On the pain issue...first ibuprofen, then naproxen sodium, then Ron Zacapa Centenario followed by a G&T
I'm kidding on the G&T
The rust-appearing stuff was, yea verily, rust. It was a present from the rats that made their home in the engine bay for a few years, thanks to the PO. There's some light pitting left after heavy wire brushing, but no corrosion, it's ready for priming and painting.
I'm researching the heat resistance of Dupli-Color Self-etching Primer (in a rattle-can), I've used it before on other projects and it really lays down a good base for the topcoat, and it's not too pricey. On top of that, I've decided to use Dupli-Color New Ford Gray engine enamel, for heat resistance. There's a thread on this forum about engine bay paint in which Dr. Ray explains why the Marathon Blue VW sprayed in there is not sort of an electric green. No connection to the company, just that the cans are easy to get at my FLAPS, and cheap.
I concluded I needed to use heat-resistant paint after that discussion. It'd be great to custom-mix a high temp color like the original, but it's the engine bay, so I'm mainly interested in something that'll last, not change color, not require a sprayer and 5hp compressor, and not cost an arm and a leg...engine enamel works for me. New Ford Gray is a nice neutral gray, and won't look out of place in my 412, I think. I'd considered black, but it'd make the engine bay look like a black hole, hard to see stuff in there.
Note that the seam sealer (that rubbery stuff) is gone...it failed around the edges in spots, and allowed rat pee up in there, so I chased the rust and decided the seam sealer had to go. I'm looking into a heat-resistant paintable replacement, I'm thinking maybe some sensor-safe (non-corrosive) high temp RTV (silicone rubber sealant) might work. I'm testing a sample plate in the oven, we'll see how it holds up after painting.
I thought of using bedliner, but the 250 deg F temps up in there kinda made me worry about it a bit.
Herr Uber...
Stoddard solvent = paint thinner
Prep-sol = wax and grease remover
. My brother had the ultimate suggestion though the other day. He looked at the centerlink while I was bead blasting it....and said....why don't you just make a new one. He proceeded to show me how the racers in the other part of the shop make theirs. A piece of 1" bar stock, thread both ends, drill the two tapered bores, simply order the two taper pins and two thread on taper pin sockets. Neat....but...its about $100 worth of parts, and unlike other cars, this centerlink exists in a very narrow space. The ends agle up, and I would have to find a way to angle up the ends or else scrape on the sub frame. But....I'm thinking of ways......
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The media won't be too tough to clean up from the garage, but I'll bet I'll be finding it in places on the Nomad for months. Next, cleaning the grit out, a final wipe with solvent, seam sealing, priming, and painting (if the humidity permits).
