ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[MadeByMiller]

Just brilliant Mike! Could not ask for a better outcome.

 

[Bob Heine]

Mike, you do realize your repairs stand out. Your spot welds are finished/invisible, there's no orange peel and that clear is forever going to polish so much better than factory. No one outside your immediate family (and everyone on the Garage Journal) will notice.

 

[mmsheb]

Mike - Congrats on selling that beautiful bike. I expect the buyer was thrilled to see the fantastic condition it was in. I'm sure it was bittersweet for you as is selling most anything that you have touched. I'm trying to imagine how it will be for me to sell the classic car that I've owned and cared for since March of 1973 - that's over 49 years of ownership. I'm trying to decide when the right time is for me to part with it, and how to actually proceed.
Mike in WI

 

[zmotorsports]

Just brilliant Mike! Could not ask for a better outcome.

Thank you. Overall I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out. I have struggled with blending silvers and grays in the past so I was pretty nervous, especially with just how much back masking I had to do in order to get a good blend on the clear without having to clear half the Jeep.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, you do realize your repairs stand out. Your spot welds are finished/invisible, there's no orange peel and that clear is forever going to polish so much better than factory. No one outside your immediate family (and everyone on the Garage Journal) will notice.

Thank you Bob. I was very pleased with the way his 2002 Duramax turned out with the blends and the paint correction but to be honest, I was sweating this one. I don't think I am as good as Robert (MP&C) or Randy (TimeWarpF100) in terms of paint & body work but I am happy with it. I HATE doing paint & body work these days and I just don't do it enough to really be good at it but I do my best.

Thanks for following along Bob.

 

[Jayman17]

Mike, congrats on selling your bike and that bodywork looks amazing. We have been dealing with wildfire smoke around my area the last few days. I could actually see ash falling yesterday.
Let’s hope it clears out soon for both of us.

Jay

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, congrats on selling your bike and that bodywork looks amazing. We have been dealing with wildfire smoke around my area the last few days. I could actually see ash falling yesterday.
Let’s hope it clears out soon for both of us.

Jay

Thanks Jay. Between the paint work on the Jeep coming to an end and selling the bike I actually can feel the stress off my shoulders today.

We are supposedly getting rain over the next 2- days so I hope it clears the air out, although it actually isn't nearly as bad as the last two years during the summer months/fire season. This is really the first bit of smoke we've had here all year long thus far so I shouldn't complain.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my projects.

 

[RickP]

I HATE doing paint & body work these days and I just don't do it enough to really be good at it but I do my best.

For someone who doesn't "do it enough to really be good at it," it looks pretty close to perfect! Even if you hate riding that bicycle, you certainly didn't forget how to ride it! Really nice job on those rust repairs.

 

[zmotorsports]

For someone who doesn't "do it enough to really be good at it," it looks pretty close to perfect! Even if you hate riding that bicycle, you certainly didn't forget how to ride it! Really nice job on those rust repairs.

Thank you. I used to enjoy paint & body work when I had a "dirty" environment in which I could perform the work at my parent's farm. However, in 2012 we tore the buildings and homes down and I lost my "paint shop" so I pretty much quit doing paint & body work other than a few personal projects. I think one of the things that made it enjoyable was being able to walk to a row of shelves and grab the exact gallon of primer or reducer without having to dig through boxes to find the right one. Plus being able to have all of that sanding dust and paint overspray everywhere and not worry too much about it. I told myself I would never paint in either of my last two shops and so far in over 30 years I have been able to stand by that.

Between my son's Duramax a month ago and now his Jeep although most of the work was able to be accomplished inside the shop, when it came time to actually grab the spray gun to lay down a coat of primer or the actual paint we pushed it outside and therefore had to wait for the ideal conditions which sometimes is hard to set a schedule to and I like schedules.

I think those are the main reasons I despise paint & body work so much. I also think I am a better mechanic than I am a body and paint guy.

Thanks for the comments and I appreciate you following along.

 

[zmotorsports]

The last pictures of my son's WJ after we polished it out and put it all back together last night.

