m4ff3w wrote: Wow, the progress.... And man, I don't know if you can find a better friend than me. I mean, babysitting an Alfa? Oh the huge manatee! She'll be in good hands. My Milano is the car I miss above all others.
Obligatory hotlink
I love the confidence level! Dont worry, the Alfa will fix that.
Oh yeah. She'll fix that alright 
I forgot the saturdate pictures! (we removed the rear bumper mounts)
Also, Mrs. Hungary mentioned something about the garage doors needing paint because of the mess I was making. It's not a view I see often so I went out and had a look
Can you tell which one I crack open when I'm sanding?
Good times
Wow you need a leaf blower for that paint mess!
Back on the subject of the wire whip: I decided I've used my brain enough on this ordeal and figured it was just time to put my back into it.
Credit where credit's due: Mezzanine, you're a damn genius man (see previous posts) but dang does this thing get heavy.
Basically I put it in a headlock and go to town. That keeps the working area near the top of the alfa's panels. For the lower levels I went into a squat and rested the grinder on my knee
All in all, it looks a little something like this:
Can you tell how deep that is!? I'm going to guess 1/4 inch, easy)
At the beginning I'm doing my best to stay in the thicker areas as this beast is exponentially more abrasive when spun in this direction. I probably didn't even need a respirator as the paint chips were about the size of chain saw dust.
As the wires began to lay in, I got a little braver and took it down further
Good progress today. And good times 
java230 wrote: Wow you need a leaf blower for that paint mess!
I figure in a few days I'll be able to use a shovel 
Ohhh I like that kind of blower!!!
think of all the weight savings going on removing all the bondo
java230 wrote: Ohhh I like that kind of blower!!! think of all the weight savings going on removing all the bondo
That's what I was thinking! Kind of like we all do before a big poo, I should have weighed this pig before and after paint to see how much we really shat 
NICE. Is that from a GM 3800?
What's the underlying reason for the amount of filler? Is there anything that bad that you've discovered?
Ross: it is. It's an Eaton m90 (gen 3, I'm told)
M4ff3w: In that deep spot it looks like someone dented it in and welded a patch. But otherwise it's 50/50. Sometimes I see something that would warrant body filler, sometimes it's just there 
Hungary Bill wrote: It's an Eaton m90 (gen 3, I'm told)
To enable you further with the blower, I have the ZZP tool for changing out the pulleys on those that I would definitely lend you. You can't use a standard pulley puller.
I also have a spare housing you can have for the price of shipping in case you want to attempt to port the blower. It's just collecting dust on a shelf in my garage.
FooBag wrote:Hungary Bill wrote: It's an Eaton m90 (gen 3, I'm told)To enable you further with the blower, I have the ZZP tool for changing out the pulleys on those that I would definitely lend you. You can't use a standard pulley puller. I also have a spare housing you can have for the price of shipping in case you want to attempt to port the blower. It's just collecting dust on a shelf in my garage.
Think we could get that beast of a housing in a flat rate box? If so I'd love to put it to some good use, thanks
The day's progress:
Back to the angle grinder with that whip. Noticeably more abrasive off the bat and then it kind of curved off from there. I'm intentionally avoiding the thick areas there in the middle of the door for when I need some more backwards rotation with the bench grinder
My move date is now set at somewhere between March 15th and April 1st (estimated based on paperwork, visas, etc.) One thing I have going for me is the abundance of holidays Kuwait celebrates in February. That should slow their side of things a bit and give me a little more time to wrench.
Still though, I'm a bit worried. At an hour every morning it's going to take me a little more than the rest of this week to get the driver's side done, more than a week to get the passenger side done, and of course about 3 days for the front. That puts me almost to the end of february JUST on bulk paint removal. I'd still have the body filler work to do, primer to spray, and all the edging to do. Bulk paint removal looks great in pictures, but there are still a lot of thick areas next to things that dont get sanded that still need to be removed.
Then there's still the matter of the engine and electricals being untested (and in the electricals case, mostly uninstalled).
I think I need to find another hour in my day. or at the very least, maybe 5-more hours in a week.
