Well, I didn't get the engine back in at the weekend. So, after all the degreasing and washing it was finally time to start the prep for painting. I'm using the POR15 system as its meant to be very good at stopping rust I couldn't reach and preventing new rust.
The first step was to use their metal prep. This stuff is a mix of phospheric acid and something that leaves a coating of zinc phosphate. It's water based, so I used a trigger bottle to spray it over the bare metal. You're meant to keep things wet for at least 30 mins to get it working. It was 80 odd F (about 30ish C if your reading in colour) on the day so I was kept busy spraying areas as they dried. After the 30 mins were up I had to flush it with water. Yay! I get to power wash again! So out with that and a thorough rinse off got everything off the metal.
It needed to be bone dry before I could apply the second step, the actual rust preventative paint. So I had a brain wave and used my plug in electric leaf blower to dry off the worst of the water. That and the heat of the day meant I was ready to start masking in no time. A friend dropped by to see how I was doing while I was at it and he made a suggestion that saved me hours; why not use kitchen foil to mask the loom? It worked a treat! I wasn't going to strip everything in the engine bay so I planned on feathering the paint near the bulkhead and this worked nicely for that too.
Next was the first coat of the actual paint. This stuff is a little odd. It uses moisture to help it cure. It also can't be thinned much. Even with it's branded solvent. The TDS says only a max of 5%. I'm using a HVLP gun with a 1.2mm tip so I was a little worried that it wouldn't be able to cope with the viscosity of the paint. I needn't have worried, it flows out beautifully once applied. They say to use two coats, but leave for about 2-3 hours between them. So I left things alone after cleaning the gun and tried to find something else to do. After the second coat I needed to wait another 2-3 hours before I applied a top coat.
Final stage was POR15's top coat (called 'top coat!) I wanted the factory like finish so went for their chassis black finish. It dries to a nice satin finish that looks pretty good from about 5-10 feet. It was a little thicker than the base coat. It flows out fairly well, but I think I was on the edge of my gun's abilities with it. Again I was concerned about over thinning the paint with solvent as it can stop it cross-linking with the basecoat and causing issues with poor cure and adhesion. I definitely didn't want to do this again! As it happens it's not too bad, I have some orange peel in places, but the two coats went on quickly with a 2 hour gap between them and dried fairly quickly. My only concern was that it felt a little soft the next day. I phoned their tech support line and they assured me that it can take up to a week to feel fully cured. I guess watch this space! I have to say it looks ok. I'm happy with the finish and it does feel tough.
I managed to put in the rebuilt master cylinders on the Sunday along with the hydraulic lines and loom. It took about five goes to get everything back in the right order, even with all the photos I had taken before I took her apart.
I'm back at work this week, so I get a little time each day to play in the garage. I wanted to pull the side plates as the engine I will be fitting had sat for a good while at a mechanic's yard. It was from rolly. The car wasn't safe to rebuild after an accident about five years ago. At the time I had built the engine as a 2200 using NOS pistons, conrods, crankshaft and many other ebay finds. It had about 1,500 miles on it at the time of the accident. The mechanic was recommended as a trusted Rover guy and the hope was to straighten out the body and get Rolly back on the road. After a number of false starts I realised that the car was beyond safe repair. I wouldn't have felt safe having it back on the road. I had a lot going on in my private life so it was left at the yard for a few years. Unfortunately I didn't realise that they had left neat water in the cooling system. I pulled the LHS side plate and found 20mm of sediment in the jacket! I wasn't happy! When I got the block bored out I had also had it boiled in a chemical bath to clean the water ways. So now I have to pull both side plates and flush the system as best I can. The side plates seem to be very distorted too. I will use the ones on the engine that came out as they are in good nick. I checked the block for cracks, the gasket sealing surfaces on the block where the side plate goes for flatness and that the studs and bolt line up perfectly with the engine mount bracket too. All appears good. I have to admit I was conviced for a second that I had the wrong engine, but the block number matches as it should, its amazing what a few years sitting can do. Oh well, you live and learn.
Tomorrow the rain stops. It's been raining since Sunday afternoon. I hope to find enough time to fit the rebuilt steering box and the good idler I have waiting for Beryl. After that it's all engine fettling ready for putting it in. I hope I make it this weekend. Time will tell.