Restoring the outside of the heater box.

[In The Ten Ring]

OK, so I have decided to not remove the flapper from my heater box, apparently that is harder than it should be and I don't want to crack my box flanges.

When this truck was repainted long ago, the painters had never heard of "taping things off" so they painted all sorts of things under the hood that weren't supposed to be repainted. The heater box had a lot of black and yellow overspray on it which I removed with wet sanding.

Now I have what you can see in the pic. What can I do to make it look as original and uniform as possible?

[irl104]

Use a scotch brite pad and sand the whole thing. Wash it with soap and water. Then use a semi gloss clear coat spray can and your done.

[F.A.A.benny]

If you have access to a bead blast cabinet, you will save lots of time over sanding. I can see that you still have some paint in the harder to reach areas. depending on the type of paint used, it could be quite a bit of work to get it off by sanding.

[Fatherflash]

Originally Posted by irl104

Use a scotch brite pad and sand the whole thing. Wash it with soap and water. Then use a semi gloss clear coat spray can and your done.

Just remember - there are different grades of scotchbrite pads available so choose wisely:
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...=7581709&rt=r3

I would recommend 7448 since you are working on aged plastic which has excessive heat cycling in it life which can make the plastic brittle. Also, if you follow irl104's advice, ensure you use a clear coat that can withstand high temps.

Before bead blasting, I would recommend you investigate wheat starch blasting. It is the utilized standard for reworking surface anomalies, finishes on plastics and composites. Most boats utilize this method to deal with finish anomalies on their composite hulls. Due to the small size of this effort, may not be the best approach to set up a system for yourself due to set up costs.

Chances are, there are professionals in your area that are set up to do this.

http://infohouse.p2ric.org/ref/20/19...dbook/5_7.html

[midniteblues]

A small block of wood and a lite hammer should get that flapper out. But I see no reason to take it out. If ya do get it out then it gets sloppy. tacking it back to the post or stakeing
Real well will keep it in place.
I noticed when ya tack weld them in and there is NO slop the heater controls work SO much better. Lube the flapper and those cables too.

Scuffing it real good and then a awesome hot soapy washing then your ready for some spray can clear coat. Semi gloss or matte. Gloss just doesnt look rite.

[F.A.A.benny]

The heater box isn't made of plastic. Its fiberglass. No scotch bright pad will hurt it but bead blasting yes. You wanna be careful to not hit it too hard or stay in one spot too long as it can eat right through the fiberglass

[F.A.A.benny]

Originally Posted by midniteblues

A small block of wood and a lite hammer should get that flapper out. But I see no reason to take it out. If ya do get it out then it gets sloppy. tacking it back to the post or stakeing
Real well will keep it in place.
I noticed when ya tack weld them in and there is NO slop the heater controls work SO much better. Lube the flapper and those cables too.

Scuffing it real good and then a awesome hot soapy washing then your ready for some spray can clear coat. Semi gloss or matte. Gloss just doesnt look rite.

Interesting. I've never has an issue with slop

[midniteblues]

Originally Posted by F.A.A.benny

Interesting. I've never has an issue with slop

Yhea usually the flap in the main box stays pretty tite to the rod.

But once you pull it out and clean it all up and resemble it it could be loose by then.

I've only done 3 complete heater assembles this way now and every one of them work flawlessly.
perhaps in areas where the heater/controls/flappers don't get used as much they may be in better shape than around here.
The flapper rite behind the heater controls is usually the one with the most play between the rod and flap.

[In The Ten Ring]

Thanks for the advice fellas. I never thought about removal inducing slop, so, one more reason not to do it!

Scotch brite pad and washing huh? I can do that. Semi gloss or matte clear coat.......is rattle can OK for that? (I don't have a spray gun or any experience with one).

I also have no room for a blasting cabinet.

[firedemon]

there is a tool for lubricating cables on Harleys or bikes in general I guess , anyway it works great on these old cables but don't use wd40 use cable lube for bikes you wont believe the difference

[leddzepp]

Graphite works well for lubing cables.