My DIL stopped by as we were unmasking it after polishing and she kept going on and on about how "you can't even see where the rust was nor where you painted it." I told her I thought that was the highest compliment as that is exactly what we were after.

I just ran a little 2000-grit wet sandpaper over the blend areas then moved on to the 3-step polishing using my small Milwaukee micro-polisher and it worked great for these tight areas. The blend is seamless and no detection of where the clear was blended nor the color.















Next time we throw it on the lift I will touch up the wheelwells a bit with some bed liner and black paint but other than it is done.

I am pleased that now all of his vehicles are mechanically and cosmetically sound. We were able to get his 2002 Duramax touched up and the paint correction completed last month and now his Jeep so last night we officially put the remainder of the paint & body supplies away and I hope to not have to get them back out in a very long time.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Dodge]

That looks Great. I have done that kind of work and know how difficult it can be to have a blend like that. Especially with Silver!!!
And also, you don't do it every day! Awesome job with everything!!

 

[zmotorsports]

That looks Great. I have done that kind of work and know how difficult it can be to have a blend like that. Especially with Silver!!!
And also, you don't do it every day! Awesome job with everything!!

Thank you, I appreciate the comments. My hat is off to those who deal with paint & body work every day. I will stick to having a wrench or welder in my hand vs. a paint gun.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike - Congrats on selling that beautiful bike. I expect the buyer was thrilled to see the fantastic condition it was in. I'm sure it was bittersweet for you as is selling most anything that you have touched. I'm trying to imagine how it will be for me to sell the classic car that I've owned and cared for since March of 1973 - that's over 49 years of ownership. I'm trying to decide when the right time is for me to part with it, and how to actually proceed.
Mike in WI

Mike, I'm sorry I missed this comment yesterday. I appreciate the comments and for taking the time to follow along.

WOW! You've owned your car for 49 years? That is impressive. Wish I could be of help on when would be the best time for selling. I would say exactly the opposite of everything I have sold over the years. My timing usually *****. The bike for example should have been on the market in the spring when my son sold his. His was only listed for a day when it was sold and the guys that came and bought my son's were also drooling over mine but I informed them it wasn't for sale. At that time I was still thinking I was going to continue to ride and we were actually planning on a trip to Teton NP with some friends so selling was not on my mind. However, maybe my son's sold so quickly because it was spring and people were just getting the riding bug for the year or maybe it was because the inflation really climbed and people had a bit more disposable income available earlier in the year. Regardless, I think I waited too long to sell mine as I was just about to pull it from the market and keep it rather than deal with any more assholes trying to low ball me before they even saw the bike. I am very pleased that it seemed to go to a good home though and the guy seemed to realize what he was getting.

 

[gearhead1960]

Mike, your attention to detail and quality far surpasses most body shops in my opinion. Even the seams on the Jeep look better than when they came out of the factory.. . Keep up the good work. You always have a second career to fall back on if your 1st one doesn't work out....

 

[mmsheb]

Thanks, Mike.
For timing, I plan to sell in the spring but I'm not sure which year! It's an MG TD roadster and it seems like the ideal time (just like with selling a motorcycle). I went to a Cars & Coffee in Elkhart Lake this past Saturday and it sure looked good to me (and I think to others) plus the drive to and from the event was perfect!
Mike in WI

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, your attention to detail and quality far surpasses most body shops in my opinion. Even the seams on the Jeep look better than when they came out of the factory.. . Keep up the good work. You always have a second career to fall back on if your 1st one doesn't work out....

Thank you Mark. I really appreciate the kind words. It's nice to have a Plan B.

Thanks, Mike.
For timing, I plan to sell in the spring but I'm not sure which year! It's an MG TD roadster and it seems like the ideal time (just like with selling a motorcycle). I went to a Cars & Coffee in Elkhart Lake this past Saturday and it sure looked good to me (and I think to others) plus the drive to and from the event was perfect!
Mike in WI

Sounds like a fun car Mike. A couple of years ago my wife and I took our bike to cars & coffee at a local place a few times and I actually kind of enjoyed those. They've started back up again but the local coffee house has new owners and when we drove by a couple of weekends ago it all that was there were the slammed imports with their fart cans for mufflers so it didn't get me excited about going again. Good luck with the sale when you decide to let her go.

