25 year old Alfa 75 back from the brink (hopefully)

[Dcal]

Bit of an update.
I can confirm that a ball joint boot works very well and although they are a different design I think they are better than the original.

I got them on ebay for not much (19 x 28 x 16 if the link doesn't work)

Ball joint rubber boot dust cover universal 2 x 19x28x16 track rod end Car Van | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Ball joint rubber boot dust cover universal 2 x 19x28x16 track rod end Car Van at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

To install the boot, I needed to make a puller to remove the alignment bush.

And a punch to reinstall the alignment bush after the boot and rubber coupler was fitted.

Before I can go any further with this I want to install the prop and check for runout, (I don't want to get it balanced and find it's assembled incorrectly) but before I can do that I need to install the engine and gear box and before I do that I wanted to clean up the alloy bellhousing and to do that I needed (of course) to make a vapour blaster.
So for now the checking of the alignment and balance of the prop is stalled and I've started on another project that will probably not get finished either.

I worked on a few other jobs on the list, like undercoating the bonnet.
Because of the state of it I use the Jotun 90 as a high build primer sealer.
It's not recommended for that application but it works for me. It is harder to sand than most other primers but I think it's worth the effort for the protection it provides.
It goes on a bit "peely" but that’s ok because most of it will be sanded off anyway.

The intention was to leave this a couple of weeks before sanding to make sure it was well cured.
To make room for the Vapour Blaster Project, I moved the bonnet outside and hung it on a frame.
Of course the inevitable happened and a gust of wind blew it over and as a result I'm further back than ever with 3 or 4 nice dents to beat out.
I didn't take photos because I was too busy saying bad words.
I huffed for a while but eventually I got the bog out and fixed them.

I also filled the front wing I welded longer ago than I care to remember.

I gave them the Jotun treatment with a few other bits and hopefully I won't drop them again.

Also removed the rack and installed new track rods, trackrod ends and boots so another job off the list.

 

[fizzy]

Great reading for when I eventually do mine.

 

[Dcal]

Great reading for when I eventually do mine.

Or reading how not to do it

 

[Dcal]

I painted (or repainted) a few more sundry bits over the weekend.

I was looking for a few "before" photos and realised just how these things can get away from you and take far too long if you are only doing work when you freel like it.
Case in point is the air box.
It was in the boot as someone had fitted a cone air cleaner which I won't be using.

No great but should paint up ok. (This photo was taken in April 2018!)
However this is what happens if you leave crappy powder coating outside for a year. (May 2019)

I was going to blast them, but was playing with citric acid so dunked them in that. (July 2019)

Came out quite well but I blasted them a month later anyway. (Aug 2019)

And finally I got some epoxy and "blue" top coat on because I had some spare.

Fast forward untill May 2021 and after living outside for all that time they suffered no ill effects. (Certainly a win for epoxy and paint, even it it wasn't 25 years old to start with.)

I flatted them back to get rid of the worst of the pitting, then more epoxy.

More flatting and 2K black top coat.

It's hard to believe it taken me 4 years to get this far and I still need to do the lettering.
Hopefully that won't take 4 more years, but it very well might.



;

 

[fizzy]

Epoxy is definitely good stuff. Which one are you using? Is it the Jotun 87?

 

[Dcal]

I've been using Jotun 90 and Selimix 7-410
They are both thick to start with but the Selimix TDS allows you to use a "lot" more thinners and it goes on flatter as a result.
It's also a lot easier to get a run with it.
With the Jotun it takes real abuse to get a run or sag but then, it needs more elbow grease to get it flat.

 

[fizzy]

What gun and tip are you using? Far better results than when I tried spraying Jotun 87AL

 

[Dcal]

Cheap gravity gun 2.5mm fluid tip and air cap setup.
I've had mine so long I forget where it came from.



I keep meaning to get one of these, but I have to keep telling nyself, I don't need another spray gun even if it's dirt cheap

spray guns direct – Spray gun DeVilbiss gti pro gti pro lite flg5 pri sri, Sata Satajet 100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000, Iwata super nova w400, az10, az3, lph80, ls400, Kestrel, Graco, Sealey, Festool, CP, Dupont, Standox, 3m and more. Free UK next day

www.spraygunsdirect.co.uk

 

[fizzy]

Cheap gravity gun 2.5mm fluid tip and air cap setup.
I've had mine so long I forget where it came from.

View attachment 289673

I keep meaning to get one of these, but I have to keep telling nyself, I don't need another spray gun even if it's dirt cheap

spray guns direct – Spray gun DeVilbiss gti pro gti pro lite flg5 pri sri, Sata Satajet 100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000, Iwata super nova w400, az10, az3, lph80, ls400, Kestrel, Graco, Sealey, Festool, CP, Dupont, Standox, 3m and more. Free UK next day

www.spraygunsdirect.co.uk

That is pretty much what I have. What pressure do you spray at?
Obviously it is down to technique - something I don't possess

 

[Dcal]

Pretty low, but I do go slow to get the paint to wet out. Also the paint was over thinned (but not grossly) and as I was trying to seal and fill at the same time I wasn't expecting miracles.
In fairness if I'm using the Jotun I'm after heavy build and expect to have to flat back a fair bit.

