CamT's build thread

Experimenting with different shift knobs leads me to believe your shift knob may be to big to fit without your front knuckles hitting the dash sifting into 3rd and 5th if you have a rear view camera installed. I elected to go with a momo knob that had a smaller circumference.

You can cut the Cableshift shifter shaft almost in half then re-die it. It allowed me a decent size knob plus quicker shifts. Nice build Cam. Who would ever think there would be dual Cam's on the GT40 blog?!
 
Thanks Mark, appreciate your doing some legwork for me, interested to hear what you find out.

I'm using the Eastwood powder coating system and their recommended procedure is to heat the part to 400F for 20 mins, metal temperature. Citing has a max recommend operating temperature of 400F. Realistically, the seals should be OK at these temperatures and for these lengths. At this temperature any degradation is going to be exceptionally slow. I don't anticipate this being an issue but I would understand how many coaters would not want the liability of damaging the seals and pistons. I'm just going the more conservative route because there's a good chance I'll mess it up ;). Rebuild kits aren't exceptionally expensive.

Cam - once my car gets roadworthy I'm making a trip out to your neck of the woods!
 
FYI. Two little tricks I learned.

I used compressed air into the fluid inlet hole of the caliper to help push the pucks out. Used a wood clamp to hold one puck while removing the other.

As for powder, it is very durable, however with prolonged heating like numerous track days, I found the powder started getting hairline cracks. Our solution was a top coat of clear ceramic coating on top of your powder 6 years later, still good as new. Be advised how're, the clear is a little pricey. We tried it with paint as well and it works pretty darn good.

Have fun.
 
Thanks Dan - I was planning to finish with a clear powder for gloss enhancement. Could you point me in the direction of what type of ceramic clear you would recommend? Since I own the tools and I don't plan on many track days I may opt out of the ceramic clear if it's cost prohibitive but I'll give it a look before deciding. It's something that can be applied well after the powder coat has cured?
 
In looking at my calipers, the uncoated area appears to be etched, but still with some degree of original coating. It is not bare metal.
 

Earl Mitchell

Supporter
Hi Cam talked to you a while back about delivery time and was just informed by Vicky today another 3 weeks.But didn't come on here for that I just wanted to say great job on your blog very detailed and written with a great bit of humor to keep it entertaining,look forward to each update.
 
Mark - appreciate the follow up!

Earl - the waiting is the toughest part, thanks for the feedback on the blog, not much exciting happening just yet but I'm anxious to get the ball rolling on the build!
 
Cam

The powder company I used for the exhaust and calipers applied the coating, so I don't know exactly which brand. There are several companies that carry high heat ceramic clear coat that may interest you. I know it worked. I was especially impressed on how much cooler the headers ran on the vette with the coating as well. I had a ceramic chrome coating applied to the exhaust system on the SLC. Take a look at the benefits.
 
Thanks Dan, I was thinking you were referring to some kind of DIY coating. I do plan to coat my exhaust to keep engine bay temps down, wasn't aware that stuff is also available in clear.
 
I simply use engine enamel that you can buy at any auto parts store. Scuff up the surface, mask, and rattle can away. Never had any problems and cost is around $6. Takes about as much time as it would to drive your calipers somewhere to have it done.

You can buy ceramic paint online for your exhaust. Long pipes might be a problem, but I have done exhaust manifolds and turbo housings right in my bbq. Lol. Just properly clean and etch the material, then spray on, bake at 500 for 20 mins, recoat, bake again. Final curing happens on the car (no matter who does it) once temp reaches over 800-1000f iirc.
 
I've taken a long break from touching the car! Phase 1 of our house renovation was completed and I've had a chance to get a few days in on the car. Man, what a great feeling!

My last blog post had me stripping the entire car down; I had planned to start the re-assembly of the suspension but I got side tracked. The front upper a-arm bolts are too long and their orientation doesn't make for easy camber adjustment if needed on the inboard side. So I decided to cut the bolts down and orient them so they're heads out.

