Yellow Rose's Paint Job

[YellowRose]

Yellow Rose's Paint Job

I would imagine that those bumper bolts have been on there all of Rose's life. If not, pretty close to it. They were rusty, of course, and with a good shot of WD-40 on each, and a good air gun, they came off pretty well. A couple of them came out using a couple of wrenches, but the air gun was much faster. I found out that it is not smart to pick one of those bolts up after using an air gun on them. They do get hot! I also found out that I still have pretty good reflexes, because I can drop a hot bumper bolt pretty quickly still!

[Guest]

I can't wait to see what Ray comes up wiyh next. Looking Good Ray

[YellowRose]

Yellow Rose's Paint Job

Just wait til you see pix of her! I have spent much of the weekend and so far this week, working on two projects regarding Rose. One was to find a new trunk seal and I did. Bob's Bird House has one coming my way. Then I got into conversations with partsetal regarding cleaning chrome bumper bolts and hardware that has rusted up after 50 years. He suggested that I consider using a tumbler with blasting media to clean them up. Or use a wire wheel or brush. Or polishing them bumper bolt heads. I took them to see about getting them re-chromed. Florencio polished all the good ones for me and they look nice now. However, about half of them have dings, dimples or gashes in them and need to be replaced.

Does anyone know where I can get some nice original Squarebird chromed bumper bolts? I talked to some of the vendors and there is no chromed bumper bolt kit out that that they know of. I guess I can get some at one of the local auto parts store. However, the last one I bought had course threads instead of fine threads and was about a quarter of an inch longer. If I remember correctly, the square part under the head was larger than the holes in the bumper and that certainly did not help matters.

I have been working on installing a Ryobi grinder in my garage for bolt cleaning. I took the two grinder wheels off and put on a polish wheel and a wire wheel. I need to get a board cut, but my power saw is out. It, apparently, is shot. My next door neighbor will cut that board for me tomorrow. That board will be my base to mount the grinder to. I do not have a lot of room in my garage, so it will not be sticking out very far. I have to make sure I leave room to get Rose inside when she gets back home.

Yesterday afternoon, I was out buying more bumper hardware, mostly nuts, and washers. Then I decided to stop by Harbor Freight, which I had never heard of before until Carl told me about it. They have more stuff in there than you can imagine. I found the Chicago Electric Equipment tumbler I was looking for and the cleaning media. It is the round one with a green top that looks like a big pumpkin. It is made for cleaning metal, and not rocks. I loaded it up with media, and a bunch of bolts, nuts, and washers and let it do its thing for about four hours. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well it got all the rust off! Some of these pieces of hardware were really rust coated. I plan on dumping another load in and cleaning them to, though I do not need them. They are the pieces that I will not be using, but they are the originals. I am trying to get as much stainless steel hardware on the car as possible instead of the old stuff to cut back on rust.

So I am staying busy doing things I can do while they are doing things at the paint shop they do.

[YellowRose]

Bumper Bolts

It is great that we have people on our Forum who have a ton of parts available. Carl ~ partsetal, answered my email that I sent him and said this.

"In the world of bumper bolts, there are the chrome plated carriage bolt type and the stainless clad ones. In the stainless clad group there are different profiles, and the late 50's Fords had a unique one. Up until 3 years ago, you could still get them at the Ford dealer, but the list price was almost 5.00 each. They were a co**** thread bolt, and much longer than needed for our applications, but they had the correct profile. When they were no longer available, Dennis Carpenter had a bolt reproduced offshore that resembles the Ford profile and includes a nut and washer. I have these for 3.25 each. I also have used ones without dents in the head for 1.00 each, and some of the Ford ones for 4.75 each."

So, I just ordered bumper bolts from Carl.

I am having fun with my tumbler! I am on my second load of original bolts, nuts and washers. I spent the early afternoon setting up my grinder on a shelf that I made. It is well secured and will not walk off on me. This is a nice Ryobi 6" grinder with the light and will do the trick for me. Later today, I will do some cleaning of rust with the wire wheel,off some bolt threads and see how that goes.

[simplyconnected]

Ray, Harbor Freight has a "Safety" section.

Buy GOGGLES and wear them when you are anywhere around the wire wheel (and keep kids away). Even the cheap goggles will do. No, glasses are not goggles. Those little wires come out all the time and they are notorious for piercing eyes.

Do NOT wear gloves when using the grinder/wire wheel. They can easily snag and the spinning wheel will pull your hand in. These tools are wonderful and work real well when used safely.

If you ever need to polish stainless, the buffing wheel needs to spin 3,600 rpm, and the part needs to heat enough to melt the polishing compound. - Dave

[YellowRose]

Yellow Rose's Paint Job

Hi Dave!

Thanks for the safety tips! Yes, they have quite a lot of things in the safety section. In fact, that place is loaded with stuff from top to bottom! I did buy a full face shield, instead of goggles. It was only like a buck more. I figured it was a better way to go. Just flip it down in front of my face and I dont think it will get in the way of my glasses.