Photos below of the Jotun on the bonnet.
I find smaller bits work even better because you can really bury the paint on.

For reference, the last primer coats on the air box was Selemix and I got a few runs because I was still using the 2.5 set up and was rushing it.
I should heve used a 1.8 set up but there were lots of rust pits to fill.

 

[Domdom]

That's some sterling work, especially in less than perfect conditions.

I bought one of these, which I find incredibly good for small work. I wouldn't want to paint a whole car with it (probably won't live that long) but for bits and bats it sprays every bit as good as my old Devilbiss

spray guns direct – Spray gun DeVilbiss gti pro gti pro lite flg5 pri sri, Sata Satajet 100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000, Iwata super nova w400, az10, az3, lph80, ls400, Kestrel, Graco, Sealey, Festool, CP, Dupont, Standox, 3m and more. Free UK next day

www.spraygunsdirect.co.uk

 

[Cosantoir]

@Dcal how's this coming along?

 

[slim_boy_fat]

and I still need to do the lettering.

Are you planning getting 'slide-on' transfers?

 

[Dcal]

@Dcal how's this coming along?

Not much to report @Cosantoir things are mad at work at the moment and I can't get time to play.

Are you planning getting 'slide-on' transfers?

Funny you should say that slim, because I am now.

I thought it would be a great idea to make a template and spray the lettering.
After a lot of searching and printing different sizes I arrived at a font that looked OK.

Aharoni font (115) it's not quite right (the letters aren’t blocky enough) but as close as I could get.

I printed it out on sticky backed label paper, then cut out the letters and stuck them to the air box.

Taped it up and sprayed a couple of coats of 2K ford diamond white.

All looked good untill I took the masking off.

The white paint got under the masking and made a mess.

Ah well, back to the drawing board.
Would sticky backed vinyl have worked better as a template?

 

[Cosantoir]

I would try white paint the area first. Then have the text done on a plotter at a local printers so it cuts out the letters of if you have them yourself out it over the white paint. Then I'd spray the whole thing black including the stickers and then with a craft knife peel off the stickers to reveal the white paint below.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Not much to report @Cosantoir things are mad at work at the moment and I can't get time to play.


Funny you should say that slim, because I am now.

I thought it would be a great idea to make a template and spray the lettering.
After a lot of searching and printing different sizes I arrived at a font that looked OK.

View attachment 296155

Aharoni font (115) it's not quite right (the letters aren’t blocky enough) but as close as I could get.

View attachment 296156

I printed it out on sticky backed label paper, then cut out the letters and stuck them to the air box.

View attachment 296157

Taped it up and sprayed a couple of coats of 2K ford diamond white.

View attachment 296158

View attachment 296159

All looked good untill I took the masking off.

View attachment 296160

The white paint got under the masking and made a mess.

View attachment 296161

Ah well, back to the drawing board.
Would sticky backed vinyl have worked better as a template?

No amount of sticking would get you out of this. There is a trick though - you do a single wash of black (or whatever the backing colour is) spray which inevitably leaks under the tape. Then you do the white. Remove the tape when it’s *almost* dried as you want that tacky, pliable edge to play with, the paint will sit a little higher than the rest as there’s one coat underneath. I’ve done it when it dried, it can pull the entire sheet off the top, very disheartening!

Here’s the method results - a bit of painting I did at art school years ago. Crisp, crisp! I used to use a Japanese grade 3 or 4 washi tape and for anything curved I’d use Tamiya modelling tape. The Japanese have the market for good tape all wrapped up

 

[graffian]

Frisket and a scalpel. Or a vinyl cutter and masking film.
Small lettering or logos use a laser printer and waterslides.

 

[Dcal]

Thanks for all the tips lads

@Dieselman 63 The coat to fill any gaps under the masking is so simple and obvious when you think about it, however, like manys a great idea it's anything but.
I don't seem to be able to find the masking tape you refer to. But I have found some of the Frisket sheet @graffian mentions, so I've some ordered and a trial will be carried out, with and without, the additional coat of black before the white.

@graffian from what little info I've found on the Friscet sheet, it says it's not suitable for automotive paint. I'm going to give it a go anyway but have you tried it?

@Cosantoir if this doesn't work I think I'll just get them cut in white vinyl and stick the letters on.
Is there any reason it would work better in reverse as you suggest?

This project has been stalled for far too long.
I really must get it back on track.

 

[Cosantoir]

@Cosantoir if this doesn't work I think I'll just get them cut in white vinyl and stick the letters on.
Is there any reason it would work better in reverse as you suggest?

That's just the way I've always seen it done.
I guess instead of doing a negative stencil where you might have bleeding of the paint behind the stencil

 

[Dieselman 63]

This is the tape I use, unfortunately for you it seems it’s NZ only

No.4 Versatile Masking Tape - Washi Masking Tapes - Masking & Film Range - TapeSpec

No.4 Versatile Masking Tape

tapespec.co.nz

A Google search for ‘Tamiya masking tape for curves’ will let you find this stuff. Obviously it has a modelling background but it’s really good stuff. Cheap too, and I haven’t seen another product do this.