You Learn a Lot About a Car When you Ruin it

Wheeeeeeels incoming. Konig Hypergrams. 17 x 8"

What do you all know about painting (cars) with tractor paint? I'm interested in maybe scuffing up the Audi's paint and spraying John Deere yellow over it. Any painters in the house? How does this paint work?

My thoughts are that it should be a.) cheap and b.) easy to find when I break the car and need to repaint something. I know of at least one person who does this for, at least I think, those two reasons.

My brother is a painter, so we'll paint the car together, and we have access to his equipment. Does the stuff need to be mixed with reducers, does it require clear coat, etc.? Or are there different versions of John Deere Yellow?

In reply to confuZion3 :

It would be a stretch to call myself a painter, but I have done a few cars and a bunch of jets. Recently did my Dodge van with Ace brand Rustoleum knock off paint and it came out pretty good. Yes, thin with acetone or mineral spirits. A hardener will add gloss and make it more tough. Rustoleum recipe: 4 parts paint 3 parts reducer and a scant 1 part enamel hardener sprayed decent out of a HF paint gun. 

In reply to GoLucky :

Awesome! Thank you! I'll report back if we decide to try it.

The wheels showed up today. Cool. Now the question I have for you all: should I scuff up the bead of the wheel before mounting race slicks? I only just learned that this is a thing people can do. If so, how do I do it correctly? 

Wheelage, my friends! Always test fit your wheels before putting tires on them. They fit, though!

Wheel studs! Why didn't I do this earlier? 

Heh. These pictures were taken about a year apart. One today, and the other right before I tore into the car and stopped driving it on the road. It's been a journey! 

Also, here's a picture of a goose.

The car's first race is in two weeks! I have a list of things I need to accomplish beforehand, but the list is mercifully very short.

The car should get fresh brake fluid, new pads, coolant replaced by water, an oil change, and tires installed.

Oh, I did other stuff last weekend. I made.... MORE BRACKETS!

This one is Aluminum.

I gave it some outward depth to allow the inside net strap to snake in behind it. I also ground down a slot for that. Then I mounted the AiM data logger's mount to the bracket, cut a square hole in it to mount the until-today-dangling "park anywhere lights" switch, and shot some paint at it.

I think it is important that the AiM be mounted rock solid so that it's not reading G force readings from whatever it is mounted to flexing. This is mounted to the dash support.

Getting ready for next weekend. I changed the oil today and flushed the coolant out. It is now running distilled water and Water Wetter. New brake pads went on today, too.

I think EBC upgraded the clips on the backs of the pads that hold the pads into the pistons, because they went in easier and they look beefier. Nice upgrade, EBC!

Last night, I ceramic coated the new wheels. Hopefully they will be easier to clean.

Testing out the rig. It looks like the brake wire wasn't connected to the 7 pin that the previous owner installed. But the wires are all there.

Somewhere.

Probably.

I just need to find the blue wire and connect to it. Wouldn't you know it, though, I have this whole roll of blue wire here that I can just connect right up!

But hey, here's a picture of the new RV with the trailer attached!

Tomorrow's job is:

Find the blue wire from the van's harness and plug it into the trailer connector thingy.

Run a black wire from a 12v source to the connector thingy for trailer battery charging.

Give up (optional).

Drag the trailer to Home Depot and pick up a few 2 x 10s for the trailer deck.

RV is new-to-us. A 2000 Fleetwood JAMBOREE! 25 feet. It is going to be a hoot. The idea is to drag the car to its debut race this weekend and live in the RV. And you know how the best laid plans go...

Remember how my hood used to, like, work? Ha. Well now, this is a funny story. Promise you won't be mad....

I was installing Aerocatch hood pins (which are, in fact, exactly as much of a pain as you think they are), and I was about 90% of the way through testing the fitment of the first one when the primary latch clicked. The hood latched. No matter... it is a little annoying, because somebody has to press down on the hood to relieve the for-some-reason massive tension on the latch while I pull the remainder of a cable, but it does open.

Or it did at least. That latch has popped its last. While, as you can see, I was in the middle of solving the very problem that stopped me in my tracks.

I tried having my kids push down on the hood, or even sit on it. I even piled a bunch of weights on top of it to exceed their weight. It might take an adult to push down and, I don't know, maybe wiggle the hood side to side while I pull the cable. It won't move mutch, but I suspect the Aerocatch is putting a little sideways tension on it at the moment.

I might try to remove the old latch by drilling it out through the grill. Is that a thing? Can that be done? Well, I may soon find out. That latch has a date with my Milwaukee.