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Paint, ball joints, red nuts and bolts, cad plating, toes...

To: british-cars@autox.team.net
Subject: Paint, ball joints, red nuts and bolts, cad plating, toes...
From: William Hartwell Woodruff <woodruff@engin.umich.edu>
Date: Wed, 05 Oct 1994 12:06:52 -0400
        Thanks for the info on the paint.  I guess I let my fears
get the better of me and I sent a message off too soon.  My assumption
that veri-prime and DP40 were the same was quite incorrect (thankfully).
I should have checked it out, instead of going by faulty memory.
        I had a Healey expert (The Healey Werks in Chicago) repair,
sandblast, and prime the substructure of my car.  He's the one who used 
the veri-prime.  Since I have little knowledge of current paints, I've 
been following his lead.  I wonder if he uses the acid etching primer 
because of the aluminum panels of the Healey?  Perhaps I should consider 
using DP40 on the rest of the body panels (doors, fenders,hood, boot 
lid etc.)  Opinions?
        I've been working on a Jag XK120.  Recently I've taken apart the 
front suspension and found a significant amount of wear on the lower ball
joints.  I'm not very familiar with the style of ball joint used, and I
need some advice on repairing it.  It has two parts which comprise a socket
with a softer metal liner (bearing surface) and a ball that looks very similar
to a trailer hitch.  The ball has a pretty large flat area worn into it.  I
think the severity of the wear is due to a lack of a grease (it has no 
grease fitting).  I'm assuming I'll have to replace the ball, but do I have 
to also replace the socket lining?  Is it typical to modify these to include
a grease fitting?
        Also on the XK120, I have found a number of fasteners in the suspension
that are red.  I can't tell for sure if they were painted red, maybe they were 
dyed red.  Does anyone have a clue what or why this is?  Perhaps there was a 
popular anti-seize or thread lock in the fifities that was red?  I'll 
entertain any wild theories - they make no mention of it in the 'original 
XK120... guide' I have.
        I'd like to have all the fasteners on my Healey and this XK 120
cad plated (is that the right term?)  Does anyone have any experience 
with this?  A lot of the bolts in the suspension of the Jag have 
interference fits to reduce play.  Would the thickness of the plating
mess this up? Costs?
        Finally, I think the touching the toes beer challenge required PROOF
of being able to touch your toes.  I can tell you what both my shins smell 
like - old shoes and dirty socks (bleh).

william woodruff        woodruff@caen.engin.umich.edu   Ann Arbor, MI


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