 

[Mr.zippy]

Thank you, I appreciate the comments. My hat is off to those who deal with paint & body work every day. I will stick to having a wrench or welder in my hand vs. a paint gun.

Agreed! Body work is the magic I do not "get", nor will I ever I suspect! Fantastic work as always Mike!

 

[zmotorsports]

So last night I with the shop back in mechanical mode and before the sky opened up, I pulled the Jeep into the shop and racked it to give it a good once over.

I started by removing the air filter for cleaning. It actually looked pretty good as I cleaned it when I did the full service just before our annual Ouray/Silverton trip and the trails were not very dusty at all this year but I figured I would clean it anyways. Gave the rest of the engine bay a looking over while I was there and double checked fluids.


Air filter cleaned and drying before re-oiling. The key to these open element filters is not to over-oil them. I cannot begin to tell you how many of these things I see that the owners think that if a little oil is good then a lot must be great.


Just after I came back into the shop from rinsing the air filter I heard a pretty good clap of thunder and turned around as the sky opened up. We've needed some rain for a while and between the rain last night and the mid-70 degree temperatures it was very pleasant working in the shop last night.


I only had a little over a thousand miles on the odometer since the last service prior to our Ouray/Silverton trip but we also drug it along about 900-miles behind the coach so I thought I would rotate the tires again. I have been trying to rotate this particular set of tires about every 2k miles vs. the last set at every LOF service which was around 4k~ish. The lugs are a bit larger on these so I thought I would try rotating them twice as often and so far they are wearing fantastic.


Tires going back on after giving the chassis and undercarriage a good visual inspection and checking suspension joints and steering.




After setting the Jeep back down on the ground and torqueing the lugnuts to spec. I pushed it back from the lift and checked a few more items before closing up the shop for the night as I didn't realize how late it was getting.


Just before going in I snapped a picture of the shop with the rain clouds in the background. The rain had slowed by this time but it had kept it up pretty good for a few hours.



Thanks for looking.

 

[Dodge]

Do you still have your White Crew Cab? You must keep it in the attached garage?

 

[zmotorsports]

Do you still have your White Crew Cab? You must keep it in the attached garage?

Yes, I do. We still have our 2006 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax and my wife's Acura TL which are usually accompanied by the Jeep Wrangler in the attached house garage.

My son's red 2002 Duramax 2500HD was in the shop because he drove his Jeep WJ home the other night after putting it back together. He had planned on detailing it at his home garage and then will come back and pick up his Duramax one night this week.



Now for a teaser. When I mentioned to the wife a couple of months ago that I was contemplating selling the Harley, we had a deep discussion about what to replace it with, or even IF we will replace it with something. You'll have to stay tuned for news on that front......

 

[customh]

Now for a teaser. When I mentioned to the wife a couple of months ago that I was contemplating selling the Harley, we had a deep discussion about what to replace it with, or even IF we will replace it with something. You'll have to stay tuned for news on that front......

Maybe a Corvette would fit nicely? It's a guess and I'll admit I don't think it's a good one.

 

[PugetDude]

Now for a teaser. When I mentioned to the wife a couple of months ago that I was contemplating selling the Harley, we had a deep discussion about what to replace it with, or even IF we will replace it with something. You'll have to stay tuned for news on that front......

You can’t just leave that there.

 

[zmotorsports]

Maybe a Corvette would fit nicely? It's a guess and I'll admit I don't think it's a good one.

