Betty's "I want to be a mule" progress log thread

The new turd mobile. 2000 Mountaineer v8 awd.



The bad:

Was living it's prior life on a dusty road. Must tear out interior and deep clean.
Driver window off track "or something" and will not roll down. It tries but the rear part wants to stay up.

3 out of 4 door handles have issues. I have 4 new outer handles on order.
Cracked passenger side tail light housing. ( Ebay for some cool tail lights)

Compass-Thermometer thingy lit up and went out--idunno bout that yet

Door locks seem sticky, probably has to do with the handles.
It has a funky purple color trim with red metallic ( you'll have that every now and then)

The good
Gas tank was full
109k miles
I am the 2nd owner!!
Is from the local area, which means no salt!
The undercarriage is fairly clean
No dents to underside panels
Good rubber
Camber shims already installed
Looks like good service records, all recalls were completed.
Clean carfax believe it or not.

The "maybe" bad

The original owner, told the dealership it had a bad "heater core" however I have run it for several cycles, over an hour each idling in the driveay and see no leaks.
However, there was evidence of a windshield leak or the like,I saw condensation on the inside of the windows this AM. The moisture smell is that of water only-no anti freeze smell. I am thinking it could also be a cowl drain which is clogged???? but she did say the passenger carpet got wet.

I tried to get heat, however it is an auto climate control. Being 90 degrees outside, I doubt it would have given me heat.The heater core hoses were hot, and the coolant bypass valve does operate. AC blows Ice cold.

Maybe she meant to say "heater door"???

Anyway--here are the pics.



My intent is to drive this and use it as a tow rig for a light weight off road toy. Mods will be minimal. Edit: This plan did not work out so on to plan "b"

Current visual status

Progress pictures

Now, let's clean it up a little


Herculine'rd rocker panels. Rock sliders installed

BW 4406 True 4x4 Manual transfer case ( AKA Mouse entry point) installed 8-27-2012
Installed newer Tcase from a 2003 11-14-15

Saw a rainbow in Colorado so yeah, time for a picture

And here she is, on top of the highest pass road in North America. Careful tire placement a must!!!

2-2-2013

Changed "color scheme" of the Dick Cepek DC1 wheels. New Falken Wildpeak AT 31x1050x15

Then I decided Maroon washer on the wheels would look better

Update 6-6-2013

New bumpers, winch and Pro LED light . Front Bumper from RLC, Skid plate from RCI, rear bumper from Kert307

Rear anti sway disconnects

Update 9-2-2014
A cracked radiator at 70mph led to engine failure. Replaced with a freshened up a bit 80k mile engine starting on page 23

Found another rainbow in Kansas.

 

[Turdle]

Puff goes in tomorrow night for a weekend stay in the "tire salon"

I treat her well huh?

Anyhoo--

I've lost a lot of sleep trying to figure out how to powdercoat these dog- gone wheels.
Adding red would be kinda cool--but maroon? Idunno if I can get my head around that.

I still think there needs to be some silver near the rim of the wheel. This creates an illusion which makes the wheel appear larger than it is. I am afraid of a blackened wheel that looks all clownshoe-

using red--and comparing to different style wheels

I think I might be able to pull off a look like this--considering the dc1 wheel has a "ledge" between the spokes, and the silver pseudo beadlock bolts.

Or
The Maroon color could be placed only on the "beadlock bolt" washers. This might be just the touch of color they need, and, easily switched out by replacing the washers.


hmmmm

decisions decisions

 

[delexploder]

Can you do a red translucent on the polished part?

 

[Turdle]

Can you do a red translucent on the polished part?

I "could" if I had some. To late to get it in time now. Not really into "colored" wheels either. I don't want it to look --for lack of better terms-ricey??

 

[CDW6212R]

The silver that you want to add is really tough with that wheel. I would want it to be continuous around the rim, or else leave it off.

Can you use a red that is close to the Toreador Red, the top red? I'd do that, I've never liked the Dark TR. I'm open to suggestions for my truck, for the lower dark red.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

The Ballistic Wheel color scheme with the red looks great. I am sure whatever you come up with will look great. I think you are right going with the red after all. Maroon may be a little odd.

 

[CDW6212R]

I got my new 18" tires on today, despite the ice storm. I drove to my Ford dealer with my snow tires.

Jon, weigh your tires and wheels just to see what they are. You want a light combination if possible.

I went to 18's years ago, and the tire/wheel package was 72.5lbs each then. I'm on my 3rd set of 18" tires now, these are 10.5lbs less per tire. So now I have a 62lbs tire wheel, and stock I think was about 55lbs. My 17" combo was 58lbs when I first got the truck, and those felt no heavier than stock when driving. At least now I know I have 30lbs wheels, which is heavy but not as bad as I was thinking they were.

 

[Turdle]

Well, they lasted a few good years for Dan Whitaker, Until Dave bought the mounty from him, at which point it has sat--still sitting. So I offered Dave some money for the wheels and tires. They got us up a few mountains, but the tires were now crackin, and the wheels are tired.

The problem will always happen where aluminum meets steel. Some sort of anti seize should be used-but they also cause this problem

Pictures on the truck don't look too bad--let's take a closer look though.

