Items to Paint:
Painted and Primed:
Hood
Not being primed:
Fiberglass Fenders
Since the last update, I’ve finished stripping the hood, windshield, and bib down to bare metal. For anyone doing a restore, I do recommend removing the windshield glass. I found several pockets of forming rust on the lip. Giant Glass in Milford, MA. kindly removed the glass for me, and are custom cutting safety glass for my new windshield.
We found lots of Bondo on the hood when we were stripping it. It seems either the rust demons got to the hood once before or it was in an accident. The Bondo repair looks very well done considering steel was welded in place underneath it. The weld seems are barely noticeable. Either way, the hood is now bare steel and will be coated with two coats of POR-15, along with the Bib front and windshield frame.
I removed the radiator to POR-15 the radiator support and behind the front frame cross member. The radiator was taken to a local radiator shop (George’s in Framingham, MA) where it was pressure tested. Two cracks were found (one can be seen on the first page) and repaired. While the radiator was out, I cleaned and coated the radiator shroud with Zero Rust. I also scraped and cleaned the radiator connector to the lower radiator hose. This steel piece was fairly rusted inside and out.
That same day, I also had my old rusty wagon wheels sand blasted at Keystone Automotive in Norwood, MA. They blasted each wheel down to bare steel. I brought them home, sprayed them with Metal Ready, and painted two coats of Zero Rust over those. The other two will be done the same way once the tires are dismounted.
We’ve also completed installing the hard brake lines to the rear end. We bled the front and rear brakes and sent over 2 quarts of fluid through the lines to clean them out. We have decided to replace the hard line that travels over the rear axle next time we’re in Brighton. That line is getting pretty weak.
An update on the Molasses process will be provided shortly. Since we put the parts in two weeks ago, the liquid has solidified into a block of ice. Hopefully it will thaw soon so we can put the truck back together!
Left to Do: