to see if it'll fit.

The flat Orange once it's dried.

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I'd bought this flat Blue to do some of the accessory drive brackets in.

View attachment 219102

View attachment 219103

But the Blue fuel rails I thought I could use on the intake won't fit.

View attachment 219106


Instead I have flat Aluminum for those pieces.

View attachment 219104

View attachment 219105

I also have a 8 quart oil pan I want to use but need to wait until I get the engine back in place to see if it'll fit.

The flat Orange once it's dried.

View attachment 219107

Daaaaaaaaaamn that's going to look good!
 
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OK got a question for those of you who have painted aluminum before.

What is the procedure for prepping the item and what is different painting aluminum compared to painting steel?

I've got some ideas about painting some of the other parts for the engine but a lot of them are aluminum.
 
OK got a question for those of you who have painted aluminum before.

What is the procedure for prepping the item and what is different painting aluminum compared to painting steel?

I've got some ideas about painting some of the other parts for the engine but a lot of them are aluminum.
Self etching primer is very important. Doing the self etching primer quickly after rough sanding and wiping it down is important before it flash corrodes.
 
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Painting aluminum takes a whole bunch of prep. After you clean it or grind it, it immediately flash corrodes and paint will not stick for long. A little while ago I painted a piece to mount my CO2 tank, and posted a write up over on the other place. I used a chemical process to clean and prep it prior to paint. I’ll look and get you a post number where it started.

The process starts on post #2223. I used Bonderite cleaner and surface prep. It worked well.

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Thanks Jeff I'll go look at it. I was thinking I might paint the air cleaner cover to and put a design into it. But that is just pretty work so not a big deal right now.
 
Painting aluminum takes a whole bunch of prep. After you clean it or grind it, it immediately flash corrodes and paint will not stick for long. A little while ago I painted a piece to mount my CO2 tank, and posted a write up over on the other place. I used a chemical process to clean and prep it prior to paint. I’ll look and get you a post number where it started.

The process starts on post #2223. I used Bonderite cleaner and surface prep. It worked well.

View attachment 219222
Like you and I both mentioned, flash corrosion makes all the difference in the world. The shops that paint or powder coat aluminum stuff and understand that flash corrosion is what kills a coating quickly are the ones that get repeat aluminum business. Don’t underestimate mixing grinding materials between steel and aluminum. If you used any abrasive for steel, don’t let it touch your aluminum stuff. Fresh abrasives only! @mrblaine knows quite a bit about aluminum prep as well.
 
Like you and I both mentioned, flash corrosion makes all the difference in the world. The shops that paint or powder coat aluminum stuff and understand that flash corrosion is what kills a coating quickly are the ones that get repeat aluminum business. Don’t underestimate mixing grinding materials between steel and aluminum. If you used any abrasive for steel, don’t let it touch your aluminum stuff. Fresh abrasives only! @mrblaine knows quite a bit about aluminum prep as well.
Great call out about the grinding materials.
 
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Got the lifters & retainers installed. The lifters can be done after the heads are in place but it is a lot harder to do. This engine has these lock rings that stop the lifters from being able to rotate which then keeps the roller on the cam lobe. And then a retainer that keeps them in place. All that is under this splash tray that I added that is suppose to help keep the hot oil off the bottom of the intake manifold.

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Then I set the heads down on the block so I could see how they are going to look.

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Tomorrow I need to media blast the front cover and then paint it so I can get the front of the engine assembled.


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But you get a good idea what the silver heads are going to look like against the orange. The front cover will be a flat aluminum and at this point I'm not sure if I want to leave the oil pan black or paint it a different color. We'll see once I get it installed also.
 
Looks like I need to go to the steel yard tomorrow and get something to brace my frame with. Got a email saying that the Steering Rotation/Stretch kit from TNT Customs will be here tomorrow.

Scheduled Delivery

Friday01/22/2021