Notice where the bolts were in the rim

And even the chrome "dust cap" touching the aluminum caused some sort of electolosys that messed up the clearcoat.

Hopefully I can pull this off. These are pretty rough so don't expect much.

Tonight I will be taking a shower with my wheels so don't bother me--

Our local car wash is closed due to some stupid "water conservation" ordinance. That doesn't matter anyway as we have no car now-it's 30 degrees outside so I can't think of a better way to clean these thing off.

I have 3 tubes of comet and 4 boxes of steel wool, a dual head shower with endless hot water thanks to a tankless water heater-the shower is stone--I don't see an issue. All I have to do, is make some margaritas for MLB so she goes to sleep.

Oh Shhhh, she made chili for dinner, time to eat , then I will have to clean up.

 

[CDW6212R]

I like those, and the clear coat looks like my wheels since the clear began to come loose.

Will you powder coat the whole wheel? I wonder what it would look like with black around the whole circumference, down to the crease at the spokes. Also, do those have similar washers to the Ballistic wheel you pictured above?

 

[Turdle]

I like those, and the clear coat looks like my wheels since the clear began to come loose.

Will you powder coat the whole wheel? I wonder what it would look like with black around the whole circumference, down to the crease at the spokes. Also, do those have similar washers to the Ballistic wheel you pictured above?

Yes Don, I do plan on covering all of the wheel--aside from the hub mating surface.

The bolts are a chrome steel, and the washers are just plain ol stainless washers I think.

Edit-
Tires are Falken Wild Peak-31x10.5015
According to their website this tire weighs 43lbs

 

[Turdle]

Ok, that was a little awkward, but they are clean of road grime. You don't want to blast smut into aluminum if you can help it.

 

[Turdle]

Finally!

5 hours of Blasting,then a quick clear water re-wash,and a pre heat. Then masking the hub surface --48 little bolt holes.

Mirror black base coat is now just about cured.

Now the tedious work begins.

 

[CDW6212R]

Cool, so now you need a bigger shower, in the shop?

 

[Turdle]

Cool, so now you need a bigger shower, in the shop?

Yeah, I need to get that thing fixed

Anywhoo.

MLB was helping to mask off the epic wheels I had planned, we were into the 3rd wheel, getting ready to start the 4th, I'd say we were a good 6 hours into it all, when we ran clean out of 3/8" edge tape.

Surely 72 feet would be enough, but noes---it wasn't.

Ok,no way around this. On to plan B. The only problem is I still hadn't got my head around plan A, let alone develop a plan B

After cleaning that all up and trying to figure out another trick, I made an irreparable mistake to a wheel. It took me until 2:30 AM just to get it stripped back down and back to black. Poo poo

So, I had to come up with another trick, not wanting to go through that again, and have it all working out now I think. I am on a time crunch, which isn't helping the stress level, but I still think these will look totally unique and desirable.
Stay tuned!

 

[CDW6212R]

You are getting good at that, I might have to give up on finding better wheels, and let you refinish what I have. Keep at it.

 

[Turdle]

Here is where I am now

High gloss black on the center caps and lug nuts--not pictured are high gloss black washers with stainless bolts for the "spoke" ends

Here is a wheel , before clear.

MLB wanted an all black wheel, but now likes this. I "want " to add a maroon red ( matching the upper color) on the 1" long pinstripe right at the edge of the rim. That would add just a touch. We can discuss this, if you want, while the wheels cool.

If no red, I am done. Just a coat of 40% satin clear on the wheels.

For the red, I have some liquid I can mix with powder, which turns it to "paint". I could easily brush this into the tiny groove.

Once it is in place, the "liquid paint" has to air dry for an hour, then it goes through the normal "bake to cure" as other powder.
It takes 30 minutes to bring these wheels up to the cure temp, then another 10 minutes curing. Then another hour waiting for them to cool, so I can apply clear, then another 40 minutes for curing.

In other words, the tiny bit of red would mean another 4 hours before completion, leaving the red off I can spray them with clear in about 20 minutes and take a shower while they cure.

 

[Turdle]

Heck with it--I'm pooped. Besides, Finding Bigfoot is on TV tonight. Clear then done.

 

[CDW6212R]

I like that, it's a great choice of colors.

BTW, I bought all black McGard lugnuts for my Lincoln, just to see how they hold up. So far they are fine after about 4-5 R&R's of the wheels.

I need eight more chrome ones for my Mountaineer. After the past snow and ice storms, the cheap nuts I got ages ago have lots of rust showing. The metal is softer too, the corners are rounding.

 

[Turdle]

Ok, here is the final product.

 

[Rick]

Can't wait to see them on the truckL

 

[Turdle]

Speaking of the truck--

We drove up to meet my parents half way for lunch Friday. Heard a weird clunk when we got off the highway for the Humboldt exit coming home.

Then grinding. I drove straight home, then straight out to the tire shop. Removal of the tires showed we had broken the outer, rear driver side brake pad. There was no pad on the backing-but all the other pads show a lot of life left. Phooey

I have new rear rotors and pads all the way around on order from Rockauto. I have new emergency shoes and springs on hand, so I'll just spend a day and sort this out.

Tomorrow I will have pictures of the new shoes--for now i am having a blast chasing the threads on the spoke bolt holes. 24 to go.