No Corvette for me Travis. I almost purchased one from my friend and mentor back in 2017 when I was building my shop. This was the same friend and mentor that in 2016 I had purchased my HD Ultra Classic CVO from that I just sold. He had a C6 Vette that he had been playing with for a few years and was bored with it so we struck up a deal but the caveat was that I would purchase it as soon as my shop was completed. Unfortunately, he passed away shortly after we had this discussion and the car went to his grandson, so that wasn't meant to be. I have always liked Vette's but more admired them for their engineering and performance aspects but not necessarily what I wanted so looking back it was probably a good thing I didn't buy it. It was more of a "would be nice" to have but not what I ultimately wanted as I have another that has been more of a lifelong love affair with.

If I were looking to put a car on a track or race then I would probably lean more towards a Vette but these days I'm more of a leisurely touring guy plus I'm a bit of a bigger guy and we just aren't all that comfortable in a Vette.

You'll have to stay tuned for what may or may not come to fruition...

 

[zmotorsports]

You can’t just leave that there.

Oh yes I can Scott. I'm not saying anything more until I make up my mind for sure in case I chicken out.

 

[Mr.zippy]

Wow! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us, I mean you!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Tri-Five or a Nova perhaps?

 

[zmotorsports]

Tri-Five or a Nova perhaps?

I'm not gonna lie Marc, there are times I wish I had my old '55 Bel Air still so that I could build it. That was one that I sold before I had the opportunity to build but would have been a sweet ride.

 

[customh]

You'll have to stay tuned for what may or may not come to fruition...

I maintain that if it's "replacing" the bike it's got to have a way to put sun on your noggin so maybe a 'vert Camaro? (ZL1 obviously)

 

[zmotorsports]

I maintain that if it's "replacing" the bike it's got to have a way to put sun on your noggin so maybe a 'vert Camaro? (ZL1 obviously)

ZL1's are too rich for my budget and I'm not a convertible guy, I have our Jeep to scratch that itch.

I probably shouldn't have mentioned the teaser because it is just bouncing around in mine and the wife's heads at this point. I have a ****-ton of work promised out that I need to get done before I get too awfully serious.

 

[Finallygotit]

I'm not saying anything more until I make up my mind for sure in case I chicken out.

************!

 

[Boosted1]

Your son's Jeep turned out beautiful.
Come on, spill the beans! What's next?

 

[gearhead1960]

I got it…..Hummer EV

 

[zmotorsports]

************!

You're on to me Dan.

Your son's Jeep turned out beautiful.
Come on, spill the beans! What's next?

Thank you but sorry, not saying anything more until I get the fencepost out of my *** and make a decision.

I got it…..Hummer EV

It will definitely NOT be anything EV, that you have my word on.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Yup, gonna be a SideXSide! Still gets some bugs in his teeth and get to eat all the dust you can stand bringing up the rear in that 20 unit Conga line they all love!

 

[rattle_snake]

Understood that you'll share when you are ready, if that is the case.

but,

To have a bit of fun, I came up with a list of possible 'leisurely cruising' type machines
-Prevost x3-45 Coach
-Slingshot w/ trailer
-light aircraft of some type
-Rat rod
-Floating money pit (aka boat).
-Tube chassis buggy

 

[Seagoon]

Understood that you'll share when you are ready, if that is the case.

but,

To have a bit of fun, I came up with a list of possible 'leisurely cruising' type machines
-Prevost x3-45 Coach
-Slingshot w/ trailer
-light aircraft of some type
-Rat rod
-Floating money pit (aka boat).
-Tube chassis buggy

I hope you are a long way from Mike's place 'cos you will definitely have rattled his cage with that list

 

[zmotorsports]

You are HILARIOUS Justin......

And for the record see my reactions in BLUE.

Understood that you'll share when you are ready, if that is the case.

but,

To have a bit of fun, I came up with a list of possible 'leisurely cruising' type machines
-Prevost x3-45 Coach Actually I am more fond of the XLII or X3 personally.
-Slingshot w/ trailer Not my cup of tee.
-light aircraft of some type Afraid of flying (heights in general).
-Rat rod Like the concept but just don't appeal to me. Not "finished" enough for my liking.
-Floating money pit (aka boat). HELL NO!!!!!! Never again....
-Tube chassis buggy Thought about it several years ago, however, it would be similar situation to having the powersports that we got rid of and having to trailer them to the trails and break camp. Our JKUR gives us the perfect balance of off-road ability yet drive to the trails and back as well as tow across country for sightseeing.

