1973 C10 "The Purple Truck"

[mrk5]

Oh I forgot to finish my story. At the beginning of the previous post, I said "mostly finished". I had purchased stainless steel braided lines to put in with the new calipers but the lines I got were about 1/2 the length they needed to be, 12" instead of 24". At some point in the future I'll get longer lines and swap them in.

 

[regal403]

That sucks the powder coating is coming off already. Any chance they can be saved or do they need to be stripped and redone entirely?

 

[centexk5]

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My preference would be to do slotted only

Not sure why you went with new rotors. Your original one was slotted already.

 

[kennyw]

That sucks the powder coating is coming off already. Any chance they can be saved or do they need to be stripped and redone entirely?

Powder coat is a horrible coating for automotive applications that are not sheltered show cars. It has poor corrosion resistance in wet weather. It also fails in a spectacular fashion. Corrosion creeps under the coating unnoticed until large sections flake off.

 

[mrk5]

Powder coat is a horrible coating for automotive applications that are not sheltered show cars. It has poor corrosion resistance in wet weather. It also fails in a spectacular fashion. Corrosion creeps under the coating unnoticed until large sections flake off.

This must explain my low opinion of powder coating. I've only ever used it much on automotive applications and it frequently seems to fail.

 

[mrk5]

Not sure why you went with new rotors. Your original one was slotted already.

I never really understood why that slot was there. I think someone mentioned it was for balancing. It always made it a little bit of a pain pulling the caliper off because the pads would hang up in that slot.

On that note, when I swapped out the rotors, it was nice dealing with those super lightweight aluminum calipers not having to wrestle with the heavy cast iron stockers.

 

[82355]

On that spark plug wire, I am such a cheap ass, I just cut them where they arced through. Then I pull off the plug boot and wire end. Open the wire end back up with a screwdriver, and re crimp it!

Martin

 

[mrk5]

On that spark plug wire, I am such a cheap ass, I just cut them where they arced through. Then it pull off the plug boot and wire end. Open the wire end back up with a screwdriver, and re crimp it!

Martin

You know, you've got me thinking.....

 

[6872xtc]

This must explain my low opinion of powder coating. I've only ever used it much on automotive applications and it frequently seems to fail.

Have you had parts powder coated by an actual business, or just bought them already coated?
I have never had a properly prepped and coated part do that. We used to get the aluminum fuel tanks done locally when I worked for a wrecker service. Never saw a huge problem until there was several pitting and over 8 to 10 years of water, salt and mag chloride exposure. Still never saw large flakes.
The inner fenders and radiator supports on my 2 old trucks are still doing great.

 

[kennyw]

Have you had parts powder coated by an actual business, or just bought them already coated?

It will last longer with a power coat primer before the top coat but most aftermarket companies do not do that for the parts sold with powder coat already on them due to the extra cost.

And if you send parts to a company yourself for small batches, paint is more cost effective.

 

[mrk5]

Have you had parts powder coated by an actual business, or just bought them already coated?
I have never had a properly prepped and coated part do that. We used to get the aluminum fuel tanks done locally when I worked for a wrecker service. Never saw a huge problem until there was several pitting and over 8 to 10 years of water, salt and mag chloride exposure. Still never saw large flakes.
The inner fenders and radiator supports on my 2 old trucks are still doing great.

I've only had 1 experience with having a local company powder coat parts. That was the lower control arms on our 71 'cuda. I had come trouble with it chipping. What occurred to me then is that needing to touch up a spot isn't as easy with powder coat versus paint. Basically you have to touch it up with paint which isn't a big deal with lower control arms since no one really sees them. But I did worry about how well the coating would hold up to rock chips.

Otherwise my experience has been from buying aftermarket parts that come coated.

 

[6872xtc]

It will last longer with a power coat primer before the top coat but most aftermarket companies do not do that for the parts sold with powder coat already on them due to the extra cost.

And if you send parts to a company yourself for small batches, paint is more cost effective.

Cost wasn't a concern. Durability and less overall maintenance. We did most of our own paint work, but still did powder on the tanks and some other things.
I can't tell you if they always used a primer coat, I just know that the results were far superior to paint on all of the parts we had coated. I know one of the trucks had a million miles on it the last time that I saw it and the coating was decent considering all of the years and miles. Not saying that every company does an great job though.

Not that I believe that @mrk5 will try a local company due to my past experiences over here.
Sucks to see your wheels looking bad already.

 

[Chickntrk]

Powder coat is a horrible coating for automotive applications that are not sheltered show cars. It has poor corrosion resistance in wet weather. It also fails in a spectacular fashion. Corrosion creeps under the coating unnoticed until large sections flake off.

This has been 100% my experience, powder coated bumpers etc don’t last one winter up here in the northeast salt bed, I just chuckle when someone says get your frame powdercoated.

 

[kennyw]

This has been 100% my experience, powder coated bumpers etc don’t last one winter up here in the northeast salt bed, I just chuckle when someone says get your frame powdercoated.

If it is a show vehicle, it will last a long time. If it is driven in the bad weather, not so much.

Another thing that is a disadvantage for powder is the ability to properly coat the recesses. Powder is held in place by a static charge. As two surfaces come together with a small gap, both surfaces are the same charge and repel each other and the powder is pushed out before it cures. Then corrosion forms and spreads under the coating out of site.

 

[Chickntrk]

Kinda like when everyone did the “herculiner the world” craze, so many people soon found out that all they had was a layer of herculiner with no metal underneath because it had rusted between the layers

 

[AJMBLAZER]

...did anyone ever powdercoat their hootus?

 

[6872xtc]

...did anyone ever powdercoat their hootus?

Try Plasti-dip...
@mrk5 That may be an idea for your wheels!


Good thing you can clean out your own thread.

 

[Babaganoosh]

On that spark plug wire, I am such a cheap ass, I just cut them where they arced through. Then it pull off the plug boot and wire end. Open the wire end back up with a screwdriver, and re crimp it!

Martin

I wonder if you could butt connect the plug wire together and see if it works. Or even better put a wire nut on it.

 

[folkenheath]

Just twist it together and put one wrap of electrical tape over it, its the most reliable way to wire things that all previous owners do.


On a serious note, MSD sells wire kits where you cut and crimp one end, they come with a little plastic tool you put in your vice. So I don't see a problem with that if done correctly and its still long enough, even if you have to swap a wire or two to make it work.

 

[mrk5]

I was able to shorten the plug wire. It was easier than I expected. The repaired plug wire might still work in the same place because the shorter length might keep it from touching the header again. I only had to take 2 or 3 inches off. There's also a chance I can swap it for another wire, like #7 or #8.

These terminals are different from the others I've done. They use a dual crimp terminal so it was just a matter of opening them up and then squeezing it back together. An example image, not my work:



The wires I've done in the past have just the 1 crimp and you fold the conductor back under the crimp. I even have the ratcheting crimper tool for them. Example image, not my work.