I’ve checked over the rest of the frame. Everything is getting the wire wheel and then coated with commercial rust converter. I think the rusted out parts are from salt and stuff getting up between the fender and the frame. I found while cutting out the fender that it was just spot welded on the inside and there was a gap between the two on the bottom exterior.
Big T, that was my thinking too. Get one side all taken care of then move to the other.
Well I’m back messing with the smoker. Will probably have someone swap out all the rusted out frame rails on the trailer. Really want that done right. Until then I’ll be getting the smoker stripped and then prepping it for paint job number two. Still have a lot to go but the soil gel is working great to get the botched paint job off. Anyone have any tips of chemically prepping the rolled steel for paint? Anything made from the 1/8” sheet metal I got is what had the issues with the paint falling off. Like I mentioned before, I’m going back with cerakote and don’t want that getting messed up. Too expensive.
Also, media blasting will put small pits in the steel that the paint can hang on to. And I'm always a fan of undercoating and then main coat.
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
I’d prefer having it blasted to help the paint adhere better but the few guys I’ve asked wanted an arm and leg to do it. Not easy to move around. As for getting the old coat off, the soy gel eats it up quick. I did the back half of the smoker in less that 20mins. It is somewhat of a mess but manageable. I do plan on using an undercoat though. Was thinking of engine primer as long as it doesn’t require heat to properly cure.
Any one use self etching primer on their builds? Was thinking of going that route to hopefully fix my cohesion issues when it comes to the sheet metal parts of my smoker. Any preferred brands?
Still have some of the front and the bottom to strip but it’s almost done. Haven’t had much time to work on it. Got the new emblems for it in. Trying out sublimated aluminum plates. Ink doesn’t activate till like 450 degrees so I know the lid emblems will be fine. Interested to see how the firebox one holds up. I think it’ll be good. It’s offset about an 1-1/2” away from the box. We’ll see. The emblems are just mocked up with tape right now but I think once it’s painted they’re going to look pretty good.
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
So even though I’m waiting on a buddy to fix up/replace the rusted frame rails on my smoker trailer I still have my annual 4th cook to do. Did a small cook on the uds to day for a few people that won’t be around for the big cook I’m doing Tuesday. Ribs turned out pretty good. Going to be cooking up a bunch of beef ribs, briskets, pork shoulders and some pork belly burnt ends on Tuesday. Should be interesting.
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
Thanks guys, here’s a couple pics from the food I put out yesterday. Did some pork belly burnt ends and all the ribs that came off a cow we had slaughtered. I also did the two briskets and two pork shoulders but the ribs and burnt ends turned out to be enough so I got today covered as well haha. The couple spots of paint I did so I could adhere my logos and put the springs and rods in the new handles Frank makes seem to be holding up. Leads me to think that there was still some oil residue in the steel that I didn’t get completely off the first time. Hopefully that’s the case and after a good cleaning I’ll get it painted and for last time. At least for awhile anyway.
Nothing like a bit of extra tucker for the next day.
Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
Well the trailer frame repair was a little out of my wheelhouse so I had a buddy do the repair. I’ll be picking it up on Monday. From what he told me, that section of the trailer is beefed up quite a bit. He went back with 4”x4” steel tubing for the frame rails and 3”x3” tubing for the cross supports. Which is good, the drives side frame rail just behind the back wheel had dropped 3”s and was one bump away from breaking off completely by the time I got the trailer there. Thinking it’s good to go now haha. I’ll post pics one Monday when I get the trailer back to my shop.