Chronicles of SneakySnakes | Vol III
- Thread starter paintless302
- Start date
The upside to that is that there's only 4 bolts and none of the hood adjustment are on those 4 bolts, which means you ruin zero adjustment by removing the hood.
The downside to that is that it's so freaking huge there's no place to put it.
So I put mine in my downstairs living room/cigar-room.
And to OP,
all I have to say is: Here we go!
This is going to be good!
Holy crap yes. Would rock that in ym house all day long! Lol
So now that the car is back and running its time to address the paint and finish the last of the cosmetic bits. The overall condition of the car is near perfect as-is, there are very minimal RIDS and swirls in both the clear, and the XPEL bra that covers the whole front, side sills, and rear bumper. The reason for the paint correction is to get everything to 100% corrected condition, get maximum gloss, and to apply a ceramic coating (sealant). I take very good care of my cars which means I only wash with them with a high pressure foam canon, and dry with an air blower. For a car that does not see rain unless caught in it, if its coated, you will literally not have to touch the car to wash, nor dry it--keeping the paint in absolutely pristine condition. Currently washing the car is nightmare, as there is no coating, the water does not bead, making it impossible to air dry. Drying with towels is a sure fire way to scratch/swirl the car to pieces over time. I also recently learned that a lot of automotive films like xpel/suntek/etc have a clearcoat so you can actually polish/wax/seal them, to bring back their optics.
The work order for the paint/powder work is quite the laundry list;
Car is delivered to Clarity and we decide to execute the powder coating work first.
The hovercraft edition Viper
Wheels are off, and we start removing the calipers;
Got all 4 calipers off, ready for dis-assembly, media blasting, and powder.
The work order for the paint/powder work is quite the laundry list;
Car is delivered to Clarity and we decide to execute the powder coating work first.
The hovercraft edition Viper
Wheels are off, and we start removing the calipers;
Got all 4 calipers off, ready for dis-assembly, media blasting, and powder.
Made some progress over the weekend, started by pulling off the X-brace and coil covers. Pardon the filthy state of everything, that's why we're here.
Engine bay looks naked;
Coil covers had been color matched by the previous owner so they will just be cleaned, polished, and sealed. The X brace will be media blasted and powdercoated a combination of matte/gloss black. The arms will be done in matte, the center and end plates will be done in gloss, with the mounting hardware coated to match as well. We will also be inlaying a GTS Blue 'Stryker' to the center. I was surprised by how light the brace was when I removed it. It has a very imposing look to it, but its just hollow aluminum. I was dead set on replacing it with a carbon fiber unit found on the TAs (both for aesthetics and weight savings), but after removing it, I've changed my mind. Honestly can't be a savings of more than a few lbs. I'll skip a few tacos instead.
Next I tackled the cleansing of suspension and wheel wells. Some consider this a waste, and I get a lot of; "Why the hell would you waste your time on that?" If you share that mindset, my reasoning wont provide you much satisfaction. I just enjoy things being tidy and get satisfaction from seeing bristling suspension components. That, and the car doesn't ever see rain unless I'm caught in it, and I'd imagine it would actually stay fairly clean for an extended period of time.
I started with a 60 second soak of diluted degreaser and water;
Before;
From there, there isn't any real magic to it, its just elbow grease. I had a handy steam machine which was useful at cleaning very hard to reach areas (like dirt trapped in the corners of the bolts on the rotor hat for instance). Along with a mini rupes, some bristle brushes of varying sizes, and water, I made quick work of all 4 corners.
After;
Before;
After;
Before;
After;
Engine bay looks naked;
Coil covers had been color matched by the previous owner so they will just be cleaned, polished, and sealed. The X brace will be media blasted and powdercoated a combination of matte/gloss black. The arms will be done in matte, the center and end plates will be done in gloss, with the mounting hardware coated to match as well. We will also be inlaying a GTS Blue 'Stryker' to the center. I was surprised by how light the brace was when I removed it. It has a very imposing look to it, but its just hollow aluminum. I was dead set on replacing it with a carbon fiber unit found on the TAs (both for aesthetics and weight savings), but after removing it, I've changed my mind. Honestly can't be a savings of more than a few lbs. I'll skip a few tacos instead.
Next I tackled the cleansing of suspension and wheel wells. Some consider this a waste, and I get a lot of; "Why the hell would you waste your time on that?" If you share that mindset, my reasoning wont provide you much satisfaction. I just enjoy things being tidy and get satisfaction from seeing bristling suspension components. That, and the car doesn't ever see rain unless I'm caught in it, and I'd imagine it would actually stay fairly clean for an extended period of time.
