How would you prep this?

[Guest]

A customer brought me this custom cross link part for his dragster.

Its all welded together, and its designed to flex and torque. There are pressed in zirk fittings with grease pumped into them on each leg. I baked out what I could at 450 for about 1.5 hours. I then took some carb cleaner and sprayed all the joints out. Let it sit for another hour, then back in the oven for another hour at 450. I can still see grease buildup at the seams. So I gave it a soapy bath, but I don't think I can get all the grease out.

I'll have to blast this thing too and I'm worried about media getting into these cracks and contaminating it when its actually used.

I've expressed my concerns with the customer and gave the disclaimer that their might be some shotty PC at each seam as I have no way to remove all that grease and some might bubble out.

Any thoughts?
Thanks
Rob

[Rustytruck]

Re: How would you prep this?

What you can do is wrap masking tape around the cracks 4-6 times. That way it will keep them clean. Remove the tape and then use a wire brush to clean the cracks after blasting. And for the cracks bleeding grease, you could wrap 1/4" high heat tape (green) around the crack, just wide enough to cover the crack. So if the greese does bleed out, it won't affect the powder coating.

[Guest]

Re: How would you prep this?

What you can do is wrap masking tape around the cracks 4-6 times. That way it will keep them clean. Remove the tape and then use a wire brush to clean the cracks after blasting. And for the cracks bleeding grease, you could wrap 1/4" high heat tape (green) around the crack, just wide enough to cover the crack. So if the greese does bleed out, it won't affect the powder coating.

Agreed,
Also i had the same problem B4 with something i beleive a swingarm the grease lifted the tape and dripped down the side of the arm when i took it out i thought i would have to redo itbut it wiped off didnt effect the powder at all. So i believe as long as it flows out and enters the cureing stage you "should" be fine if a lil gets on the finish.

[Guest]

Re: How would you prep this?

Couldn't you use string? Pull it tight in to the crack and use it as a seal. I'd outgas it first to get most of the grease out. Then I'd do several rounds with the string pulling it down in the crack. Make sure you leave some to work the string back out.

[Guest]

Re: How would you prep this?

Couldn't you use string? Pull it tight in to the crack and use it as a seal. You'd have to make several rounds.

Are you a plumber?
Used to do that all the time for pipe joints
Good idea!

[Guest]

Re: How would you prep this?

Couldn't you use string? Pull it tight in to the crack and use it as a seal. You'd have to make several rounds.

Are you a plumber?
Used to do that all the time for pipe joints
Good idea!

No old school mechanic.

[rbroker]

Re: How would you prep this?

Couldn't you use string? Pull it tight in to the crack and use it as a seal. I'd outgas it first to get most of the grease out. Then I'd do several rounds with the string pulling it down in the crack. Make sure you leave some to work the string back out.

Thats a good idea, I'll try that trick.

I don't even know why this thing is greased, it will only flex/travel up to 1/16th inch. But its on a dragster, so who knows how much torque is being put to it. But it can't physacally move more than 1/16th with out breaking.

Silver vein/glass clear, its a shame to cover up the amazing tig welding on this thing. I shoulda charged him 50, not 40

[Guest]

Re: How would you prep this?

Goodluck and show some pics when it's done.

[wiseguyz]

Re: How would you prep this?

Silver vein/glass clear, its a shame to cover up the amazing tig welding on this thing. I shoulda charged him 50, not 40

For 2 coats, you should be charging more like $75, not $50.

Best of luck.

[rbroker]

Re: How would you prep this?

He's got a mountain of other parts that he brought me with the same finish, so I cut him a better deal because of the volume of parts he wants done.

He works for a local trike shop part time, so who know's maybe I'll get a few referalls off him.

[wiseguyz]

Re: How would you prep this?

Tell him he's getting a deal on this trial piece since he's a new customer. Keep track of how long this part takes you and take that into account when you price stuff for him the next time. You can't work for free, but your first piece will be the key to getting follow-up work from him. You do need to be competitive, but you still have to make a buck. He does.

Best of luck.

[Guest]

Re: How would you prep this?

A customer brought me this custom cross link part for his dragster.

Its all welded together, and its designed to flex and torque. There are pressed in zirk fittings with grease pumped into them on each leg. I baked out what I could at 450 for about 1.5 hours. I then took some carb cleaner and sprayed all the joints out. Let it sit for another hour, then back in the oven for another hour at 450. I can still see grease buildup at the seams. So I gave it a soapy bath, but I don't think I can get all the grease out.

I'll have to blast this thing too and I'm worried about media getting into these cracks and contaminating it when its actually used.

I've expressed my concerns with the customer and gave the disclaimer that their might be some shotty PC at each seam as I have no way to remove all that grease and some might bubble out.

Any thoughts?
Thanks
Rob

First thing I'd do is pull those pressed zerk fittings - they're cheap and easy to replace - you don't want to coat over that tiny little check ball anyway. This will let you flush the part a whole lot better to remove as much grease as possible. Next, I'd cook the crap out of it - I mean literally cook it to death. Any temps you can generate with your oven will have no affect on the parts, and you sure can't afford to leave any crud in there.

The string trick might work, but you run the risk of burning some of it loose and into the mating surfaces (between the tubes). I'd try thin s.s. wire, like picture frame wire, so you can still get it out when you're done. Or at least pull it at partial cure.

Looks like a nasty job - Wise is right, $50 is WAY too cheap.

[Guest]

Re: How would you prep this?

The string will seal better for powder protection in my opinion. You would use a good string and it would hold up fine like cardboard does. And it would not be used during outgassing, this would defeat the purpose of outgassing. If you were worried you could remove the string after flowout and then finish curing. These are my thoughts.

[rbroker]

Re: How would you prep this?

Well its done. I tried to bake out the grease a few more times. All in all about 4 hours in the oven at 450.

I'm very happy it came out as well as it did. There are two small drop's of contamination. I made sure I hung the part so the contamination would flow to the bottom of the part where it would never be seen by anyone. You have to look for them, but the pics make them stand out. If it wasn't a vein finish I doubt I could get away with it. I told the customer that its the best its gonna get and kindly hinted I wouldn't be redoing it. He said "I understand I'm sure it was a PITA."

I wrapped the joints with tape and sand blasted this turd. She looks like a million bucks now!!!.

Thanks for the help.

[BeeBob]

Re: How would you prep this?

Looks good!