Carwash Crawler - Build Thread... again.

[carwash]

So when do we find out the guess the weight winner?

when it's built you tard.

[carwash]

how many feet of tubing u think u have in it all together, i guess 600?

I hope that was a joke of a guess... Imma guess about 220 or so. I could do a rough measure i guess when i'm done.

Want one?

[jeepmanjeff]

yes I do.

Looks good but looks like it will weigh alot!!!

Much sturdier looking than my Fiberglass tub I have...bet it won't crack under pressure either...At least I hope not hahahahahah.

[carwash]

i could hook you up jeff... say the word. will be heavy yes, but i bet only about 1000 pounds more than yours. and yes, won't crack.

[jeepmanjeff]

mine weighs 4,200 wet with me in it I think...

[carwash]

well, i will probably have 1500 pounds on you then.

[carwash]

Well, my painter left about an hour ago. Had the chassis, links, couple panels, etc all electrostatically painted. Amazing process, blew me away actually. Chassis charged negative, paint charged positive, just like powder coating, but no oven and it's done on-site, with no overspray at all. It's a perfectly clean and mess free process. Should be easier to paint match as well, powercoating is a ***** to paint match in a rattle can or spray. Painter left me about a quart of extra paint as well, ready to use for touch up.

Was primed first in a standard epoxy primer. The prep work to paint took me freakin' forever. Wiped it all twice with denatured alcohol after wirebrushing the entire thing. I wanted the paint to stick well and look good.

Here are some shots of it in prime. The primer isn't that different than the actual color. Went a little darker on the paint, close to a battleship gray. This paint mfr. called it "platform gray".







The paint application is bizarre. I was expecting a fog of paint, like an hvlp gun throws, but it was more like fine paint spatter drops coming out from an odd slinging ring. It wraps right around the tube covering almost the entire tube while painting from one side.

Some shots of it painted... I was amazed at the thickness of the paint and the high gloss that it dried with.







All that is required is that the part being painted can be grounded. he did this by tying into the ground of my shop through an outlet. I also had my links, supports, crossmember, bump cans, etc painted. I rigged up a piece of hanging metal, then hung each part from it by wired. This way he only had to attach to one part and the entire rack of parts was grounded. I did the two rear inner panels the same color as the chassis as well to make the outer panel pop more. they are aluminum, so we will cross or fingers to see how well the paint holds up on them.





One more money shot of the finished paintjob. Damn I'm happy. Now for the rebuild.

[fabricator]

looks good mike
congrads

[KargoMaster]

Nice!!! That looks super, super easy... (barring prep)

you working on it tomorrow/Wed... ??
you might get a visitor/assembler.

[tjjeepjeep]

Looking great Mike!!

[mckeddie]

when i worked at honda, that is how all the cars were painted in the surfacer booth, the cars had a negative charge, guns positive. you didn't even have to aim at hte cars to paint them (line 2 was painted by people, new line was robotic). it was awesome painting in there all night, really sucked when you got the gun close to your zipper though when touching the trigger, felt like someone was ripping your pubes out.

chasis looks awesome, can't wait to see it assembled and the skins painted! great choice of colors! i love a gray chasis!

[Nuts]

How long did it take,and did he prime and paint in the same day?

[cheech]

Gary Engle taking care of business

[carwash]

Gary Engle taking care of business

Gary Engle indeed, you know him as well? I was put in touch with him by another buddy, race car guy.

[carwash]

How long did it take,and did he prime and paint in the same day?

Yes, he primed and painted same day. He got to my place at about 10 a.m. and was gone by about 2:30 latest. So, 4.5 hours, including all of his setup and cleanup.