Cleaning solvent / grease remover paint prep questions

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PostPosted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:31 pm
Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha...................... :roll: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:



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PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:27 am
dude.is that a datsun your painting.whats your motivation.just kidding.i guess everybody needs a little love.good luck.



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PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 8:24 am
edp,

I use Simple Green alot to clean my nasty, greasy finger and hand prints off of fork trucks after fixing them. With some work, it should substitute for the car wash step that ODG recommended, then the enamel reducer, Prep Sol or whatever.

I think the lacquer thinner is not used because it is too "hot" for an enamel surface, but I may very well be way off on this.

When using Simple Green, let it set a few minutes then wipe it off. You will be better off with paper towels because you will use a lot of them. You will take it off first, then soak it again and use a fresh towel to get the remaining residue. It will be slow, but probably not as slow as it would be to "drive" that car to the car wash.

BTW, my curiosity is killing me! What kind of car IS that?

Good luck,
Doc
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:44 pm
edp wrote:I've used a TSP "no rinse" substitute a lot in interoir painting wall prep - stuff work's the best of anything I've found at removing tobacco staining on wall (the absolute worst thing to paint over, sharpie marker's a close second).

works very well on greasy kitchens & slimy bathrooms, sounds glamorous huh!

Maybe I'll try both, simple Green & TSP.



An aside, I've done a lot of house and apartment painting in my lifetime, and I have used Kilz and Zinnser primers over grease, dirt, tobbaco, anything that needs covering, in old abused apartments, and it covers and sticks to everything. It is so much more opaque than any paint, or anything like that crappy "first coat" they sell for virgin drywall. This flies in the face of what my old "helper" used to say- "Primer is ****." He never understood paint at all, and he wasn't much of a helper, either.

I helped rehab an apartment that somebody had smoked in for 50 years. I swear, he must have smoked in the shower. Well, the landlord had wanted a "cheap plastic" chandelier removed so he could put a nicer one in to show the apartment. When I took it down, it was **** heavy. I polished one of the chrystals, and it was in fact a very beautiful chrystal chandelier! He cleaned it up, polished the gold, and had me put it back up.

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:29 am
Skymortar, MBDiagMan & Eddie,
I knew eventually someone would ask the "WTF" question, "why'd he want to do that??".

To satisfy the curiosity of all the car is a 1973 Datsun 1200 coupe. My motivation was spurred on one day at the gas pump while filling my 02 GMC Savanna to the tune of $85 bucks for a tank @ about 12 to 13 mile a gallon. Pretty piss poor mileage performance & my 74 Ford camper special with a 460 does even worse.

Here are a few examples of 1200 Coupe's, obviously not mine (this one below has dual SU's on it if you look close):
Image

Image


So I started remembering my old Datsun 1200 when I was 18 and that it got about 38 miles a gallon (cost about 10 dollars to fill up then) and was fairly peppy, very light weight (about 1600 lbs. soaking wet) and handled well. So I went on the hunt, found one, of course it turns out to be about one of the damned hardest cars to find parts for, panels are impossible, I can still get a few new factory parts from Nissan but very hard to come by. Look up a string from "Drive by Shine" about his new Toyota truck and you'll see his old truck is the Aussie version of my car in a Ute. they still make that Ute for South Africa.

I've got a mildly built 1200 cc motor with a single side draft weber, that will go in it when it's finished. I've got a dual side draft manifold that I may play with as well after the single. In this process I realized that it's more interesting to me to try and make 130 to 150HP with a 1600 lb. car and still get decent fuel economy then if I go buy a Camero or Mustang and build a 400HP motor. Now don't get me wrong I think my next project will be a 69 or 70 AMX, I like big motors too. Before that I want to strip and repaint my 74 Kawasaki H1 triple I've been dragging around for close to 20 years.

So the answer is, I wanted an economical, interesting, peppy, simple daily driver other then my Savanna and this is where I ended up. I also have always wanted to learn body work and paint and I figured a small car to start with was better then some land yacht.

MBDiagMan, interesting that you mention lift trucks, I spent 10 years working for Clark Forklift in Seattle selling material handling equipment, not too many people in that business, are you a service tech for a major line or an independent? when Clark factory filed Chapter 13 in 2000 I left and went full time into real estate investment and renovation work.