I started with a 60 second soak of diluted degreaser and water;
Before;
From there, there isn't any real magic to it, its just elbow grease. I had a handy steam machine which was useful at cleaning very hard to reach areas (like dirt trapped in the corners of the bolts on the rotor hat for instance). Along with a mini rupes, some bristle brushes of varying sizes, and water, I made quick work of all 4 corners.
After;
Before;
After;
Before;
After;
Drained the DSE catch can. Its only been 200-300 miles since install but its definitely doing its job.
Also found my keys laying around the shop, everyone else's keys have the customer's name on it...
Also found my keys laying around the shop, everyone else's keys have the customer's name on it...
Stopped by the shop late last night to make some more progress on the snake. Wheels were laying out so I decided to get them presentable.
Center caps removed and ready for powder-coat.
Started with one of the fronts.
Brake dust from head to toe and residual wheel weight remnants all over the place. Curt set me up with the tools for the job and taught me a quick way to pull wheel weight tape off with ease. Apparently a cordless drill with a rubber wheel makes quick work of it.
The first step is to remove all the weight tape;
Started by removing large contaminants off of the tape so it doesn't get ground into the wheel. Then time to hit it with the rubber wheel;
After the pass you'll be left with some adhesive residue;
A little Tar-X and all is like new;
Center caps removed and ready for powder-coat.
Started with one of the fronts.
Brake dust from head to toe and residual wheel weight remnants all over the place. Curt set me up with the tools for the job and taught me a quick way to pull wheel weight tape off with ease. Apparently a cordless drill with a rubber wheel makes quick work of it.
The first step is to remove all the weight tape;
Started by removing large contaminants off of the tape so it doesn't get ground into the wheel. Then time to hit it with the rubber wheel;
After the pass you'll be left with some adhesive residue;
A little Tar-X and all is like new;
I repeated these steps until all the tape weight residue was gone and moved on to cleaning the actual barrels/centers. Adam's wheel cleaner is a monster for this stuff. Spray it on, let it sit for 30 seconds and then go to town agitating with the brushes.
Rinse everything off and you have what appears to be a new wheel;
Now lets do one of the behemoth rears. Same exact steps as before;
Boom. Magic;
Rinse and repeat, quite literally, until you have a full set Now they are ready to be hit with a sealant.
Rinse everything off and you have what appears to be a new wheel;
Now lets do one of the behemoth rears. Same exact steps as before;
Boom. Magic;
Rinse and repeat, quite literally, until you have a full set
Now they are ready to be hit with a sealant.
Looks awesome! Unless I missed it, what did you use to seal the wheels?
Awesome job, I love your threads becuase of the pics and attention to detail. If I had the same caliper car I'd be the same way. I was almost as bad with my Lightning back in the day, but not quite your level, just "almost"
I saved almost all of your pics, my wife will come home and get on the laptop and ask if I gained a Viper fetish somewhere!! Haha
BTW, up above the list of what you was going to use to detail the car only shows like 3 bullet points, instead of all of them, at least for me.
I saved almost all of your pics, my wife will come home and get on the laptop and ask if I gained a Viper fetish somewhere!! Haha
BTW, up above the list of what you was going to use to detail the car only shows like 3 bullet points, instead of all of them, at least for me.
Awesome job, I love your threads becuase of the pics and attention to detail. If I had the same caliper car I'd be the same way. I was almost as bad with my Lightning back in the day, but not quite your level, just "almost"
I saved almost all of your pics, my wife will come home and get on the laptop and ask if I gained a Viper fetish somewhere!! Haha
BTW, up above the list of what you was going to use to detail the car only shows like 3 bullet points, instead of all of them, at least for me.
If you're referring to post #104, you need to select that gray box and it'll expand with everything he listed.
It will be sealed with the new Cquartz Reserve ceramic coating.
Awesome job, I love your threads becuase of the pics and attention to detail. If I had the same caliper car I'd be the same way. I was almost as bad with my Lightning back in the day, but not quite your level, just "almost"
I saved almost all of your pics, my wife will come home and get on the laptop and ask if I gained a Viper fetish somewhere!! Haha
BTW, up above the list of what you was going to use to detail the car only shows like 3 bullet points, instead of all of them, at least for me.
