Leaderboard

I'm happy to say the planks are finally done Five hours start to finish, two coats per side. Depending on the temperature, they will have to dry for around 48 hours. Starting tonight the temperature is supposed to start dropping so I probably won't do anything with the planks until this weekend.

I no longer have that ball and chain holding me back. It's amazing what I can afford now. DO NOT use this crazy idea,

Old ones off epay from a few years ago...just chromed not stainless. The ad said stainless, so i jumped on them. But they are in excellent condition so have them stripped and replated is the plan.

And done

bump-bump..............another is thrown beneath the bus

That linked thread touches on some good pointers, as the inexperienced flathead engine rebuilder might miss some details on these timing chain covers. The cover sheet metal needs to be checked for damage that needs to be corrected prior to reinstalling, as the flanges can be tweaked and the seal plane can get caved in from improper seal installation. Centering the cover seal on the crankshaft also requires care as there is some wiggle room here that can lead to leaks. I recall hearing about some seal leaks that were caused by that oil tube pointed at the seal instead of the chain sprocket, with various opinions as to how that could happen. So care needs to be exercised at each step of the rebuild, as getting in a hurry and cutting corners can lead to an expensive lesson.

Yes poor workmanship is why I pretty much do not let anybody work on my stuff anymore.

In reading over what I've written here, it does sound a bit "know-it-all". I tried to edit that out, but it still sounds that way to me. I don't mean for it to be like that, so please take it as just one person's opinion, based on some years of first-hand experience, but still limited in some ways. I have worked in both the plating and the powder coating industries, and I will say that like with other types of surface coating, the preparation stage is the determining factor for the long-term result. But the main difference in that context between these two coatings is that the constraints for a decent plating job are much tighter than with powder coating. With plating, if the surface is not clean and free of all rust or oil (even just from a touch of a clean finger tip) it will show through. With powder coating, as long as it will still conduct (electrical current), the operator can coat it with paint, and bake it on, "covering a multitude of sins". I protested, but what I saw happening every day on the powder line was parts sitting idle on the track between the wash cycle and the dryer, rusting over during lunch or break times, or during other interruptions. I didn't work a great deal on the chrome line during my years in plating work - I worked mainly in Cadmium, Copper, Nickel, and Tin, but in plating you just do not touch the surface with your hand or a glove, and steel parts are never allowed to just sit in the open air at any point after the muriatic acid bath. As for chrome, the quality of the work shows with time. A 3-stage chrome process (copper-nickel-chrome) will still be good after decades, while a single stage plating will be flaking and covered with pitted rust underneath. My 49 P15 came with an aftermarket grill guard on it. It is rusted, really badly in some areas, while the bumper is showing no rust other than where the chrome is deeply scratched. Because the current flows to the closest point, both methods require special attention in the case of recessed areas. On some custom plating jobs we had to use 'wands' to reach into those areas to coat those areas. You can try to float powder into recessed areas as well, but it's such a faster process that it can easily get really thick in the edge areas, while still not coating the internal parts. Powder coating, even on new steel, will do the same if the surface is not completely clean, which generally means sand blasting. (I built a Reece style hitch for our 93 Chrysler T&C, and I didn't get it sand blasted. It was all new steel, and it looked clean coming out of the wash cycle, and I didn't let it sit there before I coated it and ran it into the oven. For a long time it looked great, but the 'cancer' was at work under the hard powder coat. Eventually huge flakes bubbled and lifted, revealing the pitted steel. I heard that there are multi-coat processes available, but this outfit was run by people who didn't know what they were doing, and didn't want to learn. So maybe I haven't given powder coating a fair shake.)

Perhaps, we’ll start a small bail fund for your eventual incarceration. BTW, I never got locked up for my driving, but let’s just say that I am lucky to have just survived the hot rod antics of my youth.

I feel the need, the need for speed. Sorry I'll always be a lead foot. I put about 50k miles a year on the work truck, company owned, GPS tracked, so I abide. But when I am in my own ride it's A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty "Hi-yo, Silver, away!" Now I need to practice the best launch techniques, lol.

It’s kind of funny, but now that I’m old and I can actually afford fast cars and motorcycles, I just don’t want to race around anymore. I don’t want to be in a hurry. I want to be leisurely and take my own sweet time about everything, including driving. Where in my youth it was a luxury to have a hopped up V-8 and go fast, now it’s a luxury to take it easy.

This might or might not help...

This might or might not help...