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| Home > Misc > Random Thoughts > Ooh, The Unpleasantness |
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Below is the random thought titled "Ooh, The Unpleasantness". Be aware that these thoughts may be based on opinion, and my opinion might not agree with yours. Also, the thought below may be based on mood, time of day, or any number of other factors. Please keep this in mind.
I have almost finished doing what is likely the most unpleasant thing I have ever done in my life. This holiday weekend I spent 2 of the 3 days underneath my RX-7, scraping 20 years of accumulated grime, rust and dirt off of the underbody. I am doing this in preparation to paint the underside with POR-15. And the moment, I cannot imagine a worse job. People warned me that it wouldn't be the most fun thing to do, but I was optimistic. Oh, what a fool I can be. Anyone who has done this knows how horrid a task it is. The problem is not the hours on end laying on your back, under a car on a concrete floor. It's not the chunks of paint, metal and rust that fall into your eyes (the goggles do nothing).. It's not really even holding several pounds of drill over your head to use the wire brush, or constantly skinning your elbows in the process. It's the combination of all these tasks that makes this process probably the worst automotive activity of all time.
By comparison, here is a list of tasks I would rather do:
Oh well, at least it will be worth it. It's not as if the underside of the car is in bad shape. There are a few areas of concern, but mostly there are just a bunch of small blisters where moisture has penetrated the wussy factory undercoating. And it will be so nice to work under a car with a spotlessly clean, semi-gloss black underside. Not to mention that the new coating will be impenetrable to further corrosion.
| Oh, c'mon Aaron, it cannot possibly be that bad. | ||
| Soo, you're a faggot... (Editor's notes: Who is a what now?) |
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| no i just get really bored so i mess around here to antagonate almost everyone. its not my fault its funny when people get all pissy about anything if you know what to say. i have a life, its just that wtf happens when i have nothing to do? | ||
| who is this josh jahr character and why does he leave messages on everything you write? do you have a life? | ||
| couldent you run it though a car wash
(Editor's note: No.) |
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| i am sacasm in its purest form and ok just wanted to say that, try getting some1 else to coat the bottom | ||
| i know a guy that has a worse thing to go through than coating the bottom of a car, he has cancer
(Editor's note: Sarcasm. Learn it, live it.) |
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| *stabs jimmy in the neck with a spork* HAIL JESUS CHRIST MY LORD!!!!!!!!!! ^_^
i'd coat it with epoxy( i wonder if it'll work, i gotta try it!!!)
(Editor's note: Epoxy doesn't work. Tried on the DeLorean...It just cracks in a few years...) |
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| ohhhhhh... ah well thanks for letting me know aaron, I didn't wanna waste money for epoxy, thank you. ah well lets coat it with rubber cement then! (mental note: coat underside of car with rubber cement) | ||
| *stabs you in the arm with a spoon* Hail SATAN!!!!!!! ^_^ | ||
| Once upon a time I would and have done similar things as you find yourself doing now. In fact I have. Heck I've gone as far as welding up a stainless steel monoque chassis for one car. Lets see that one rust out anytime too soon. That job still looks good 16 years later.
Over the years though I have developed a new philosophy with the underside of vehicles. And now I will share my accumulated wisdom with you. Here's how I look at it now, if anyone's under my car I really don't care what they think! (I say this everytime I weld up an exhaust system anymore) If I find myself under my own car I try to focus on why and get out of there as quickly as possible.
Usually when one takes cars down to bare metal that opens up a whole other host of problems that can be serious if one does not perform the proper surface preparation procedures. A search for "metal conditioner" should turn up professional products specifically formulated for this application. The really neat stuff I've used turns the metal blue. Mostly bare metal has a bad habit of simply hydrating in open air. That's why even when metal is manufactured it has a thin film of oil on it. I hope the product that you chose takes care of some of this for you. You'll know in a couple of years. By the way, if you think what you are doing is harsh imagine what it would have been like if you'd have sandblasted it like you probably should have. I have never really seen rotary action clean surfaces quite like media blasting does. And I've had at it with a 10,000 RPM angle grinder. I haven't tried a pressure washer yet on restoration, though I have used them on some jobs, and with the right tip they will remove paint. I've also used an oxy-acetylene torch (smoke wrench don't work on old cars without one!), and a scraper to great effect on car undercoatings. Just keep a pot of water handy for when it gets out of hand. Those 3M rust discs can do a great job. If I were to find myself lunatic enough to go through another restoration it's what I'd use, that and Rustoleum. I've seen it work and hold up well. I can't imagine any other product out performing it in any real world durability tests. I especially like this line on POR's webpage, "a company unlike any other." sure you are, sure you are! Show me the money! I think I've used their gas tank liner junk once. But as to why I did that's a whole other not worth telling story.
And if you think that your hard work will pay off down the road with a daily driver well, not unless the world turns into something other than it's present made out of dirt composition. Cars driven simply just get filthy dirty.
Anyways I still think rebuilding a car at some point in one's life is a rite of passage of sorts. It should give you a greater appreciation for things. Nothing worthwhile is ever very easy or everyone would be doing it. It's not the destination but the journey that counts. Lets just hope you learn faster than I do and your first time is your last. Floor pans can be had for cheap on ebay and if you do it right you can do all the work from the top. Now if only you can find yourself one of them welder chicks, but hey I've been standing in line longer looking for her. She can even use my TIG welder, or any other tool that strikes her fancy that I have :-)
(Editor's note: Well said...I do truly have faith in POR-15 though. I've seen it do wonders, and stand up to abuse like no other. My primary concern was never really asthetics, but prevention of future corrosion...) |
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| I'm sorry to hear of your plight, but this article made my day. :D | ||
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