Mack B873sx restoration

[mowerman]

56 minutes ago, 1961H67 said:

I bought a gallon, this is the brand. I have used aircraft stripper in the past, it also worked well, I don’t think any of them works as good as they used to ( probably took the “Good “ stuff out of it!) 

That seems to be the problem with most chemicals these days they made it all earth friendly now I don’t work… bob

[mowerman]

Why don’t you try steel building that’s what I did.  $9,500 for a 30 x 30 12 foot ceiling.

[mowerman]

Yes, sorry about mom‘s and your heart attack. Let’s hope this is the last one for a long long time. Also be careful.bob

[Mark T]

Sometimes with stripper, it helps to scratch into the paint with some 40 grit sandpaper.  Not so much as to sand it , but to get some deep scratches into the paint being stripped. It helps the stripper do it's thing. Espesially if there's several coats of paint to remove.

[hicrop10]

Mark T,that’s what I was going to do it really helps the stripper do it thing,considering how diluted these chemicals today are.

[mattb73lt]

I've used several different media's on my restorations. For heavier materials I'll go with actual sandblasting (frames, axles and heavy bodies like my steel deck on my B73), to glass beads on sheetmetal that's got some corrosion. If it's sheetmetal that you're looking to remove mostly paint I'll go with soda blasting. I did the entire front clip and doors on my B42 that way and the metal looked like it came right out of the presses, minus damage/dented areas. On the cab I did mostly mechanical methods, a DA sander with some heavy grit discs to remove layers of paint. Chemical is OK, I've done other vehicles that way, my '27 Model T I did that way. So it depends on what you're working with. 

Find a good dry stripper business and see what they offer. I used an Aerospace company that does dry stripping on the side that I've used on both B models for sheetmetal and aluminum parts. The B73 had a lot of aluminum castings and sheet metal they did. Most of the parts below were done by that Aerospace Parts company I mentioned.

[Nor'Easter]

One note of caution with soda, it must be neutralized before primer is applied.  This can be done with soapy water.

We use the paint stripper in some cases, have to be careful to keep it out of seams otherwise it can leach back to the primed area and lift everything off.

[hicrop10]

Well I’ve started the process.I am using a 80 grit sanding disc to get all the heavy rust off then in all the tight areas I do it by hand.I see a lot ding and small dents that I didn’t see before.

[yarnall]

Great work.  No surprise that it has soma battle scars. 

[mowerman]

Wow, nice going bud. Thanks for that…. Bob

[mattb73lt]

Nice! I did my B42 cab by sanding. A lot of work and dusty, but you'll end up with a great surface for primer.

[hicrop10]

Needs some help here.I know there are some of you that have done body and paint work.I’m basically hand sanding the cab of my b87 tractor.I have a picture of some of the sanding I’ve done,my question is am I wasting my time or am doing good.I would like to give the body and paint guy a sanded cab and fenders.Would like to save money on some of the prep work and spend it on the paint,I won’t be priming and thing so he sees what he’s getting no hidden secrets.What’s everyone thinking?

[hicrop10]

Looking for anyone that has a junk b model cab.I need about a6-8” piece of the rain gutter?

[mattb73lt]

That looks like a decent base to hand off to someone. Nothing hiding there to discover later. You'll need to spray it with something to keep the surface rust off it before he starts. I can only zoom in on a little of that gutter above the driver's door, but it doesn't look too bad and might be reworked. If the other side isn't too bad you could use it to form some short sections of round stock to fit and then use them as dollies on the other side. Weld some flat stock to them to create a handle and then use a body hammer to reform them. But, if you're sending it out, a good body man should be able to work on them. If you think they're too deformed/damaged, then some donors would be in order like you said. Soda blasting would really get that clean, in and out. The plus side of soda is that the residue it leaves on the bare metal will preserve it short term before body work starts.

[hicrop10]

Matt,here in se pa we have a restoration supply shop by the name Eastwood,great place.They have a product they claims it will prevent surface rust for up to a year.On the rain gutter if I could get 2 pieces I think that would be the quickest fix.

[mowerman]

Yes, you’re doing the right thing. No more you’re sand  the easier it’s going to be for the body shop…. Bob

[yarnall]

I have a junk B model cab that you could have the gutters if you too them off.  They are outside of Pottstown. I have not looked at in some time. Maybe they at no good. 
mike 

[hicrop10]

I will take you up on that Mike.I’ll let you know let you know when I can get out there.

[mowerman]

I realize you probably want to keep it all original but did you ever consider just eliminating them?…. Bob

[yarnall]

5 hours ago, hicrop10 said:

I will take you up on that Mike.I’ll let you know let you know when I can get out there.

I sent you my number. Mike 

[hicrop10]

When you can’t work construction due to rain you can always tell the boss you won’t be in have some real work to be done.Here’s a couple of before and after shot.

[JoeH]

Build a paint booth out of poly plastic around that thing and get a painter in there and get some primer on that cab!

Needs to be wiped down with a wax/degreaser removing solvent before priming. 

I use 2 coats of UTECH epoxy primer, and follow it up an hour later with UTECH single stage paint.  

Here's the booth I made in February in my shop to prep/paint a cab for a truck that rolled over in November.

There's a cardboard filter box attached to a ventilator fan, blowing air through poly stapled to a 2x4.  I put more filters at the discharge end of poly tube, and that caught some paint. No idea how much paint made it into the atmosphere, I was busy inside the booth while the filters were working!

The old cab is on the left, it caught a tree on its way into the ditch.

[JoeH]

The UTECH primer can be followed up shortly with paint, but if you wait more than I think a week it gets too hard for the paint to bond, so you'd have to scuff the primer down to give the paint something to stick to.

[JoeH]

You can UTECH epoxy primer that thing and stick it outside in the rain for 10 years and you want have a spot of rust on it so long as you dewaxed everything so you dont have any fisheyes in the primer, and you managed to get every bit of metal covered.

[JoeH]

Not sure what dents this cab has, I can't see any.  If you know a good body guy that could moonlight a couple hours for you filling them in/sanding them down after work then you'd be well on your way to paint.

*Dewaxing should happen right before primer and paint! Then don't touch it, the oils from your hands will transfer and cause fisheyes.