Sounds like Eddie has seen his share of slimy bathrooms and crap apartments/houses after tenants leave as well. I use Kilz oil base Shellac as well, covers great over most really nasty surfaces but I still try and clean the slime with the no rinse TSP stuff first. The tobacco stains really bleed through otherwise, it'll look good for a while then ooze thought the paint ans start running down the wall, it's a nice image huh! :wink:

At any rate it's been an interesting process so far and I'm enjoying it and I guess that's what it's really about. I look forward to the day I get to apply paint, hopefully in the spring I'll be there. Probably just like a lot of you guy's you get sick and tired of what you do daily and this project helps deal with the monotony of regular work.

Like ODG's new fishing business, what was that name again "Moldy Charters" ? :lol:

Thanks you guy's for all the info and time you're willing to share, it's much appreciated!



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PostPosted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 7:15 pm
These are probably pretty good little cars.

In the early seventies I had a Datsun 2000 roadster. That was a really great car for it's time. It ran like a bat out of he!!, but the drivetrain had no durability at all. If you drove it spiritedly, the engine and transmission were good for about 35,000 miles. The engine needed everything except bottom end bearings and crank regrinding at that mileage and the transmission was like a motorcycle transmission with dogs instead synchronizers, so they were all rounded off and the transmission needed almost everything.

The car was so much fun to drive though, I searched out an engine/transmission and rebuilt them so they would be ready to go in at 70,000 miles. I never got to put them in once my brother in law wrapped the car around a telephone pole.

I talked to a few other 2000 roadster enthusiasts who said they had the same experience.

Hopefully the little 1200 is a little more long lived.
Doc
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 10:27 pm
MBDiagMan,

I'll probably be a lot nicer to it then when I was younger and drive it like normal guy instead of the fast and furious crowd (although I have been thinking about a turbo as well). These little engines can stand a lot of abuse, they rev high and have a pretty strong bottom end. they will overheat and blow gaskets / crack heads in not careful, I learned that one the hard way.

It should be a fun car when I'm done, thanks for the encouragement!

I always wanted a Fairlady roadster, those are great cars. Their also way easier to get parts for then 1200's.



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PostPosted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 11:23 pm
wasnt busting on the old datsun.everyone has their quirks.i play with remote control boats,helicopters and planes.now im running ho trains around my 1 year old sons room hoping HE thinks they're cool.best of luck.



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PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:13 am
edp wrote:MBDiagMan,

I'll probably be a lot nicer to it then when I was younger and drive it like normal guy instead of the fast and furious crowd (although I have been thinking about a turbo as well). These little engines can stand a lot of abuse, they rev high and have a pretty strong bottom end. they will overheat and blow gaskets / crack heads in not careful, I learned that one the hard way.

It should be a fun car when I'm done, thanks for the encouragement!

I always wanted a Fairlady roadster, those are great cars. Their also way easier to get parts for then 1200's.



Yes, the bottom ends, meaning crankshaft and bearings, were quite strong. What REALLY wore out fast on the 2000 engines were cylinders, pistons, rings, valve guides, valves and the valve train in general.

I drove mine fast, but I did not over rev it, or give it anything but proper maintenance including my oil change fanaticism. It may very well be that the 1200 is the same basic engine and will hold up better due to less stress due to less power generated.

Being the carnut that I am and have always been (almost 59 years worth,) I respect anyones choice as their toy car. It's the enthusiasm for whatever car a person chooses that makes them a fellow carnut. Enjoy!
Doc
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 11:23 am
no offense taken skymortar, I knew that someone would eventually ask what it was and why I'd choose it and frankly part of the appeal is because it's fun having something completely different then the norm.

My 8 yr. old daughter likes to get out my suitcase of 35 yr. old HO trains and goof with them. It's a hell of a lot better to let them see you flying RC helo's, playing w/trains and rebuilding Datsuns then have them see you on the couch staring at TV or computer games.

I've always been fascinated with cars yet there's never been enough time or money to pursue it properly. Now at my advanced age (43) I can squander a few dollars easier then before on obscure cars projects and I'm enjoying it. 8)
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