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[nsjames]

last night was today


I was motivated. stayed up late. many regrets today for 11 hours of sanding and polishing yesterday.

high voltage board showed up. originally intended to power nixie tubes.


whoever designed the board is a legend. Left an etched not about which way on the pot increases voltage.

85-235v. She's a spicy little meatball

[nsjames]

well I wasn't really happy with one of the wheels.

so I'm back to polishing just one more.

center refurbishing continues.

[nsjames]

elsa putting in the work.





much better.
and that's how refinishing 4 wheels turns into refinishing 5 wheels.

[nsjames]

I mean, really, who uses M7?

finding a thread chase is turning out to be a challenge.

[nsjames]

well I guess I'm not finding one, at least one that I can have inside of 4 weeks.

4 flute m7 bottom tap it is.

just have to not be a monkey with it. Was really trying to find a chase so I could be careless, because 76 holes.

[nsjames]

assembled high voltage power supplies.

tap arrived, but I need o be sure it's correct before it goes near a wheel.
I'll be making a chunk of scrap aluminium into a bolt holder for the anodizing, so I'll try it there.

[nsjames]

a month since I've done anything with these eh?

test wheel got alumiblast today.


it hid none of the dings or gouges obviously, but it did cover the staining nicely.
I deem this good enough, and will get the other three masked and painted so they can dry for some time before clear.

I guess I need to get on this since winter is ending and I have no summer tires on wheels.

[tlow98]

Wheel porn ftw. You put some serious effort into these!

[nsjames]

good enough for me. I have low standards.

some clear coat and done.
Now I need to mask off and paint the other three this week. probably monday. Too much humidity to be spraying paint today.

really impressed with the alumiblast paint. Covered all the stains with a light two coats. Very heavy metallic content. Kind of pricey, but just what I wanted. Looks like raw aluminum.

[nsjames]

and done.

[nsjames]

fuck yeah boys.

[pennychow]

Any update？

[nsjames]

paint is backordered and I'm still 400 miles from the centers and the whole world has lost its mind.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by nsjames

paint is backordered and I'm still 400 miles from the centers and the whole world has lost its mind.

Darn! These are looking hot regardless. I looked at my wheels today and thought “f*** you”. Ugly, beat up and neglected. Oh well

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by tlow98

Darn! These are looking hot regardless. I looked at my wheels today and thought “f*** you”. Ugly, beat up and neglected. Oh well

well if you want to hate yourself for about 60-70 hours and spend $200 on supplies, they can look pretty again.

my brother and I have tentatively agreed on may 1st painting/wheel assembly.

I may have to take my wife's wagon so I don't burn up these blizzaks on the interstate.

no word yet from eastwood, but they did say that it wouldn't ship until the 19th, so I'm not stressing.

I went with the euro clear urethane. Should be durable, and we should be able to spray it pretty heavy so we can then come back and cut/buff the lips until they're just flat out ridiculous.

[tlow98]

Hell yeah, sounds like a good plan. I'm loving the bling on the lips.

On my end, likely, it'll be Apex's whenever these tires run out. Maybe someone will have some thoroughly beat ones so I can hate myself too!

[nsjames]

so PA just extended their nonsense another two weeks.
we're now discussing shipping the centers back to me.

I called eastwood today, paint was supposed to ship on the 19th, still hasn't shipped, but I did get the shipping address changed to my house and not my brother's.

and that's where I'm at.
I do know that at 65 degrees outside the winter tires drive like shit, so it's a problem.

[nsjames]

paint is here.
as the whole world is still insane, I'll be meeting my brother halfway friday, grabbing the centers and all of his paint polishing things.

I do have the luxury of a good friend that was a professional painter/powdercoater for 20 years, so he's going to spray them for me next week.

You've seen his work, I guarantee it.

[nsjames]

because why not refinish wheel bolts at this stage of the game?

fuck I hate being me sometimes.

[nsjames]

barrels, meet centers




Ill build things to anodize bolts tomorrow, and if it doesn't rain we'll get the barrels painted.

now that I see the center in there I'm super happy with the alumiblast inside.

[nsjames]

paint "booth"


some commercial shelving I had that we broke down for stands.



the man turned on some pearl jam and hit it.



the first coat. waited for the flash and hit them again



and now I wait 3-4 hours to see how we did.
Used 10 oz of paint.

so in 3-4 days I'll hit these with the polisher, and next week I'll call the tire guy.

next up is bolt anodizing.

[Torgus]

I can't wait for the total hours invested.

Wheels are starting to look nice!