New Tools, Clean Heads

Well, I went out an bought some new toys...erm new tools for my project and workshop.  I've been thinking for some time about a few tools that I need to add to my workshop in order to tackle the upcoming jobs related to the body.

New air compressor...too small

The first thing on my list was a new air compressor.  I've got a pretty comprehensive set of hand tools, but I really don't have any power to do more difficult jobs like sandblasting, cutting, grinding and sanding.  I've got some good electric tools too, including an angle grinder/cutter and a die grinder for the bigger wire wheel jobs.  I have a bench grinder/wheel and a shop vac, but other than those basics, it's not much.

New air compressor...right size

Nor do I want much more, but I do want to take advantage of air power for the rest of this rebuild, so when I had a few hundred dollars saved up, I bought an air compressor.  of course, the first one I bought was too small, so I went back a couple of days later and traded up for a larger model.  It actually has the same motor and pump, but the tank is bigger, which allows for a longer use of a tool at any one time.  Since some of the jobs are fairly long, I need all the tank I can afford.  For now, this will do, but if I had in mind painting the car (which I don't) then I'd need the next size up at least.  As it stands, this compressor and tank is quite adequate for my immediate needs.

Sandblasting gun and abrasives

My blasting 'booth'

One of those needs is sandblasting, so one of the first tools I bought to go with my new compressor was a sandblasting gun.

It looks like a paint gun and operates the same way, essentially.  You fill the container with abrasive, attach it to the air compressor hose and blast away.

I look like an insurgent

Blasting away

Actually, it's not as simple as that.  I bought a bag of sand from Home Depot on my way back from buying the compressor and blaster, only to discover when reading the directions that "Sand may not be used as a blast material."  It turns out that a special abrasive is required.  Fortunately they sell this at Harbor Freight, where I bought the compressor and blast gun.  It is expensive, but it is worth it, I think.

It's not powerful but it works

The worth is in the ease and amount of time it took to blast my first few items.  Once I got it set up and covered myself adequately (I discovered that the blasting is equally back at the operator--a matter of physics) it turned out to be quite easy to use and not as powerful as I thought it was going to be. This is actually a good thing, because I was afraid it would simply blast away all the metal if I pointed it at one area for too long.  While this may be the case with more powerful units and certainly there is some degradation when it's directed at a single spot for too long, but it's hardly even powerful enough to take the skin off my finger.  I know because I tried.  Not deliberately of course, but I do know just how powerful this tool really is, and that's not much.  It is just powerful enough to take off paint, some surface rust and aluminum oxidization, which is really about all I need.

Rusty handbrake lever...

Transformed...nearly.

The first thing I blasted was the handbrake lever I recovered from the junkyard a week or so ago.  The blaster took off all the paint and some of the surface rust without even scratching the steel at all.

Aluminum cleans up nicely

The manifold is nearly done

My next test was on the manifold, which is made of aluminum and steel.  The blaster cleaned up the aluminum without degrading it, and took all the built up grease and grime off the steel tube with no problem.  I do have to stop every ten minutes or so to allow the compressor to recharge the tank, but this is a minor inconvenience.  I'm actually glad to stop after a few minutes because the abrasive really gets in everything in spite of goggles, a face mask, a hat and a long sleeved shirt buttoned up at the collar and sleeves.

These fins are hard to clean

The carbon buildup in the heads

The last thing I did with blaster was to clean off the heads.  I had cleaned them up about 90% of the way, but had no way of cleaning in between the fins and in all the crevices, not did I want to scratch the inside of the heads where the carbon buildup was the most extreme.

All clean after a blast

Put away till it's time for them

Enter the blaster.  This did both jobs, and in just a few minutes I had a clean set of heads, ready to install on the engine.  I put them away in a box as I start the next task of tearing down and rebuilding the engine.

My little shop

Not big but effective

Oh, and I treated myself to another toy.  Not a tool exactly but in the same category.  I bought a new tool chest.  This one is more than just a tool box.  It's an actual five drawer chest with deep drawers and rollers.  With my little old red box on top, I now have a place to store most of my tools, including all the new air toys..erm, tools.

The Phillip Way or Rear Disc Rebuild

Well, there are always two ways to do a job.  The right way and the Phillip Way.  And since these are two opposite ways of doing things, you may assume, Dear Reader, that the Phillip Way is indeed the wrong way.

So it is and so it has been for many years.  This applies to many things around the house, like plumbing and electricity and screen door and toilet float installations, and it has not changed now that I am working on something as different or substantial as the Ghia.

Built the Phillip Way..wrong!

For example, one or the other of you sharp-eyed Readers will have noticed that I have already installed the new disc brake kit on the rear, complete with spacers, o-rings, gaskets, brackets, bearing caps and lots of grease.

Well, not exactly complete.

In fact, in keeping with Phillip's Way, I left a couple of things out the first time around.  No, this was not an accident, but in keeping with the instructions. Honest!  I know, I know, I am not supposed to read those things, but after putting it together, the brake calipers just didn't fit correctly around the rotors.  They weren't centered in the gap so I had to see if I had done something wrong.

All the parts laid out...

Packed with grease

Of course, I had done something wrong, but as it happens, what I did was actually according to the instructions.

Now, how, you ask, is that possible?  Well, what if the instructions are wrong?  Why they would be wrong is a mystery to me, but I can say with some certainty that putting the disc brake kit together excatly as prescribed in the instructions does not result in the the proper fit.

Big o-ring and paper gasket

Next is the thin 'thrust washer'

It has to do with two parts, a thin spacer or shim, and an o-ring.  Both parts, according to the instructions--are to be omitted from my particular type of transmission and driveaxle assembly.  Known as IRS (Independent Rear Suspension), the type of drivetrain in my 1974 Ghia is different than the kind that came before it, the trans-axle, or 'Swing-Axle' as it is sometimes called.

Followed by the small o-ring...

...the bearing cap goes on.

Without getting into the differences between the two drivetrains, it's worth noting that they are completely different in the way they go together, but the function is similar enough that most of the parts are interchangeable.

Most of the parts.  Not all the parts.

With the rotor on the axle...

...the caliper can go on.

The bottom line is that, after days of experiments, I finally come to the conclusion that the two parts that were supposed to be omitted according to the instructions were actually supposed to go on after all.

So, I started over and rebuilt both sides, this time with all the parts.

First I gathered everything together.  Next step, I loaded the bearing with grease, put on the paper gasket and the large o-ring.  Next I put on the thin thrust washer (shim) and on top of that went the small o-ring.  The bearing cap, with the large spacer inserted into it in advance, slid onto the axle and covered up the whole set of pieces.

The rotor is now centered in the gap.

Once it was bolted down, I installed the caliper (again) and this time, voila!  It all lined up perfectly.  I do not know why the instructions were wrong.  I discovered the solution only by trial an error because the 'solutions' I found on the net were either wrong or incomplete at best.

I am not absolutely sure this is right, but it sure looks right and it even makes some sense.  Of course, that's not the Phillip Way, but it will get my Ghia built correctly!

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