Jesses' 48 PU

[dsraven]

don't you love it when a plan comes together? seems like we do a bunch of work and it looks the same. then one day it just seems to shoot ahead.
by sandblast profile I meant roughness of the surface. some abrasives are pretty rough and leave actual visible high spots. if the high spots aren't sanded down before primer the primer can just sink into the low spots and the high spots (we're talking about using magnifyers to see this but you can feel it) will end up with no paint on them so they start to rust quickly. there are 2 types of blast media. cutting and non cutting. glass bead is an example of non cutting. it blasts the paint ertc off because it spins when it exits the nozzle and hits the work. that removes the product you want to remove but the spin has less effect on the metal when it hits bare steel or aluminum. aluminum oxide is a really common cutting abrasive, like I use in my little portable blaster. it removes paint etc pretty quick but leaves a taller profile, though, so the blasted part needs to be sanded prior to primer. sorta like the difference between fine sand paper and course sandpaper. fine paper could be primered over and the abrasive would be covered with the primer. if you sprayed the same amount of primer on the course paper there would be the peaks of the grit not covered by the primer. in my blast cabinet I use garnet because it doesn't turn to powder right away and lasts longer. the profile isn't as big as aluminum oxide but I sand stuff anyway afterwards. aluminum oxide is really hard so it leaves a bigger profile than sand. sand is softer, like a #4, and explodes on impact so has less profile than alum oxide, a number 9. silicone carbide, a number 9.5, is even harder than alum oxide. when blasting and not recycling the blast media sand works fine. a blast cabinet automatically recycles the blast media.

[dsraven]

here is a pic that shows what I mean about profile. it's like sandpaper. that is using regular sand at a u blast place. you can see the pock marks if you look close enough. pics turned, sorry.

[Jesse49chevy]

Hey DS, thanks for the explanation/lesson on sandblasting and media. Honestly, I did not realize there was so many details to it. I've used this media several times on both my blaster and cabinet I like the results and I don't feel the need to sand with finer grit afterwards. Here is a pic of the angle support, it's pretty smooth.

[Jesse49chevy]

Well I decided to do away with the old mustang fuel tank. It simply would not work with the LS engine without modifications, so I went with a TankersInc EFI tank, came with fuel pump, sending unit, hose and fittings. So I welded some 3/16 inch plat on the frame and went with 1.5 inch square tubing for the frame the tank will sit on.

[Jesse49chevy]

Tank is in.

[Jesse49chevy]

My plasma made it easy to cut out the exhaust pass through holes.

[Jesse49chevy]

Made a little jig/tool to cut close to perfect circles with the plasma. Took a one inch hole saw I had laying around. Welded a 1 inch flat bar, drilled a pilot hole 2 inches from center. After deciding where the exhaust would run through I Drilled a pilot hole, stuck a drill bit to hold the jig in place and Baamm! 4 inch circle cutouts... I will roll up some 3/16 metal tomorrow and weld them in.

[dsraven]

how do you get a 4 inch circle when you are using a 1 inch hole saw, 1 inch flat bar and marking 2 inches from center.
4
+
1
+
1
+
2
=
8

doesn't compute. then ad in the size of the pilot hole plus the 3/16 roll. what does that come out to again?

haha.

looks good, mr "I have a plasma cutter"...…..

[Jason 56]

Great ingenuity... I’m adding that one to my bag of tricks!

[Jesse49chevy]

Worked on the exhaust today.. ordered a 3" mandrel bend kit and 3" pipe.
Its tricky to get the cuts right, but with a little patience and determination... it can be done.
Not perfect but im happy with it, hoping to finish it up tomorrow.

[8man]

Looks good!

[Jesse49chevy]

Got the call Wednesday that it was ready. Had to wait until today to go pick it up.
Bad thing about media blast, you get to see everything!! So a few more patches and some body work needed.

[Jesse49chevy]

[8man]

Ready to go now!

[Jesse49chevy]

Not happy with the exhaust I did some research on a reliable source YOUTUBE. After watching some great videos. I discovered PIE CUTS. So I dragged out my band saw and cut plenty of pieces. Removed what I had previously installed and started over. Its alot of work, but im happy with it and feel its coming out better. Still not done, but meh.....
The band saw really makes things easier with nice straight cuts.

[Jesse49chevy]

9 degree Pie cuts... not apple..

[Jesse49chevy]

[Jesse49chevy]

One piece down ....

[8man]

Yep, those are nice cuts. Also a nice weld job.

[Jesse49chevy]

Originally Posted by 8man

Yep, those are nice cuts. Also a nice weld job.

thank you sir... living life one spot weld at a time... lol

[Jesse49chevy]

TIG welding is the way to go, but boy do I need practice and this is not the project for it. So MIG'd it. Not as clean and pretty but good hot spot welds all the way around ensured solid welds.
Almost done.

[8man]

I can bring mine to you so you can practice.

That is some exhaust system. I'd like to hear it when finished.

[Jesse49chevy]

Originally Posted by 8man

I can bring mine to you so you can practice.

That is some exhaust system. I'd like to hear it when finished.

Lol.. you are not that far..95 miles away.... bring it...
Yea I cant wait either...

[Jesse49chevy]

[Jesse49chevy]

new found respect for muffler shops...