My latest barn find

[JDT]

$300.00?? Nice buy Jeff.

Complete tear down is the only way to go.

[400brian]

Very nice!

You have the updated track, and the drive sprockets look low mileage to me. Very clean under the hood...good buy!

[jeffreyrempel]

Thanks guys, I am looking forward to this restoration and I appreciate your time.

[jeffreyrempel]

So I completely disassembled the sled today. After going through the whole sled I can now say that it is definitely low mileage and that the odometer is probebly correct. The flex shaft from the speedometer drive to the drive shaft was not broken and all the mechanical parts have minimal wear. This is going to be a fun restoration and a beautiful sled when I am finished.

[SpitfireKing]

Great to hear! I have used parts if anything comes up bad..but looks like with some cleaning and new paint you'll have everything you need. I tried to match the JD black paint...never seemed to work on mine.. but I love how it turned out anyway...although I hate to say it..the decals ended up being crappy..and yes they came from a supplier we all know.

After the first real cold snap they would chip with even the slightest touching...just the crap hitting my heavy canvas cover was enough to chip them...but here it is before

[jeffreyrempel]

Looks great! Sorry to here about the decals. Did you apply them wet or dry? I wonder if its worth the $160 to buy the decals? Now I dont know what to do....hmmmm.
After going through the sled, it looks like everything that I need I can get from New Br eed parts, which is a good feeling, less time searching for parts and more time to spend on the sled. Ttyl.

[SpitfireKing]

Put on dry, but they were shipped rolled so tight it wasn't even funny.. And after a week being flattened they still got bubbles in them... But if your decals are ok... Keep them.. Way thicker and more durable

[WinnipegStPaul9]

I've installed a lot of decals in my time but about two weeks ago I was schooled in the best way to do it. I know they recommend applying "wet" but I never made them wet enough. Went to a professional's place to watch him install a set to Sean's 83 LF hood and he made them WET!! Using a soap water solution he liberally sprayed the hood surface before laying the decals on it. It was magic!!! If you've installed decals on an 80-84 hood you know how important it is to get the long decal in the right area. With Jay's method once the decals are placed on the wet area you could move it around until you felt it was in the right place. Since the tunnel decals needed installed I came home and used the same method and it worked great. Yes, you have to squeegy a lot more to get the water out from under the decal but at the same time you'll get rid of any "bubbles". From now on for me, it's lots of soap/water ( I used Dawn about 10% or so) and the correct product to squeegy the water which is a rubber, not plastic, product from 3M sold at any automotive store. I guess an old dog can be taught new tricks.

DA

[jeffreyrempel]

I thaught that applying decals wet was common practice. Thats why I asked if you applied them wet I used the exact method that you described DA, lots of soapy water and a squeegy to get rid of the moister. like you said, it works well. Another thing to remember is that new paint releases gas as it cures, so dont apply decals for at least a week after a fresh paint job. If you notice a bubble after you apply a decal you can use a fine pin to pop it and release the gas without damaging anything.applying decals dry is ok if they are small. What troubles me though is that your decals are chiping. That has nothing to do with how you applied them, so they must be poor quality.

[JD_Sledder68]

I use the liberal soap and water method on car decals. Try a decal set on a 73 Plymouth Roadrunner! That'll test your patience.

One thing I also use is a sharp needle or stick pin and a heat gun. Needle is for bubbles that will not come out. Prick them in the center and work them out with your fingers. Heat gun (low temp setting) to work out bubbles and help the decal bond to the paint.

[SpitfireKing]

I ended up using a very sharp knife tip and just put a small slit in the bubbled spots and when the flattened then the slits disappeared. I could have possibly done more when puting them on to work them out, but as you mention the chipping is what PO's me about them... They were just so thin, vs when I used stripper to remove the old decals and paint I could tell the old ones were way thicker.

I've done wet and dry, and in that hood I went dry... Wanted them on their good and I've had wet move on me when I left them

[TOYMECH]

Just thought i would share some helpful hints that work for me as i work a lot with decals with my occupation daily. These are NOT necessarily "gospel" rules/laws or anything like that - they work for me, however and i have learned them both by experience and from sign/grapics people in the trade:

1/ One person mentioned to me to never use soap/water solution to aid in decal installation since over time, the soap will break down the adhesive on the backing of the decal or graphic. It was recommended to me to use a decal application fluid such as Rapid-Tac. They have some EXCELLENT videos on here showing graphics installation as well :
http://www.rapidtac.com/

2/ A heat gun or hair dryer is your friend when installing large decals.

3/ One tool i find handy for installing large vinyl graphics is called a brayer which is used in the printing industry. It's basically a soft rubber roller and likely can be had at art supply or print house suppliers. Works much better than a squeege as it does not "pull" on the graphic when trying to get it to seat down on the surface. Here is just one example:
http://www.misterart.com/printmaking/br ... rayer.html

4/ DON'T be "afraid of" or too "dainty" when installing - i have found the more hesitant or reluctant i am when installing decals, the more things screw up. Watched a lot of pro guys (mind you they HAVE experience) do it when i was in my learning stages and they treat them rough. I adopted this methodology and it works...

Greg

[jeffreyrempel]

Well the sled is completely disassembled and I finished removing the paint from the tunnel.
The clean-up process begins....

[JD600]

Looks like you got the easy part done! Good luck and keep the pics coming!

DE

[400brian]

Very nice work. How did you remove the paint?