25) Heater Channel Work
I've got the body rolled over on its side now, peeling off the bottom cover of the heater channels. Since I replaced the front section which didn't come with the bottom cover, I figured this was a good time to replace the entire length. I wanted to expose (hopefully) the last of the rust, and be done with it once and for all!
Another piece that I wanted to improve was the pipe that the hot air travels through up to the front. The originals were all rusted, and were not air tight. My solution was to buy some galvanized steal tubing from McMaster-Carr, and some 90 degree pipe fittings to plumb the hot air up to the front.
After sandblasting I painted the inside of the channels with Magnet Paint Chassis Saver. (Found at my local paint supply store) I really like how this stuff goes on, and drys to a nice smooth finish. I will be using this paint where ever I want to protect against future rust, rock chips, and general dirty shenanigans : )
Here is everything painted up and finished. To get to this point, I drilled a zillion holes in the covers, sprayed weldable zink primer on the spots to be welded, welded all the holes up, ground down the welds, and painted on the rust paint.
Here is the back section, you can see the 90 degree elbow sticking out. I ended up welding up the old hole that the heater channel was sticking out of, and cut a circular hole that the fitting would fit nicely in.
Labels: current progress, metal work, tear down