Subway4X3 Shameless Copycat Build

I don't know I live 3000 miles from there

 

Canadian Tire maybe?

 

Damn. I thought Canada was just a little tiny country. With 3 gas stations and a movie theatre. LOL.
Is there a national franchise that carries these?

 

Princess Auto has them

 

I'm getting ready to prep and paint my bumpers. I'm not going the powder coat route because I've gotten two estimates and they're in the 450-600 dollar range. Yes, I live in NY. Sigh.

I'm going to rattle can my bumpers. First with self-etching primer, then with rustoleum satin black.

The prep work will involve sanding to really roughen up the metal surface for good adherence.

What prep work would you recommend y'all? What grit sandpaper? I have numerous mechanical sanding tools available. 6" round random orbit, 1/4" sheet random orbit, 4.5" angle grinder, 6" angle grinder, Oscillating tool with sanding attachments.

What cleanup and prep chemical? I've heard anywhere from M.E.K., acetone, isopropanol, mineral spirits.

 

when I painted my sliders, I went over them with a scotch brite, acetone, self etching primer, and then paint.

Has held up to me stepping on the same spot every day plus dailying it.

 

Thanks OZ. I might go this route with the MFC.

They don't stock the black color MWC, so I'm still looking.

I'm gonna try to rig up a simple pressurized water system for a primitive shower setup. Heat absorbent color Black is key to getting the water a few degrees warmer than ambient.

 

I've used acetone for prep on a LOT of metal surfaces that I've rattle canned. It works great. I've also had good results using mineral spirits, but not as good as acetone.

 

You should be able to buy the MWC in the US , its only the MFC you can't get new

 

Id just do acetone and then primer.

 

I'm a little concerned with acetone. Nick @Crom used it and had minor issues with his bumper paint job.

 

Krud Kutter metal prep. No sanding required.

Wash down the parts with the metal prep (wear gloves). I "sanded" the entire surface with a green Scotchbrite pad and KK, then rinsed. Make sure you rinse off all the KK.

Let dry. Hit the parts with primer within 48 hours to prevent flash rusting.

This is how I prepped my sliders a couple of weeks ago. I am waiting for weather to finish painting them.

EDIT: This stuff even removes mild rust from metal.

 

I saw that he had problems, I'm not sure what the issues were. I'd say work methodically on small sections because acetone evaporates very quickly, it's important to make sure you've actually applied it everywhere. I may overdo it when I'm prepping, but I like to make sure what I'm working on has been wet with acetone and then wiped down with a clean rag.

 

I've painted a lot of metal in projects over the years. Acetone has always worked great. Not sure why the metal In Billy's bumper gave me trouble. It's possible there was a wax applied at one point or another.

As far as metal prep, it's hard to beat sandblasting. I was quoted $30 for bumper.

 

I cannot for the life of me figure out how you are fully extending your shocks without having a shackle flip. But for argument's sake, let's assume that you are. And at full stuff you are one inch short of fully compressing the shock. Most shackle flips raise the rear 3/4". Of you do the flip, and strap just before full extension, you will gain an additional 3/4" of travel over what you have now. So is it worth doing the flip? That is your call to make.

The extra leaf you added to your pack did not add any extra droop. It just increased your spring rate. Once you leaves get back to the arch that they were before install(let's call it static arch) then the extra or lack of extra springs no longer have any effect. And full droop is a bit lower then static arch. Amount of droop is dependent on number of leaves, leaf thickness, spring arch, and axle weight including tire weight.

I would love to know what your springs measure at full droop from spring eye centerline to top of too spring at center bolt. (I.e. the distance from an imaginary line drawn between the front and rear spring eyes measured perpendicularly down to the top of the top leaf). I would compare it to my measurement. Measuring this way eliminates differences between shackle flip and stock hanger.

Also an experiment on your part would be great. Unbolt the lower bolt on one shock and droop the rear(with tire on). Compare the fully extended shock eye distance to the mount on the axle. You may find that your shocks are actually limiting your drooo.

 

See? This is where I said F it and just decided to go with it lol!

 

How much Bumpstop do you have before you compress the shock to its limits?

How tall are your bumps is what I'm asking lol.

 

of your dads 72 scout ii

 

I have super bumps with u bolt flip. My measurements had me with a half inch of shock travel at full bump, and half inch left at full droop. Reality is a full 12" of shock movement. I need to space my bumos up a tad.