A little project update on Chug A Lug

OK so today was a do something then do it over kind of day. After a nice visit the other day from Mike F his comment "your going to need to bend that OD shifter" stuck in my head so yesterday I started to figure out exactly where I needed to "bend" that shifter.

I went to the Tub to figure out where the bottom edge of the dash should be in relationship to the Floor Body mount holes. I fugured those where easy enough and not going to change.

Then I started trying to figure out how to keep the OD cane away from the Out / In transfer case cane. And far enough away from the Huge mess of stuff I have on the top of the transmission shift cane. And and and and.

SO once I had an idea what I needed to do I realized I need to make it longer. Well tapering this one was quite the chore on my little lathe so I figured I would add to it. I made a 4" extension for the bottom of it turned a 3/8" X 24T stem on it to thread into the OD Linkage and then Drilled and tapped the other end with the same to accept the Original tapered cane I made.

The next step involved a bunch of drawing and head scratching trying to figure out how to put about a 10-15 degree bend in the middle of it so the whole thing wasn't hitting the Out / In cane or knob. First I was going to mount it like a Hurst shifter where it has a flat surface and two bolts then I thought I could cut the piece in half and weld it back together with the angle. Finally in my slippers I went out to the shop late last night and with my little Propane torch and my Newly mounted Olympic Brand 5" Chinese Vise I got for $20 at a yard sale and just got mounted earlier in the day (never used it) I put 3) Grade 8 1/2" bolts in the jaws with the 5/8" D x 4" L steel shaft in between them and started heating it. Never got really hot maybe 1100 degrees if that. But with a 20" cheater pipe on the Vise handle I slowly and I mean very slowly (expecting the vise to blow apart any sec.) I managed to bend the little Cane section as much as I needed.

OH hey and in the process stress tested the new (to me) vise. SO I now have three Chinese Vises that can handle way more then they should. The other two are Swordfish brand (the exact same vise LOL) I have had them over 30 years and done bad bad things to them over the years with never a complaint.

SO I now had the first bend I then ground a washer down to act as a shim so when the Cane was very tight the bend would point in the correct direction. This took a while.

I then needed to put a nice big radius bend in the original cane so it matches my unique Shift cane.

Since I don't own a Hydraulic press this is what I came up with. Two pieces of Poplar clamped to a sheet of Micarta and some C Clamps and a big Pipe clamp and a couple other wood working clamps.

I ended up having to sharpen the arc and re doing it as well as using the Vise to do the sharp little bend near the Knob end.

I wanted the OD shift ball above the Transmission Shift knob to make it easy to reach across no matter where the tranny shifter was. And I wanted it close enough to reduce any searching around for it. I tend to drive with my hand on the shift knob most the time a habit formed from driving a Truck with an 18 spd Road Ranger tranny on short runs. I'm always shifting.

I'm not sure just how I will lock the two pieces of the OD shift cane together most likely once I have everything done and some road time on it I'll pull it apart and put a 3/32" D roll pin through the threaded sections so they can't possibly turn unless I knock the pin out.

SO this is what it looks like I used the back side of my Signed Ted Nugget Poster as a back drop to make it easier to see how the shifter canes look together.

Still not sure what I am going to do for Boots. I have the JB fab 3) way Boot but its kind of big and clunky. I have some real nice Black Naugahyde and I might just see about stitching up something.

Still deciding how to anchor the Throttle Cable and the Electrical cable to the Tranny Shift cane. I might go as simple as a couple short sections of HD heat shrink tubing. Be easy to replace should I ever have to take it a part once all assembled.

Oh and if my measurements are close I should have a little more then an inch between the OD shift cane and the bottom edge of the dash. Just have to make sure I don't stick the heater controls there!

OK so SCARY sh*t. I started color sanding.

First thing I did was to take some 800 grit paper and do a little practice on the bottom of the tub!!!!!

OMG two big WHITE spots. it took nothing to cut through the paint and hit the Sealer. OK now I'm worried.

SO I got to do something. I decide to attack the run on the rear top of the left fender. I put a layer of masking tape around the run so I can get most of it before I touch the paint around it.

So far so good using 800 again to reduce the run to not much more then the orange peel .

I then switch to 1200 grit and get my little Silicone Squeegee that will show me whats what when I pull the water and slurry off it. I work a little around the run and in no time its gone. I keep at it and except for a small area forward of the Hood latch that needs another going over I have the Top of the Left Fender to a very smooth 1200 grit. A few bottom of the orange peel still showing. But I'm very happy.

Tomorrow I am going to get set up to go at the sanding big time.

