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Started My Engine Overhaul

Back in my painting days, we used to wipe the cars down with "Wax & Grease Remover",...that was absolutely the first thing we did before anything else. I believe it was a Ditzler product if I remember correctly.
 
Ditzler makes it, don't recall the product no. though. I'm sure any paint mfg will have a comparable cleaner.

Regarding the fisheyes........I had two pop up on my Spitfire trunk when I painted the car. I later mixed up a small amount of paint and loaded some into the fish eye witha small brush and let it dry. Wet sanded it down and now you cannot find them. Its been several years too.
 
We also would add an "Anti-Fish Eye" product to out finish coats. That was also probably a Ditzler product.
The wiping down of the car with the Wax & Grease Remover was more to prevent "Lifting" of the paint rather than Fish Eye prevention,...although I'm sure it would help prevent Fish Eyes too.
 
Fish eyes can indeed be wet sanded out later. I may do that sometime, but don't have to time to get all my fisheyes out right now. THE EASIEST WAY TO REMOVE FISH EYES IS NOT TO GET THEM AT ALL! Be sure to clean your engine bay thouroughly before priming and painting. If you have even the slightest doubt about whether you missed a spot or not, go back and do the whole bay over again. It takes less time to wipe down the entire engine bay than it does to wet sand even a single fish eye out.
 
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It takes less time to wipe down the entire engine bay than it does to wet sand even a single fish eye out.

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Absolutely. I have also read that you don't really want to use fisheye eliminator. Don't recall why.
 
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I have also read that you don't really want to use fisheye eliminator. Don't recall why.

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Makes you go blind (if you're a fish).
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif
 
That's a knee-slapper, Geo. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif

If I'm not mistaken, "fish-eye eliminator" is also and more correctly called Bar Coat (spelling?). It eliminates fish-eyes by actually sealing the surface of the paint, and it sticks to almost anything. I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to use it, though. Unless it causes real (human /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif) health problems, there's nothing really wrong with it. Paint will look just as good with it as regular primer. WE ended up having to use it on my car because there were so many fish-eyes with the regular primer.
 
The Anti Fish Eye stuff I used to use came in a small metal can. You only use about one ounce in a 1 quart spray gun full of paint. We normally just used the cap from the metal can and measured out one cap full, and dumped it into the can of paint that hooked to the paint gun.
It was'nt a paint type product, it was simply an additive,... and it did'nt take much.
We used to use a "Primer Sealer" from Ditzler to seal the car after all the body work was done, and just before the color coat was sprayed. The theory was that the Primer Sealer would seal in anything that was under it. So you would'nt have to worry about your color coat reacting with anything in, or under the primer.
The reason I used the primer sealer was because I painted a lot of Lacquer in those days. The Primer Sealer kept the strong lacquer thinner from "Biting" into the primered surface. When the Lacquer would "Bite" it would basically cause a spider web type effect in the primer, and that would show thru the color coat.
The nice thing about Enamel was you did'nt have to worry about all that stuff.
Boy, this brings back a lot of memories....

ahhhhh.... the 80's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Were'nt they great

I'm sure paint technology has come a long way since those days.
 
Fisheyes are normally caused by contamination. A small spot of wax or grease, and the paint will crawl away from it, leaving the fisheye. Do not let Armor All any where near anything you are going to paint, for instance.
A friend of mine was going to shoot his car in his garage, and bought several inexpensive plastic "drop cloths" to put up to protect the stuff in his garage. He didn't realize that there is a silicone release agent packaged in the things to make them easy to unfold. When he painted the car, the entire paint job looked like the surface of the moon, as every little particle of the silicone dust left a fisheye.
Jeff
 
Got more work done this weekend. The whole project is finally drawing to a close. With some work and a little luck I'll be able to drive it home next weekend. We didn't get to start the engine like I had hoped, but I finished up the electrical (new front harness), got the Weber linkages (pain in the you know what) mostly set, and turned the engine over with the starter to bring oil pressure up. My engine is making 50psi oil pressure cold cranking at about 1000 rpm. The book calls for 40psi at 2000rpm with it running, so I'm pretty pleased with job Joe and I did. We checked electrical and everything works, and my header and exhaust downpipe are on. Basically all that's left is to finish the Weber linkages, put the intermediate pipes on, mount the Monzas, bleed the brakes and clutch, and put the interior back in. I really can't wait now!!
 
Another update:
Finally got to hear my new engine on Saturday! Boy, if you haven't heard a TR with a Monza, it's something to behold. I'm really pleased with the way it sounds and runs. Only problem is Pacesetter welded one of the "muffler" brackets on about an inch out, so I've got to cut it off and reweld it to keep one pipe from sticking out further than the other. The engine hasn't even been timed yet and it doesn't shake at all, which is a BIG change from the way it was. I suspect that the distributor gear is 180 degrees out though, because we tried to time it, and you could move the distributor all over the place and it had very little effect. Easy fix. And the Webers... wow! What a difference. No one will ever convince me that Strombergs are better. Takes about half a second of cranking to get it going with those things, even when the engine is dead cold. Gotta love 'em.

I was planning to take it home on Saturday, but like everything with British cars, nothing works out the way it was planned. After trying to bleed the brakes, Joe discovered that the bleed valve on my right rear wheel cylinder had been broken off sometime in its life. Also, the brake hoses are original, 33 year old hoses, and the lever shocks are leaking all over the place. Rather than spending $342 on new levers that are just going to start leaking in 6 months again, I'm going with the conversion kit for $230. Better handling, more ride comfort, and easier to maintain; a no brainer.

I've still got a bit to do, like put the interior back together, get some dash instrument bulbs, and do all the brake work, and finish mounting the front bumper. The bumper support brackets are giving me trouble, especially the left one. My car was wrecked, and they stuck a '73+ bracket where it should have a '72. It came off, but for some reason it doesn't fit right going back on, and I don't have the right bolts for it either. I guess I've got to order some new bolts or a new bracket.

If all goes well (and it better!), it'll come home next Saturday, so I'd better break out the driving shoes!
 
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It came off, but for some reason it doesn't fit right going back on

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Story of my life!

Congratulations, though, on the progress. I know the feeling when they first start up. Feels like Gene Wilder:
"It's a-LIIIVVVVE!!" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif

Mickey
 
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