 

[zmotorsports]

Last night after arriving home and opening the shop I thought I would hurry and fix our lawnmower. Hurry being a relative term these days as it seems nothing I seem to do is ever fast, even though that is the original intentions.

Our 31 year old Snapper 21" walk behind mower developed an issue when I ran around the lawns on Wednesday evening.

For a 31 year old mower she's still in excellent condition but things happen.


As I was mowing the other night the drive lever got jammed and when I looked down I noticed the hole had a blowout where the pin resides. I had looked online and found that this drive lever is available aftermarket for around $13-$16 dollars but they are slightly different and I wanted the OEM one with the vinyl sleeve.


Upon disassembly last night I quickly learned that it was not just the lever, the pin also was about to fail with a massive groove worn into it.


No worries, I have a welder. I knocked the zinc coating off of a small washer about the same thickness as the lever, which was .050" and set to weld the washer to the underside. There was just enough room available between the bushings in the handle and the inside dimension of the lever to allow this.


After TIG welding the washer to the underside of the pivot, I welded a small bead around the outside to build back some material for finishing as well as to ensure the washer was fully fused to the parent material.


After a light amount of metal finishing it almost looks original.


Next was to address the pin's wear.


I turned the amperage up just a little and burned a deep pass around adding filler material to stand proud of the pin's diameter and allow enough material to be cleaned up in the lathe.


Test fitting and ensuring everything works freely with no binding. Perfect action.


A little touch-up paint from a rattle can and it looks original.


Probably would have been much cheaper to just buy one but it wasn't too bad and only took me about 45-minutes start to finish.


Thanks for looking.

 

[zmotorsports]

Thought I'd show my latest tool purchase. I know, I know, but the sky isn't falling. Yes that is a new digital welding helmet that I bought.

As many of you know I don't particularly care for battery tools and I already had a Miller Big Window Elite helmet that my son and wife gave me for father's day about 10+ years ago, however, I have read and saw reviews on the new Lincoln Viking 3350 that people love the viewing optics and the headgear so I thought I'd give one a try. The Miller helmet works nicely but I don't particularly care for the headgear. I generally just use my old Huntsman and Jackson fixed shade helmets that I have set up for TIG and MIG (shade's 9 and 10 respectably) but while working on my son's WJ over the past couple of weeks and having all of those small tack welds I found myself using my Miller helmet rather than flipping my fixed shade helmet up and down every tack. Plus when working in tight spaces like wheel wells or under chassis I have found the digital helmets are nice to be able to set up in position and not have to flip the hood down and back up.

I am also a loyal Blue (Miller) fan to admit that Lincoln was getting some of my hard earned money was also difficult.

Here is my new Lincoln Viking 3350-4 which is the fourth generation of their 4C optics.




I love the headgear. It is so comfortable and with all of the adjustability I am able to adjust it exactly for my noggin'.


After getting the mower completed and while waiting for the wife to arrive home from work I set forth in cleaning the shop. It got a good detail around the equipment then a full sweep and lastly I grabbed my extended air nozzle and starting at the back corners, I blew the entire shop out. Even though we did the priming, painting and most of the sanding outside, I was surprised at just how much dust got into the shop and how filthy it was. Just solidified why I will never paint in my shop.



At least the shop is back to organized work mode and I can move forward with other projects. I am almost caught up from my earlier health issue this past spring/summer so it is a good feeling to be at this point. Two big jobs that I had originally planned on doing around April/May were the paint work on my son's Duramax and then the rust repair on his WJ so now that those two are done I can chip away at a few smaller projects then get back to some jobs that I have promised out, if they still need to be done and the people haven't sought elsewhere to have the work performed.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Mike I live in the land of dust, one downside to being in the country. Twice a year I have to pull everything away from the walls and run a pressure washer on the cement.