My years of hand sanding knife blades to a perfect satin or mirror finish is paying off I know when to stop one grit before the surface is perfect which allows the flaws to be gone as the surface has the desired finish. I can't wait to see what it look like once I have the 2500 grit stage done.

SO wet sanding out the paint. I just discovered something. I am using P grade sand paper and its not the same as US std grade.

So what I have that is P1200 is doing the same cutting job as roughly 700 grit US. Well on the one hand its working faster LOL on the other I won't need to rough up the bare spots when I touch them up with my air brush. As the paint tech sheet says 600-800 grit for recoat.

The P2000 I was planning on finishing up with is equal to about a US 900 grit.

Looks like I might have to buy some more sand paper!

It interesting I am getting a super smooth finish with virtually no satin marks.

I have the two front fenders done. I did the Tops the back slope the top panel on the inner fenders and of course the outer rolled edge. The left one has a pretty good sized area right next to the Grill on the edge that will need touching up. The rest of the oops on the fenders are pretty small areas.

I have the Dash done. I have a couple areas to thin to live with and 3-4 small areas that will need a little more color.

I have from the Right Top curve on the Cowl across and down to the Body joint center of the Drivers door opening. Again a couple areas on each panel that will need a little additional paint.

My plan for adding paint to these areas is to use my Air brush and slightly thinner paint. I put my left over paint into two Quart Cans and filled them up to the same level they would have been in a new can of paint. So hopefully no damage to the paint in the 10 months since I got the thing painted.

Once I have the bare spots covered I will go over them with the P2000 grit I have to blend them. And then I'm going to a buffer. I really don't want a Mirror finish just something even color and smooth.

I figure how ever this turns out I will live with it. If it drives me crazy. Once CHUG is back on the road I can always repaint. Which will be so MUCH easier then coming from bare metal and filler.

I can scuff the exterior up with some 600 USA and then just mask off everything I don't need to reshoot.

The Tail Gate will be fine the way it is especially since it will be hiding behind the Tire swing and all the stuff mounted on it. The Hood looked real good so I am not sure what I will do to it yet (its been wrapped up since it dried to keep crap off it. And the Grill could come out of this color sanding pretty good as its only going to get sanded with the P2000 on the flat areas.

Maybe in a few years If I decide to reshoot it I'll have someone who knows how to do it do that. Heck the exterior of the Tub and the Hood sure can't cost much if I deliver it prepped and masked.

I never hoped for or even wanted a show car finish I always wanted just a smooth even solid Blue. So now to see if thats what I end up with.

WISH I KNEW HOW TO DO THIS CRAP.

OK at this point all the Wet sanding is done. The Right side of the hood turned out disappointing with a lot of thin areas in the curve section. I'll be laying on quite a bit of paint in this area to try to correct it.

The top of the hood save a couple spots around the hinge and along the trailing edge is pretty good.

I'm going to start with the Dash again doing the touch up painting then on to the Fenders/Tub/Windshield/Grill then last the Hood.

I'll give it a week to cure up then I'll come back with 1500 grit and smooth it in.

Then I'll see how big of mess I can create with some Blue buffing pads and some Meguiars fine cut I want to try a very unaggressive compound first I can always buy more aggressive But I am so worried about burn through and I am not ready to give in and suggest its supposed to look like that its a Patina LOL.

So I spent some of this morning carefully masking off the thin spots in the paint on the dash using torn paper held about 3/32" to 1/8" up off of the surface with little magnets. I mixed up a tiny bit of paint using 12cc syringes from the feed store and one of those little medicine cups with the graduations on it. And my first test looked really good using my Badger 250 air brush (like the cheapest you can buy not at Harbor freight LOL) And it laid on a real nice first coat. The mist is so fine (I'm running it at 40 psi and about a 3/4" wide pattern) I think just one more coat in about 10 min should be good.

The spec sht says full cure in 18 hours at 70° so I'll give it two days min before I start on it with some 1500 grit.

I think unless I end up with more thin spots blending this in I should be able to achieve a pretty even 1500 grit finish to buff out.

Soon as I get the second coat on the dash and it has time to setup a little I'll get started on the thin spots on the rest of the tub. I would really like to get all this touch up painting done today/tomorrow.

I started trying to figure out how to hang my Rock sliders on the frame. WOW the forward support on the Drivers side is a nightmare. With everything from Clutch Arm, Clutch Pivot, and Master Cylinder mounts and bolts in the way.

I think I figured out a way to build a forward support mount that will allow the Clutch Arm to pass behind it. It puts that support about 6" farther forward then I would like but its not going anywhere close to where I want it so this is a good compromise. This is the last real challenge for the Chassis assembly to deal with. I'll work on it inbetween touch up painting.