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Thanks Chip --- But I don't know how good a teacher I'd make since I'm learnin' all this as I go myself. If I could pass anything on to kids today, it would be an unbounded sense of curiosity combined with the willingness to do the work necessary to figure things out. Easy answers aren't nearly as much fun.

Tango,

Did you ever get your air cleaner location worked out?

Ed

That thing is Sweeeeeeet. Great Job

Thanks Gregg. Just saw that beauty you put together. Absolutely perfect for what you are doing. Sweeeet!

Ed --- Still putzing around with the air cleaner thing. Have not found a unit that will adapt well. Saw a home built over on a 4x4 forum made out of cake pans and rivets that really kicked it. Just might steal his idea. But the flow rate has to be right and it has to seal up properly, so fabbing one can be tricky. AT least the one I saw was made for a 3.9 Cummins, so the filter should be right. The builder is one seriously talented dude. I wound up reading his entire build thread.

Here is the "cake pan" conversion...

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/tow-...e-wc53-tow-rig-vintage-airstream-33.html

Howdy All --- been a while but I'm still at it. Just finished prepping my window openings for new glass that will go in tomorrow. Lots of little stuff done here and there including getting my E Brake and tranny cables hooked up. All custom made $tuff of course. As usual...new pix in my Flickr Album.

Got Glass! --- All new Low E glass all around and you can even see through it! Quite a change from the old, chipped, frosty stuff. Been (slowly) working at stripping the paint from the roof and rain gutters on this thing using wire brushes on my 4-1/2 and 7" grinders. A major PITA since some moron decided water based latex house paint was a brilliant idea. It was not. The multiple layers are a bear to get off (where it isn't already flaking off) and where it is off (surprise!) ...is rust. Water on metal is never a good idea. Even Detroit is having fits with the new EPA friendly, water based primers. Been going through wire brushes at an alarming rate. Stuff wont sand (plugs it up)...flap disks eat too much metal...and stripper pads are expensive and get chewed up quickly with all the exposed nuts, bolts and screws on this relic. Still having to use a little liquid stripper here and there but trying to keep it to a minimum. Hate that stuff and typically burn the crap out of myself with it not to mention what it does to your lungs.

Oh well, back to work.

Have you tried soda blasting the paint off? The baking soda removes paint but does not harm the metal below.

I haven't used it, but I don't restore stuff either. ;-)

Cheers, Dean

I have heard really bad things about soda blasting from a few hard core builders. It gets into every nook & cranny and is next to impossible to remove so that when the paint goes on...it does not reach the metal. It holds moisture like crazy and starts rusting those areas badly. There are other media that are better/safer but I can't relocate the bus at this time to a facility big enough to handle it anyway.

Here's a blurb about plastic bead blasting that might be a viable option: VCCA forum post about plastic bead blasting

Cheers, Dean

Plastic beads have gotten really good reviews with the builders I know around here. Just wish I could move this monster to a facility that does it.