What happens when mini-projects grow The aftermath: The rebuilt starter has been installed with the new wiring. Photos by the author. A few blogs ago, I discussed winter projects and provided a bunch of ideas for you to consider. Part of their lure was the fact that they were generally small ones where you could work in one area of your car or on one component. They took less time than larger endeavors, and once finished, you could bask in the afterglow of a job well done. Another trait to be aware of, however, is their potential for what I call “project creep.” That’s when you say, “Well, if I’m fixing this, I might as well fix that, too. After all, it’s right next to the part I’m working on. While I’m here, I might as well fix this other thing… and that one and that one.” Before you know it, your car is half apart for a year before you complete that so-called “mini project.” When the starter was first removed and the grease was washed off, the little black paint that remained on the case came off with it to reveal the rust underneath. Here’s an example. As you may know from my past blogs, after I had checked just about every wire in my 1967 Buick, including removing the instrument panel, I determined that new harnesses under the hood were needed. I bought a front lamp harness and an engine harness. Since the front lamp harness was way easier to swap, I did that one first and a story on it was published in Hemmings Muscle Machines last year. I knew that I had to do the engine harness next, but it was a little more involved—the starter would have to be dropped down to swap over the wiring—so not surprisingly, I procrastinated. Even though I knew the harness to be petrified in some areas and previously repaired with non-stock splices in others, the Buick ran really well and everything worked, so it was easy to say, “Why fix it if it isn’t really broken?” Still, I knew that any trip could result in an electrical issue, given the harness’s condition and age. These are the major components after tear-down and a minor cleanup. Finally, I decided to get to work on the swap, knowing full well that project creep would ensue the second I rolled under the car to drop the starter. Keep in mind, I will go to great lengths to avoid working under any car. I just hate it. It’s always cold, always cramped and crud is always falling in my face. So the last thing I should be doing is considering improving other things while I’m under there. Of course, there was the typical sludge formed from seeping oil and the dirt that kicked up from the road. Considerable time was spent cleaning it off with degreaser and paper towels. When I removed the starter, which had worked perfectly and engaged effortlessly with no shims required, it looked terrible. Along with some cleaned up old parts, all the new ones are ready for installation in the stripped, cleaned and painted case. Should I clean it, scuff it and simply repaint it? Or should I completely tear it apart, clean it, examine every part of it, strip the body to bare metal and repaint it, replace all the wear items (mostly using parts from a rebuild kit that came with the car) and install a new solenoid before I reassemble it? Three guesses which choice I made. Following the path of most resistance, as usual, I rebuilt the starter from stem to stern and bench tested it before I reinstalled it to ensure that I didn’t screw anything up. But that’s not all, the area where the starter mounted was missing paint on the engine block, and I noticed that the oil pan had heavy scale rust over most of it. Using a 3M Rust and Paint Stripper on a drill, I sanded the whole pan and the small area of the block to bare metal, degreased them multiple times and applied a pre-paint prep. In order to spray-paint the block, I would have to mask multiple oddly shaped areas, so I used tinfoil and held it in place with masking tape. The old and new solenoids compared. The oil pan was still solid but needed protection from future rust, and its placement would require masking many more oddly shaped parts surrounding it in order to spray paint it. Yet because of the cross-member that runs under the engine, it would be nearly impossible to get acceptable coverage on the pan in that area with a rattle can. With those reasons in mind, I decided to apply two coats of POR-15 Rust Preventative Paint on the pan using a foam brush. (I know that the POR-15 is said to adhere better when some rust is left behind after the loose scale is removed and the area is degreased and properly prepped, but it drove me nuts thinking about leaving rust on the pan, so I stripped as much of it off as I could anyway.) For reasons of protection rather than beauty—despite the fact that a topcoat is suggested to shield the POR-15 from UV rays—I left it as is because very little sunlight will ever reach the oil pan, because the black makes the pan effectively disappear from sight when looking under the car and because I doubt that the red engine paint would lend its self to being applied with a foam brush. Also, POR-15’s “resistance to elevated temperatures” is 450-degrees, according to its website, so using it on an oil pan shouldn’t be an issue. It’s rebuilt, bench-tested and ready for installation. Where