I'm also trying to think of ways to bring things to work and use my lunch break, that'd add up to a significant chunk of time between now and then. The problem is, there's not much left that needs work AND isn't attached to the car already.
Good times
With the bondo that thick I'd think a putty knife motivated by a small hammer might make quick work of a good portion of it
Hungary Bill wrote: Think we could get that beast of a housing in a flat rate box? If so I'd love to put it to some good use, thanks
I don't think it will fit, but I will dig it out this weekend and take some measurements.
You're not going to get 'done', and this car is going to live with someone else. I know that working on this helps to keep you sane, but I worry that it's getting very close to crossing over into making your life more difficult than it needs to be. I'd think that right now the priority with the car has to be organization. How do you get everything together and moved so that it's the least amount of mess while you're gone. I'm not necessarily saying to stop grinding, but I'd strongly resist taking things like door handles and glass off (which should probably all come out) and think about how you're going to get a protective coat of primer on it for the slumber ahead. Things don't rust in Texas, but that doesn't mean you should leave them bare.
A heat gun and putty knife will get large amounts of bondo off quicker than the wire brush. Heat it enough to soften it and scrape away. Be careful not to overheat the metal.
How are you going to rust proof it while you're gone? Lots of bare metal there...
Hungary Bill wrote: M4ff3w: In that deep spot it looks like someone dented it in and welded a patch. But otherwise it's 50/50. Sometimes I see something that would warrant body filler, sometimes it's just there
Years ago when I had this car:
I was in a bad accident and had to have the rear fender(from door back) replaced on the driver's side. When the parts came in the body shop called me to come take a look. The piece looked like a large sheet of metal had been put in the press and stamped and then sent out with no trimming done. At the top of the fender and in the door jamb there was a extra 6" of metal that had to be trimmed and fitted.
Fortunately, I had picked a body shop that didn't have any problem with that. They also did not use Bondo, everything was leaded.
jfryjfry: You know, I thought of this too and said "what if I hurt the metal?"... Then I remembered I haven't found a panel without damage yet
Foobag: Yeah, shipping on this SC was a killer. I wasnt sure how much it'd be to ship just the housing though. Thanks!
Don49: I have a video queued up on the tubes of you right now, I'll check it out. Thanks for the idea!
Hal: Wow That's a good body shop. I forgot to mention I think I found a spot of lead on the fender. I was buzzing along and then the wire whip made a little divet. "WTF?" says I, so I go back over it with the whip and then my hand... It's definitely a softer material...
Good times. Sorry to play catch-up everyone, it's been a bit busy lately
mazdeuce wrote: You're not going to get 'done'
Challenge accepted!
No, you're right. In truth, this project will never be "done" and that's exactly what I like about it. But I really want to send it off looking and running good. (so paint and lots of test runs to sort out the bugs). I'll make you a deal though. If March 1st comes along and I'm not ready to spray on paint. I'll do like you said and just cover what's left in primer
So yesterday was a bust. I woke up at 3:30 to find Mrs. Hungary had been up with the youngest Hungarling (he was teething), so I took over the morning shift so she could get some shuteye. We watched the last episode of Grand Tour and he fell asleep about the time I had to go to work.
This morning I again got up around 3:30 and was greeted in the shower by the eldest Hungarling who had bad dreams and wanted help getting back to sleep. We get him back in bed, and pretty much decide that he's really not that tired anymore, so we check out the new episode of Grand Tour
I was good until about 4:45. Then I started getting a bit stir crazy. I bought some Aircraft Paint Remover (2-cans) from FLAPS the day before yesterday and have been dying to try them out.
I excuse myself and lay it on thick (takes me like 10 minutes, tops). I'm going to let it sit until I can get back out to the garage after work and just hope for the best.
This stuff looks like snot:
I know in a perfect world I'm supposed to scrape it off after about 15 minutes, but I'm hoping that even when it re-dries it'll come off quicker and easier than the non treated paint.
I figured it's best to try these things on a small inconspicuous area (I mean, it might damage the metal sitting this long) so I thought it best to coat the whole driver's side.
Good times.
I want an Alfa :(
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