This is another post split between 1969 and 2013:
I made a feeble effort to locate a source for parts for the Alfatross, but quickly learned that no one in central North Carolina had ever heard of an Alfa Romeo 1900 (they always pronounced it “Romeo,” as in “and Juliet”), and there was no factory or aftermarket support. This was before foreign cars began to take over the market in the US, so even metric fasteners were hard to find. And of course the Internet, the go-to place for all information and shopping opportunities these days, was not even on the horizon. So I parked the Alfatross in front of my apartment intending to fix it later, but never drove it again under its own power. I doubled up on classes to keep my student deferment, but was drafted anyway. The fate of the Alfatross hung in the balance.
Rewind to 1969
The Alfatross needed work. "All it takes is time and money," two things every university student has in abundance, right? A drive in the country on a chilly, but glorious, November morning ended abruptly with smoke wafting up from under the dash when I switched on the heater fan. Later, on another ride the brakes gave out when the left front line rusted through and burst.
I made a feeble effort to locate a source for parts for the Alfatross, but quickly learned that no one in central North Carolina had ever heard of an Alfa Romeo 1900 (they always pronounced it “Romeo,” as in “and Juliet”), and there was no factory or aftermarket support. This was before foreign cars began to take over the market in the US, so even metric fasteners were hard to find. And of course the Internet, the go-to place for all information and shopping opportunities these days, was not even on the horizon. So I parked the Alfatross in front of my apartment intending to fix it later, but never drove it again under its own power. I doubled up on classes to keep my student deferment, but was drafted anyway. The fate of the Alfatross hung in the balance.
Fast Forward to 2013
The rotisserie is still "work in progress." Both Dave and I had to get back to our "day jobs" for a while. But that doesn't mean we're not still making progress. As soon as the Alfatross is up on the rotisserie we want to start cleaning it with Dave's soda blaster.
Gear Heads will know what this is, but if there is anyone reading this that doesn't, permit me to explain: Whether it's pots and pans ancient artifacts, or an old car, there are only two ways to clean it: chemically or mechanically. With cars chemical strippers are often used to dissolve paint and other coatings. Scraping and sanding are typical ways to clean car bodies mechanically. Each method has its uses--and missuses! We once spent weeks trying to figure out how to chemically clean pewter plates from a shipwreck . The solution was to clean them in a blast cabinet using off-the-shelf bread flour! The soda used in blasting consists of fine crystals similar to bicarbonate of soda. You can regulate the pressure depending on what is being cleaned. It removes paint effortlessly without damaging metal or surrounding glass, chrome trim, rubber seals, etc. Small jobs can be done in a blast cabinet, but big jobs, like cleaning an entire car, require more of everything. Make that a lot more.
Dave's soda blaster is a hungry beast. It devours soda and compressed air like you wouldn't believe! I estimate we will need a dozen 40 lb bags to start with and a 7.5-10 hp compressor with a big reservoir that can put out at least 28 cfm at 90 psi. and guess what . . .they don't give those things away!
Gear Heads will know what this is, but if there is anyone reading this that doesn't, permit me to explain: Whether it's pots and pans ancient artifacts, or an old car, there are only two ways to clean it: chemically or mechanically. With cars chemical strippers are often used to dissolve paint and other coatings. Scraping and sanding are typical ways to clean car bodies mechanically. Each method has its uses--and missuses! We once spent weeks trying to figure out how to chemically clean pewter plates from a shipwreck . The solution was to clean them in a blast cabinet using off-the-shelf bread flour! The soda used in blasting consists of fine crystals similar to bicarbonate of soda. You can regulate the pressure depending on what is being cleaned. It removes paint effortlessly without damaging metal or surrounding glass, chrome trim, rubber seals, etc. Small jobs can be done in a blast cabinet, but big jobs, like cleaning an entire car, require more of everything. Make that a lot more.
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| Soda blasting the Alfatross's aluminum brake drum inside a cabinet. |
Dave's soda blaster is a hungry beast. It devours soda and compressed air like you wouldn't believe! I estimate we will need a dozen 40 lb bags to start with and a 7.5-10 hp compressor with a big reservoir that can put out at least 28 cfm at 90 psi. and guess what . . .they don't give those things away!
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| The soda blaster. Rotisserie in background. |
So soda and the compressor are on order along with an upgrade to 240 V electrical service for the shop and a request to the weather gods for warm, calm days ahead because this is one job that has to be done outside!
Anybody out there got a gently used 10 hp 28 cfm compressor with a big tank and maybe some decent filtration?
Anybody out there got a gently used 10 hp 28 cfm compressor with a big tank and maybe some decent filtration?