else did the project creep? The factory mounting system used for the starter wires and positive battery cable routing was out of the car when I got it. I learned that it could not be installed because one of the bolts that held it in place had broken off in the block years before I owned the car, and it’s in a spot with poor access unless the engine is out. I had to come up with my own solution for routing and wire protection from engine heat, and that included insulated Adel clamps to hold the wires in place and away from the block and running the latter through a length of silicone hose. The flywheel access cover’s finish had seen better days, so it was stripped to bare the steel, the rust was removed and it was repainted low-gloss black. Some minor leaks were found and repaired here and there and the speedometer cable needed to be properly routed and secured. Since I was in the vicinity anyway, I changed the oil and filter. Remember, the whole reason for jacking up the car, securing it on jack-stands and crawling under it in the first place was to simply drop the starter, install the new wires and bolt it back up again, and then continue with wiring harness install. By the time I finished the project, which took about five times longer than I had planned, there was a new rotor, distributor cap and stock-appearing plug wires running through stockish-style wire separators that were installed as well. After grease removal, this is what the block and oil pan looked like. Some of the rust and paint have already been partially stripped to bare metal in this photo using a large 3M Paint and Rust Stripper on a drill. A smaller 3M wheel of the same design was required where clearance gets tight at the cross-member. You know that cardinal rule of working on a car regarding only changing one thing at a time? Yeah…that went out the window in this case. So, with lots of things changed over a period of many months, I hoped that since I triple-checked all the installations, routings and fasteners, made lists each time I worked on the car for what not to forget the next time and had a checklist of things to go over before I turned the key, the Buick would start and run like it normally did. It wouldn’t leak, smoke, or melt wires. After turning the engine over slowly by hand with a breaker bar on the balancer bolt, and with the battery charged, a little fuel poured into the carb to prime it and a fire extinguisher a foot away just in case, it was time to twist the key. Using tinfoil instead of paper to mask the area was much quicker and easier given the odd shapes of the parts that needed to be covered and the molding qualities of the foil. Turning over just three times, the engine started and settled into a high idle. Showing 60 psi on the oil pressure gauge and a slowly climbing temp gauge needle, I backed the GS out of the garage into the driveway where it ran for 25 minutes, while I methodically checked the areas where I had worked. Thankfully, there were no problems found in that time, and the gauges continued to show normal readings. It was a “good luck” day after all. So far, it appears that everything has gone well. For that reason, I’m pleased that I ended up doing the extra side projects because I would have had to do them later anyway. Just remember, the next time your simple project begins to creep to other areas, it’s a natural occurrence. With most any vintage vehicle, you don’t have to look too hard to find something that requires maintenance, improvement or repair. If you can tackle some of the extra tasks while doing a mini project, you’ll be ahead of the game… for awhile anyway. Here’s the starter’s mounting area cleaned up and painted. Red engine enamel was sprayed on the block and POR-15 was foam brushed onto the oil pan. I know the appearance is far from perfect, but the point was to get rid of the rust and protect the metal. It still looks much better than it did, and it’s clean. Should I have to work in that area again in the future, I won’t dread it as much as I did the first time when I knew it was a greasy, rusty mess. One secret to successfully navigating project creep is to know where to draw the line. For me, it was at the exhaust manifolds and the frame and suspension. The manifolds are coming out in the spring for rust removal and refinishing anyway, so it would have been a waste of time to start stripping rust off of the underside of the passenger one during this project. I could have gotten POR-15-happy on the entire frame and suspension, but I’d still be under the car instead of writing this blog. That’s a project unto itself that deserves my full attention another time. Tell us about your mini projects that turned into larger ones. How did you handle them and what helped you to determine the boundaries so you didn’t go too far? from Hemmings Daily - News for the collector car enthusiast ift.tt/1Fvg9Vo Sourced by CA DMV registration services online. Renew your registration online in only ten minutes. No DMV, no lines, no hassles, and no appointments needed. Visit Quik, Click, pay, and print your registration from home.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 20:36:34 +0000
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