Thanks for the kind words. I think people that are detail oriented will be detail oriented no matter what they're working. I used to take 5hrs to wash my 93 altima LOL.
Made more progress at the shop last night. Caliper break-down, cleaning, and powder process has commenced.
Start off fully assembled and arrange required tools;
First step is to knock out the pad pins, remove the cross spring, and pads;
Next, the fluid hard line is removed, and then its just 4 bolts holding the caliper halves together;
Start off fully assembled and arrange required tools;
First step is to knock out the pad pins, remove the cross spring, and pads;
Next, the fluid hard line is removed, and then its just 4 bolts holding the caliper halves together;
Now you're ready to remove the pistons. Some shop air, and a bleeder nipple with a quick release fitting makes life easy;
Set the body in a clamp;
Attach air line;
Place block under pistons to catch them, and to prevent one piston from shooting out (and bleeding the pressure), while leaving the adjacent one retracted. Around 10-15psi does the trick. (Now picturing other caliper half);
With the pistons extended, carefully roll back the lip of the dust boots and apply light force to leverage the pistons out. Take care to apply force directly in line with piston axis (to prevent cocking).
Repeat with the other side;
Both pistons removed;
Next you carefully pry the dust boots out from their locations, and follow by removing the piston seals (in the bore). You are left with this when finished;
Last step is to remove the pad guides (2 on each half);
Repeat this until all 4 calipers are completely broken down. They will now head to an acid bath to strip the oem paint;
Next, all caliper hardware that was removed goes into a de-greasing station. Soaks for a few minutes, metals get brissle brushed, seals/boots get hand massaged, everything is rinsed, and placed aside.
Ready for the next step;
Center caps and caliper hard lines join the calipers in the acid bath;
Bleeders and caliper bolts are heading to the media blaster;
Set the body in a clamp;
Attach air line;
Place block under pistons to catch them, and to prevent one piston from shooting out (and bleeding the pressure), while leaving the adjacent one retracted. Around 10-15psi does the trick. (Now picturing other caliper half);
With the pistons extended, carefully roll back the lip of the dust boots and apply light force to leverage the pistons out. Take care to apply force directly in line with piston axis (to prevent cocking).
Repeat with the other side;
Both pistons removed;
Next you carefully pry the dust boots out from their locations, and follow by removing the piston seals (in the bore). You are left with this when finished;
Last step is to remove the pad guides (2 on each half);
Repeat this until all 4 calipers are completely broken down. They will now head to an acid bath to strip the oem paint;
Next, all caliper hardware that was removed goes into a de-greasing station. Soaks for a few minutes, metals get brissle brushed, seals/boots get hand massaged, everything is rinsed, and placed aside.
Ready for the next step;
Center caps and caliper hard lines join the calipers in the acid bath;
Bleeders and caliper bolts are heading to the media blaster;
I'm still slower than Curt but I'm getting there haha;
Pad pins and guides are going into the abrasive shaker to get a polish;
A little break to give the shop beast some love;
Calipers came out of the acid bath. The media is over a year old so its not stripping as well as it should be (replacement is on the way), but it did enough. These will be sprayed off, baked out, and headed to the media blaster;
The other half wanted to help out so I put her to work
All seals and boots are placed in a ziplok bag and hit with some seal conditioner, and left to sit overnight.
More progress soon!
Pad pins and guides are going into the abrasive shaker to get a polish;
A little break to give the shop beast some love;
Calipers came out of the acid bath. The media is over a year old so its not stripping as well as it should be (replacement is on the way), but it did enough. These will be sprayed off, baked out, and headed to the media blaster;
The other half wanted to help out so I put her to work
All seals and boots are placed in a ziplok bag and hit with some seal conditioner, and left to sit overnight.
More progress soon!
Caliper bolts blasted and ready for Cerakote;
Blasting the calipers;
Some tedious hours later...
Blasting the calipers;
Some tedious hours later...
Alex, have you thought of starting a youtube channel like obsessed garage? You just might be more OCD than that guy. Passion for cars and the tiniest thing out of place fixed.
I really don't think anything I'm doing is novel or worthy of a channel. Plus, there's no way in hell I'd have time to keep up with that.
A little more progress last night. Got the center caps blasted and ready for powder. The pad springs, hard-lines, and bleeders are blasted and ready for Cerakote. Bleeders are such a pain in the ass to blast, little bastards slip out of my glove and go flying all over the damn place.
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