Before I could jump into doing this I went on several trips with my wife and daughter. This left me with too much thinking time on my hands and I went over the whole polish/ballistol dilemma once again. I decided I would anodize my suspension.

Ultimately decided on going with a Type 3 clear anodize - results are very different than Mark's results due to the differences in processing (Mark went with a type 2).

A few pics:
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A big shout out to RCR for helping me out this past week. As I was reassembling my suspension I did something pretty stupid and seized a bolt. Ultimately I had to cut up part of the suspension and bolt to get it all freed up again. Fran's hooking me up with replacement parts FOC, I didn't expect this level of support! Thanks again Fran!

Details of the anodizing and my stupidity here:
12. The voices didn’t stop – Cam's Superlite SLC
 
For the tight tolerance areas, couldn't you have the areas masked by the anodizer?

We do that at my work for press fits, bearing surfaces, etc.
 
For the tight tolerance areas, couldn't you have the areas masked by the anodizer?

We do that at my work for press fits, bearing surfaces, etc.

Yes, absolutely. Apart from threaded holes, the other areas aren't tolerances tightly enough to need masking apart from:

- upright assembly points
- toe link holes

My experience has been so-so with masking. Holes are easy to do because they use plugs. Surfaces needing to be masked can sometimes have non uniform masking. I figured for the upright assembly plates I'd just sand or heat up the part for final assembly; I found sanding edges to be helpful but placing the parts into the oven before assembly was what really did the trick. 300-350F seemed to be the right temperature.

I didn't want to spend the time going over every single part with the anodizer so left them with the most basic instructions; mask all threaded holes and any thruholes are OK to anodize. There may or may not have been an additional cost for masking had I gone down the more detailed route.

Everything on the suspension is a clearance fit, some areas tight enough that the type 3 anodize was just too much. I'm not sure if Mark had any issues with the Type 2 as material growth is about half in comparison (I think).
 
Thanks Jack!

I powdercoated my calipers orange. I wanted the brakes to stand out and didn't want Togo with the traditional black. This was a great learning experience, I made a ton of mistakes but the end results turned out to be awesome. More details and photos on my blog but I'm going to try To get better photos, the camera phone just doesn't do it justice. Highly recommend this project for anyone interested in learning a new skill.

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13. Braking the silence – Cam's Superlite SLC
 
Thanks Jack - I looked into stenciling but the lettering would be white and I was wanting to go with black. I purchased some black vinyl letters but after further research the vinyl is hit or miss and may curl or discolor once exposed to the heat of coating. Ultimately decided I would not use them. I was cleaning the calipers today and noted that the orange powder seems to be sensitive to brakleen, it seems to dull a little once exposed to this stuff. I don't plan to use harsh chemicals to clean the car but I'm now looking into something to coat the calipers to give them a little more protection. Likely a single stage color wouldn't be as sensitive but as I said, I chose the worst possible color to attempt for this project!
 
I too noticed that current powder coating is sensitive to solvents, even something as 'mild' as lacquer thinner. High quality urethane automotive grade 2K clear is not, although its not heat resistant.

Your findings will be of interest.
 
Mesa - spent the afternoon doing some reading and have decided to try a ceramic coating on the calipers and wheels. I've had good luck with ceramic coatings on my two daily drivers and the coating I've selected states it will add a high gloss finish, not recommended for satin or matte wheels. I'll be using this coating as a pseudo clear coat to hopefully keep the finish as clear and bright as possible. I thought about spraying the calipers down with a clear but am concerned with yellowing and adhesion issues, will give this a whirl first and see how it turns out.

I'm surprised the brakleen had such an effect on the finish, I used to go through bottles of this stuff cleaning my cars - but that was before I got keen on detailing and my OCD levels were much more in check.

The product I'll be testing is Adam's ceramic wheel sealant. It's fairly new but I use their other products and like most of what I've tried.
 
Cam
I used G2 caliper 2K paint on mine, ceramic filled. Seems impervious to everything so far.
900 degree stuff. Red with white lettering using the stencils. We did Wayne's at the same time and he has had no issues.
 
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