Calan
DSM Wiseman
- 7,250
- 399
- Jan 16, 2007
-
OKC,
Oklahoma
Well it seems like I'm FINALLY seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel, but there is still a lottttttt of tunnel left 
A couple weeks ago I finally bit the bullet and picked up a blasting cabinet and a bucket of 80 grit glass media from Harbor Freight. I've wanted one for about 20 years now, and with all the DSM parts that needed some TLC for my rebuild, I said what the hell and went for it. And now I'm wondering why I waited 20 years.
View attachment 838
After hooking up a shop vac and doing some basic mods to the cabinet, I started blasting away at everything I could get my hands on. My compressor isn't rated for continuous duty and the CFM that blasting requires, so I had to run a fan on it to keep it cool. So far so good.
Some of the things I sanded and blasted were:
1. Fuel rail
2. BOV
3. Cam gears
4. Front case
5. OFH
6. Water neck
7. T-Stat housing
8. GM-MAF housings
9. Intake manifold
10. Water pump
11. Many small misc. pieces and brackets.
For things like the water pump, intake manifold, OFH, and other similar parts, I completely sealed any openings with plugs and strong masking tape to make sure media dust couldn't find it's way inside. Once they were blasted, they were hosed down with 130psi of air and then rinsed...just to be safe.
I'm not sure if it's the pressure, the media, or what... but some items come out almost "too" nice. The intake manifold almost looks like it's been painted silver (but I'm not complaining
). Most everything was left natural aluminum, but I'll be sending several parts off to be powder-coated once I get all the fabrication finalized.
View attachment 839 View attachment 840
On the cam gears, I first taped off the belt surface, and then blasted and clear-coated them to prevent rust. They came out surprisingly nice, with a very cool gun-metal type look to them. With all that said, I have since decided to go with the adjustable gears, so these will probably go up for sale. I did go ahead and bolt them on temporarily, just to get a look at them and snap some pics.
The second shot below gives a good before and after look at them.
View attachment 841 View attachment 842
After blasting and assembling the front case and oil pump, I got started on putting the new stroker together. (I blasted and reassembled the OFH also, but have since decided to change to an external cooler setup. More on that in the next blog entry).
The head is bolted down with ARP's sitting on a Comitech MLS gasket. I wanted to go Mitsu, but this was the only gasket I could find for .040" over at a reasonable price. Cams will both be FP2's (272's with a bit more top) with Fidanza cam gears hanging off the ends. Once I get the cams and gears in place, I'll be degreeing the cams to get everything dialed in properly.
View attachment 843 View attachment 844
View attachment 845 View attachment 846
As for the engine bay, I finally finished my new power-steering line fabrication. I had the high-pressure line crimped at a local shop, and made some brackets to clamp both lines to the frame rail just below the driver's side motor mount. The clamps were made from 1/2" aluminum bar stock using a band saw, belt and rotary sanders, and a LOT of hand sanding.
View attachment 849 View attachment 850
View attachment 847 View attachment 848
I also got some other small and tedious chores done, as well as getting the liners and fenders bolted back up.
View attachment 851 View attachment 852
In the next couple of weeks I should be getting the motor ready to drop in, putting the suspension back together, and will be working on some of the remaining fabrication and other details.
Stay tuned!
A couple weeks ago I finally bit the bullet and picked up a blasting cabinet and a bucket of 80 grit glass media from Harbor Freight. I've wanted one for about 20 years now, and with all the DSM parts that needed some TLC for my rebuild, I said what the hell and went for it. And now I'm wondering why I waited 20 years.
View attachment 838
After hooking up a shop vac and doing some basic mods to the cabinet, I started blasting away at everything I could get my hands on. My compressor isn't rated for continuous duty and the CFM that blasting requires, so I had to run a fan on it to keep it cool. So far so good.
Some of the things I sanded and blasted were:
1. Fuel rail
2. BOV
3. Cam gears
4. Front case
5. OFH
6. Water neck
7. T-Stat housing
8. GM-MAF housings
9. Intake manifold
10. Water pump
11. Many small misc. pieces and brackets.
For things like the water pump, intake manifold, OFH, and other similar parts, I completely sealed any openings with plugs and strong masking tape to make sure media dust couldn't find it's way inside. Once they were blasted, they were hosed down with 130psi of air and then rinsed...just to be safe.
I'm not sure if it's the pressure, the media, or what... but some items come out almost "too" nice. The intake manifold almost looks like it's been painted silver (but I'm not complaining
). Most everything was left natural aluminum, but I'll be sending several parts off to be powder-coated once I get all the fabrication finalized.View attachment 839 View attachment 840
On the cam gears, I first taped off the belt surface, and then blasted and clear-coated them to prevent rust. They came out surprisingly nice, with a very cool gun-metal type look to them. With all that said, I have since decided to go with the adjustable gears, so these will probably go up for sale. I did go ahead and bolt them on temporarily, just to get a look at them and snap some pics.
The second shot below gives a good before and after look at them.
View attachment 841 View attachment 842
After blasting and assembling the front case and oil pump, I got started on putting the new stroker together. (I blasted and reassembled the OFH also, but have since decided to change to an external cooler setup. More on that in the next blog entry).
The head is bolted down with ARP's sitting on a Comitech MLS gasket. I wanted to go Mitsu, but this was the only gasket I could find for .040" over at a reasonable price. Cams will both be FP2's (272's with a bit more top) with Fidanza cam gears hanging off the ends. Once I get the cams and gears in place, I'll be degreeing the cams to get everything dialed in properly.
View attachment 843 View attachment 844
View attachment 845 View attachment 846
As for the engine bay, I finally finished my new power-steering line fabrication. I had the high-pressure line crimped at a local shop, and made some brackets to clamp both lines to the frame rail just below the driver's side motor mount. The clamps were made from 1/2" aluminum bar stock using a band saw, belt and rotary sanders, and a LOT of hand sanding.
View attachment 849 View attachment 850
View attachment 847 View attachment 848
I also got some other small and tedious chores done, as well as getting the liners and fenders bolted back up.
View attachment 851 View attachment 852
In the next couple of weeks I should be getting the motor ready to drop in, putting the suspension back together, and will be working on some of the remaining fabrication and other details.
Stay tuned!
