Using Alex's staple placement as a guide to where to place the rivets, I marked the metal shields and drilled a set of 1/8" holes along their perimeters. I then placed masking tape along the edges of the rubber gaskets and using the newly drilled holes as a guide, transferred the hole pattern to the masking tape with a pen. From there, it was a simple process to use a gasket punch to punch the final holes into the rubber gaskets. I did this by clamping a short piece of 2x4 in my bench vice and using it as the base while punching the holes. This gave a nice crisp hole through the rubber gasket material.
Before final assembly, I sandblasted off the original paint from the metal shields as it looked thin and of poor quality. Finished them off in the powder coat booth with a nice even coat of satin black. Once they cooled, it was quick work in attaching the rubber gaskets using the McMaster-Carr rivets. I like the look and think the rubber will stand up better with the rivets rather than the small bearing surface of the staples. Time will tell!
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| Drilled holes in shield and corresponding holes in gasket |
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| Assembled front shield |
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| Assembled rear shields |
NICE solution RJ! Whose powder do you favor for that work? Oh.....and is that your toe? 8^)
ReplyDeleteSven, I just order my powder from Eastwood. I'm sure they get it from someone else in large 55 gal drums. I've also tried a place on-line called powder365.com.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes that is my big toe in there - and worse - in my slippers :/ I was never a slipper kind'a guy but my wife bought me a pair last year and I've sort of grown attached to them. Next, I'll be smoking a pipe :)
rj
That's the way it should be done RJ! Oh and no fair you guys with the powder coating setups!!
ReplyDeleteNice RJ! I've got to get back working on my fastback or I'll be left behind in the dust!
ReplyDeleteAlways jealous of you home powder coaters, and great looking job on the splash shields. It's getting there!
ReplyDeleteGuys, I put a very cheap powder coat booth together from just a couple sheets of plywood from Lowe's. I added a 2nd small chamber, capped with a replaceable furnace filter and pull a vacuum on the booth with my shop vac. This keeps the powder in the booth and not floating around the shop. I added a fluorescent light for better visibility. Add a $100 gun from Eastwood - a discarded kitchen oven - and you are in business. For the small investment, the pay-off is huge as you can turn out VERY professional looking parts without the hassle of guns, thinner, clean-up, runs, sags, etc. About the only place to screw up is getting dust on the part before curing or tapping fluid leaking from tapped holes that weren't cleaned enough prior to cooking.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately for me it's not a matter of can I, it comes down to where can I. Without a garage my shop space tends to be pretty nonexistent. :)
DeleteGrant, from experience, I can tell you that doing this in the kitchen oven is not something you want the wife to find when she gets home from work :/
Deleterj
great looking set of splash shields! simple and clean. I'm definitely coming back to this page once I get to this point.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom, the McMaster-Carr part number for the rivets is 94570A329. Make sure you check out Alex's "1968 Mustang Convertible Restoration' blog. He is the master of the detailed explanation.
ReplyDeleterj