JimmyZ

I'm surprised that nobody has come up with a roller rocker for the L-series over the years. OR has someone done it and kept it their little secret?? Can't see why it couldn't be done. Jim

Here's a page I made for someone just getting into it... http://warbuddies.homestead.com/RestoHelp.html It's not all inclusive but it should help Jim

Hi Alex, In the context of wet blasting using a standard pressure cleaner.. The size of the media determines how fast you can remove finishes. I think the soda might work OK for metal that was bare. (I'm assuming it is fine stuff.. Finer than glass beads) It would be kind of like using 400 grit paper that could reach into very small pits pockets in the metal and root things out. Regular sand would need to be used for removing paint/undercoating of course. You are going to end up using phosphoric acid after the wet blasting so reaching into pits,etc isn't as important. It was neat to see the giant air rig in one of your links. I was mailed a pot style advertisement that you used with a pressure washer. His and Herz, Thanks! I figured that making such a page might help someone. It would have helped me 20 years ago when I started playing with paint. Just curious about your wet sandblasting tryout... Was it on a Z fender or a thicker skinned part? (My 57 Chevy fenders could take anything I threw at them) Did you run your hand/palm across the fender before and after cleaning? I had a Z hood that was straight until I used my pressure pot sandblaster on both sides. When I ran my hand across it after stripping it was waaaay wavy. Had the same thing happen with a couple other spots. It's funny how sandblasting can seemingly "suck" the metal out towards you. It might be that you had a weak pressure cleaner which didn't exert too much force. Was it one of the 1500 psi/1.5GPM models. Using one of those with a 4GPM tip in your wet blaster would be fairly gentle. Maybe you found something:)

Soda blasting =$$$$ I once got a flyer for the equipment. It was pretty cool but very expensive. (Necessary for some jobs up north though) Just get two gallons of Aircraft Remover ($40-50) strip an area/ panel at a time then sandblast the rusty spots. A inexpensive siphon unit is all you need although a pot is nicer. A D/A (What you don't have one??) can remove the leftovers and speed up bodywork later. Follow up with Ospho and remove opsho after 24hrs then treat with DX520 to be sure. (This is overkill but at least nothing is coming back) Coat with epoxy primer and it's good for up to a year. You can do an entire car in two to three days with this method... I have. Took the car down to bare metal 15 years later and found only minimal sheet rust in areas. (Possibly due to Florida humidity during primer coating. This is the best you can do. The only advantage to wet blasting would be that dust wouldn't work it's way into hidden areas. You can minimize this with masking though so why not just get 'er done? 2c Jim

I had a pressure cleaning business for 12 years. I used a wet sandblasting attachment a few times. It was good for taking graffiti off stone walls. For equipment go with 3000 psi because the majorty of the market's accesories are rated for it. (hose etc) Gallons per minute are better than pressure. I knew a guy with a 1500psi/12 GPM machine that could clean circles around my 3000psi/6GPM machine. The thing to be aware of is how the pressure/media can warp thinner metals such as anything you would do bodywork on. (fenders, hood doors quarters etc) You will find that a wet blaster might only be good for heavy components such as diffs, frames and underbody. The other pain of using the suction system is when your media or feed hose interior gets wet. Suction blasters are a pain to use when the feed isn't constant. Here's a page I made for guys like us. I'm no expert but I've done a few cars and learned from mistakes. http://warbuddies.homestead.com/RestoHelp.html I liked my harbor freight pressure pot. (Air) I did find that it would warp our thin panels though. (Did hod both sides and had waves like an ocean in the metal) Used a 7hp and 5hp coupled to provide constant air pressure/cfm's to run the pot. 2c Jim

Some slop is to be expected. Wouldn't hurt to take it apart and see what's up though. I rebuilt my 4 speed a few times before chucking it. (Replaced synchro rings and bearings. Always drove it hard) Just pop open your Haynes manual and arm yourself with a GOOD set of snap ring pliers. You will cuss like a sailor w/o good S-ring pliers. I built my mainplate holder out of wood and clamped the wood in a vice. A 1x10 and a hole saw are all that you need to make the mainplate jig. Remember to avoid scratching the mainplate surfaces if U can. (Hence the use off wood) Manual tranny's are surprisingly simple to rebuild and you'll get a nice sense of accomplishment to boot. Use the manual for help on replacing your detent balls and get a few pizza boxes for holding parts. There are two bearings which can cause this. The ball bearing on the input shaft is probably due for replacement. Inside the back of the I-shaft there is a needle bearing which has it's ID running on the mainshaft. When you take it apart check out the mainshaft snout where this bearing rides. It might be chippped from the runout of the shaft. If the bearing surface is compromised then it will have to be built up and precision ground by a machine shop. For building up the shaft they should use an acetylene or plasma metal spray rig to deposit a surface with a high hardness. (I'm guessing Rockwell 50-65C should do) Surface needs to be microfinished after grinding to suit. (Machine shop should know to do this) Play resulting from slop on your mainshaft/input shaft is not good. At this point you have to ask if holding on to the old 4 speed is worth it. Once certain tolerances have run out there is no saving a manual tranny. Replacing bearings is pointless after a certain point. Five speed trannys are better built. I miss the nostalgia of the 4 speed but love the toughness/reliabilty of the 5. My 2c Jim

Just my 2c. I'm not trying to bash anyone here. The truth is that a forged part has a grain pattern which runs with the principal stress in the part. A billet part may be surface hardened by shot peening, heat treat etc but the service life will not approach that of a properly forged and prepared part. The billet's grain pattern is oriented in the direction of extrusion/casting. Nothing wrong with using billet as long as you recognize the shorter service life and regularily check/replace the part before it's too late. Don't see any beachline fractures in the closeup. Therefore this part did NOT fail from fatigue but rather overload. (MHO) That's good in that it shows the part isn't as subject to fatigue failure as one might fear. You just got "lucky" and overloaded the part. Garbage truck drivers who go from reverse to drive without stopping find this sort of thing out. A 70,000 lb truck changing directions through a shaft is a bit much for the shaft to handle. The driveshaft simply twists neatly in two like what you have. 2c Jim