Reconditioned Spring-A-Grab Handle...

It's all about little victories with "Louise".  I like to tackle the little stuff while doing the big things. One reason is to to take my mind off of being bogged down on a big project. The other reason is to have stuff like this done when it comes time to button everything back up. 

As you can see our Bargman Spring-A-Grab handle shown below is in real rough shape. The crappy pot metal these things are made of don't hold up real well. The thin chrome job they were given chips and flakes off exposing the metal below that quickly starts to oxidize and begins to pit badly. This isn't something that can be buffed out of the chrome. The chrome is basically gone. I would love to get these original pieces re-chromed but that may be a huge waste of money. Besides a few pieces sent to the chrome shop would be out of our budget. I thought I would paint instead. 

The picture of the handle prior to hitting it with a wire wheel to remove the flaking chrome and scuff the surface...

After wire wheeling the hell out of it and hitting a few spots with some heavy sand paper I cleaned and sprayed the first coat of primer. You can see that I am using Duplicolor Self Etching Primer. I thought I would give Duplicolor a shot even though it is a little bit pricey Vs something like Krylon. I would think of using Rustoleum if I hadn't used Duplicolor. I have had good luck in the past with some of Rustoleum  products but went with a the Duplicolor because they spray well and seem to look real good. I'm not sure about durability but we will get into that more later...

You can see here that it the pitting looks like the surface of the moon...

The pitting is so bad that a filler is needed. I thought for a bit that I could use a Filler Primer but it was really just that bad so I used Bondo's Glazing & Spot Putty. The stuff works real well. Just spread it on and sand it down. Once you sand smooth just go ahead and prime with a regular primer. I went back and forth sanding and priming until I figured it would be fine to spray the top coat...

I used Duplicolor's Chrome paint. It laid down real nice. I can't rally complain. It looks pretty good for a rattle can paint. I could have done better with the filling and sanding the primer to give me a smoother overall finish. One reason is I didn't because it started out as a test to see if the process would work. Second is that it is just a stupid grab handle...

Here is my big reservation... I hope it holds up for a few years. No chrome paint is ever real tough. I'm just hoping that it isn't a chipped and cracked mess in a couple seasons. Time will only tell. At this point I'm pretty happy with the outcome. The Bargman licence plate light will soon get the similar treatment. I believe that the interior lights will also. Stay tuned for those.

Little Progress...

It has been entirely too long since my last post. I have been working here and there but it seems to be REAL slow going at this point. I also have to say that I am TIRED of working on windows. It is becoming a real drag to work on them. I have pulled the front window and that thing is a bear. I am almost done wet sanding that and will be moving on to polish. I'm very ready to do other things. But here is my update...

Here are the curbside Jalouise window and the "kitchen" Jalouise window screens. I polished these up and fit new screen material and splines. It isn't a real WOW picture but it is progress...

I was finally able to get the kitchen window back together today. It had been polished but I needed to get a time when Molly and I could sit and rivet the mechanisms back together. I need someone to hold the pieces while I hammer them back together. Having a rambunctious two year old in the house makes it terribly tough to sit and get stuff like that done. However, the kitchen window is now crossed off the list...

Just some detailed shots...

The newly riveted mechanisms look and more importantly work so much better than before. You would be surprised how much those old steel rivets would bind up the operation. I also dig out all of the old dirty grease from the torpedo opener's gears. I add new grease and it seems to help also...

New seals for the window. Look at that crud built up in the window. Looks so much better now...

That is it for now. Nothing major but I can cross it off the list. 

On a side note... the Vintage Shasta Trailer Forum is doing very well lately. A LOT of new members showing up with newly purchased Shastas. I have been having to devote more and more time over there. That is a good thing but taking time away from restoration. But I guess that is a good thing.