1938 Cadillac: I finally ordered some water pump parts.

I had intended to do this last April. I finally got around to it on Monday. I ordered the parts to rebuild my water pump. Also, my work had a "Diversity Week" thing which included a Hobby Show. I brought in a few of my repair/restoration items and the "most restored" thing from the car which is the water pump housing. If you happened to have read the post related to the last car photo gallery, I had to wait 4 months to touch up some spots that I missed with a rattle-can unless I wanted to buy a quart of paint and brush it on. I had intended to buy a quart. Really, I did. I just never got around to it. Now, more than 4 months later, I finally touched it up. It looks pretty nice, if I do say so myself. Hopefully, with the baby becoming less needy, I will be able to do a little bit of work on the car over the winter.

1938 Cadillac: Water Pump Work

I don't know why I didn't make this a post last April. I, for some reason, decided to put this write-up in the description for the photo gallery. Anyway, without further delay, here it is:

The days efforts were mixed. I decided I needed to degrease before I derusted. I picked up some Zep-brand Industrial Purple from Home Depot. A guy I knew restored antique tractors and that is what he used. Personally, I was a little less than impressed. It smelled like drain opener, so it was probably lye and detergent. It required a pretty heavy ammount of scrubbing to get it almost clean. I ended up using some engine degreaser and a toothbrush to finish it off. When I was picking up the Industrial Purple, I got some Metal Prep Rust Remover, which I believe was also made by Zep. It said most rust will be removed in 30 minutes of soaking (but no more than 8 hours). While it was true that most rust was removed on the pump pulley in 30 minutes, the pump housing was another story. Both required scrubbing with a wire brush to clean off the rust from the outside. Also, I soaked them for about 3 hours. The back and inside was so pitted, I'm not sure it was even worth the effort. I can't see it getting any cleaner without an abrasive blaster, and for that I need a sizable compressor. I'm thinking I won't do anymore cast-iron stuf until I get blasting equipment. Anyway, I used Hirsch Engine enamel in a rattle can on the housing and pulley. I primered the pulley first, per the instructions for smooth metal. I definitely need some practice painting too. I got a few bubbles in the paint on the back of the pulley. I think I might end up with a few runs on the edge too because that stuff was super thin. I might have done better with a brush. Anyway, even if the paint does't come out great, I still had fun.

UPDATE: At the end, you can see the finished product. I definitely will need to sand out the bubbles on the pulley. Also, I missed a spot on the bottom of the pump neck. Unfortunately, you can't touch it up with a rattle can for 4 months. I might just have to buy a quart.