To make a basic repair, cut into the crack until you reach the metal core. Bevel or "V" the edges of the crack with a file. Clean the wheel thoroughly with PRE and then mix and fill the crack with the included PC-7 epoxy. Once its dry, 24 hours later, sand the area with 80-, 220-, and 320-grit sandpaper until smooth, clean with PRE, then apply light coats of the included Plastic Adhesion Promoter to the entire wheel, and top coat with an automotive-grade urethane paint within a 1/2 hour. Eastwood recommends its Boulevard Black (not shown) for our black '67 GTO wheel, or AutoColorLibrary (www.autocolorlibrary.com) can supply any exact factory paint color for your steering wheel.
Weekend Powder Coat
Want to produce durable finishes that go beyond rattle cans? Try a home HotCoat system. The finish is more durable than paint, but the process is somewhat more involved. First, this product is for the hands-on hobbyist who has a home air compressor. Second, you'll need an oven because you won't want your pizza to share the oven rack with your trick powdercoated valve covers. The Deluxe HotCoat kit provides all you need to get started, but the Elite HotCoat kit shown here adds the Beginner's Powder Coating book, a performance deflector that provides a more efficient spray pattern, a fluidizing attachment-which thwarts powder surging and more effectively uses the powder in the cup-and a choice of four half-pound containers of standard colors instead of two. It's impossible to fully explain how the system works in an article such as this, so look for a complete story on this product in a future issue.
Dressing For Exhaust
Calyx Manifold Dressing offers an easy way to turn your rusty exhaust manifolds to stock-appearing cast iron. How easy? If you have a fingertip, you're qualified to apply it. This product isn't paint but rather a paste that is applied with a rag and your finger or a small brush for tight spots. Since it's not sprayed, you don't even have to remove the manifolds. Wire brush off the loose rust and wipe the manifolds clean. Apply the product to cool manifolds, rubbing it into the pores of the metal, then start the Pontiac and let it run to operating temperature. Calyx is also great for easy touch ups at the shows.
Carb In Color
We covered upgrading your carb last month in "30 Low-Buck Mods," so this time we'll remind you that you can make it look great, too, by applying Carb Renew, while the unit is apart for the rebuild and power mods. For vintage Q-jets, bronze can be used on the throttle body and air horn, and silver on the base (Carter AFBs can use silver for whole body).
The formula of this translucent acrylic enamel has been improved to make it more resistant to fuel, most fuel additives, and heat, up to 300 degrees. Clean the parts with PRE, scuff with a Scotch-Brite pad, clean with PRE again, and apply a light coat of Carb Renew so that you can still see the base metal through it. A coat of Eastwood's extreme Diamond Clear (not shown) will further enhance resistance to fuel and additives. Don't use carburetor cleaner as it will attack the Carb Renew finish.
The performance deflector...
The performance deflector and the fluidizing attachment make the gun more efficient and easier to use.
The manifold is off the vehicle...
The manifold is off the vehicle for illustration purposes. Calyx Manifold Dressing can easily be applied with the manifolds mounted in the car.
One light coat of Carb Renew...
One light coat of Carb Renew is all that's required to get a factory-appearing carb.
Here's a crusty before ph...
Here's a crusty before photo.
This is the result after a...
This is the result after a dip in Rust Dissolver and a coat of Chrome Galvanize paint. (Yes, we'll change the bulb before installation.)
This task has too many steps...
This task has too many steps to fully cover in this type of story, so here are the required tools to make the job easier and a basic explanation of how the job is done is in the text. A stand-alone tech article will follow in a future issue.