I got a good set of leather gloves, but won't wear them running the grinder. Thanks for that tip. I don't think I would have worn them anyway, but it is good to know what can happen if you have them on. Thanks for the tip on polishing stainless. I think that Ryobi will spin at 3,600rpm, as I recall. I dont have any stainless to clean now, but I will keep that in mind.

[DKheld]

Ray - been so busy trying to get my garage in order don't think I "offically" said how sorry I was to hear about Rose playing chicken with the truck and loosing but have followed it in the posts. Looking much better now and like everyone else can't wait for the outcome - I'm sure it will be as spectacular as the interior.

On the Harbor Freight tools - they are pretty cheap but the quality is only average. I have a saws-all (Chicago Tools) from Harbor that has worked great on the other hand I have a grinder - same brand - and the handle is already broken plus after about 3 times using it the brushes wore out. I went in and asked for a set of replacement brushes and may as well have asked for a thermonuclear detonator. Had to make a set to fit it but they worked and the grinder is still grinding.

Good luck on finding those bumper bolts - is there an interchange for like a Galaxie, truck, or some other Ford product that uses the same bolt - maybe you would have better luck asking some of the used parts suppliers for bumper bolts if you could give them a few different models to pull from?

Eric
registry 5347

[YellowRose]

Yellow Rose's Paint Job

Hi Eric!

I have been keeping up with what you have been doing also! Thanks for the info on Harbor Freight. I like this Chicago tumbler! I just did my second load of hardware and will open it up in a bit to see what they look like. It ran for nearly 6 hours this time.

As for bumper bolts, probably most of the Ford/Lincoln/Mercury/Edsels made back in that time period use the same bumper bolts, I would suspect. However, partsetal has what I am needing, so I am getting a supply from him. Those that I have that are in good condition except for rust on the bolts will get a turn on the wire wheel later tonight. The other ones that have damaged heads I will probably just throw away.

[troubsullivan]

hey ray, that tumbler sounds like a good deal. what else (and how big) can you throw in there besides nuts and bolts? i assume it is a dry unit and greasy bits would be a no go?

[YellowRose]

Yellow Rose's Paint Job

Hey Troub! Yes, it is a dry unit, not meant for wet or water based media, or rock tumbling. It is strictly a metal tumbler. It is meant for removing rust, burrs, or polishing small parts. Also for removing grease or other contaminants. I am using the small green pyramid shaped plastic media made for this machine. It is a Chicago Model 93252. It is only meant for small parts, and no more than 5lbs of stuff in there, including the media. You fill the bowl 2/3's full of media and then put your parts in there. I am really pleased with how it has been taking off 50 years of rust off the bumper hardware and other parts. You can run it from 2-6 hours. I ran it for 5 hours the last time. Here is a pic of it.

[ncbird]

harbor freight

I have been dealing with Harbor Freight for over 28 yrs. I actually met the two gentlemen who own it several years ago at the Miami Boat show. I say gentlemen because at that time they had to be in their mid 70's. I have a HF around the corner from where I work and it is like a magnet...the truck goes by HF and starts to pull to that side. I tend to stay away from their electrical items although the tumbler is something I wouldnt have a problem buying. Mostly I use things that are non-electrical such as my 12ton press, cherry picker, media blast cabinet, English wheel etc. I have bought a lot of bottle jacks from them as well as consumables. Shipping can be an issue if you dont have one locally. Grant

[troubsullivan]

thanks ray and grant! i have a HF locally and have been interested in a media blasting cabinet for a while although i think the tumbler you have ray would be a cool garage addition as well! grant, has your cabinet worked well for you and what size air compressor are you running?
thanks again,
pat

[YellowRose]

Yellow Rose's Paint Job

While I have been busy ordering a new trunk seal and bumper bolts, they have continued prepping Rose for painting. The doors will be coming off next and the interior sealed. They will paint the inside doors, trunk interior, trunk lid and hood first, is my understanding. We are getting there...

http://thunderbirds.fortunecity.com/My59TbirdPaintJob.htm

[ncbird]

love it

I love my cabinet. It is an older one and they dont offer it any more. Mine has doors on either side for loading which I wanted so I could reach through to pull heavy items in. If it didnt have that I think I would have to look at one where the top opens. Mine has a different gun then the new ones so I cant say how the new ones work but mine works great. Eastwood offers a gun that looks like mine (probably what mine is a knock off of) that fits HF cabinets. I have a 5 HP 175psi 80gal compressor that I use for it and my "outside" blaster. I am now coveting the little tumbler for the shop and small parts.

[YellowRose]

Yellow Rose's Paint Job

Here are the pix I took of the chrome yesterday and last night. They are not the best pix because I find chrome hard to take pictures of without making them look somewhat black..

http://thunderbirds.fortunecity.com/My59TbirdPaintJob.htm