Ed's 'StreetRunner' Quad Build

Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Messages
3,058
Location
Apple Valley, California, USA
Adding a bit of color to this project.

I'm using Rustoleum silver 'textured' metallic for a base coat.
It is a very rough paint, which I have chosen to leave rough.
In the first trial, I sanded down (lightly) the silver and lost much of the brilliance.

After experimenting with the color coat and two-three coats of clear,
sanded with 400 grit and finally clear coat it again, it comes out smooth as glass.




Battery cover prepped waiting for color coat


The color coat with Duplicolor 'Metacast' from

The price is fantastic @ +/- $6 per can less than local retail.
Bought 12 cans which got me free shipping.
I will be 'decanting' the cans and spraying the paint through my paint gun. (Better spray pattern/control)


This photo doesn't truly show the brilliance of the color or the metal flake sparkle.
This is with only four coats. I think I want it to be a bit darker, so will look to add one-two more heavy coats.

 
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Messages
3,058
Location
Apple Valley, California, USA
Waiting on a better day to paint. In the meantime, I have been busy making a 'griddle' for my two-burner camping stove.
It will do double duty and work on my BBQ as well.

Wicked expensive for the size I want/need. 24" x 16".

Anyway tomorrow morning is the trial run for cooking breakfast.
 
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Messages
3,058
Location
Apple Valley, California, USA
How sweet it is to see some color. Not without some setback and redo.

A mishap with the spray gun, ruined the first basecoat, requiring a complete repaint.
Then the spray gun spattered on the second go requiring another basecoat repaint. (My bad for not cleaning the gun well enough)

So this was sprayed directly from the can. 5 coats to get it all to match.

Next step after a few days of letting the color coat cure will be 3-4 coats of crystal clear enamel.

I practiced on another small piece and clear coated it.
This looks great but the clear coat makes it burst with color and sparkle.



I used Rustoleum Silver 'textured' to achieve the metallic look I wanted.
It takes 4-5 coats of clear to achieve a smooth finish.

Enlarge the photo and you can see the sparkle.



Needs some silver touch-up from tape bleed, but overall it looks great.
 
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Messages
3,058
Location
Apple Valley, California, USA
I'm Back! I really never left,

Sorry folks for being away so long. I've missed keeping everyone up on my progress, or lack thereof.
I just took some time away from the project. Finished enclosing the inner walls of my shop, and put up badly needed shelves.
The weather has turned nice, and enthusiasm has returned.

My lithium battery went bad and I had to have it repaired. All is back to normal now.
The turn signal problem took a while but it's been solved, It works but there is no indicator light on the switch.
That's going to be fixed by adding an external light and/or buzzer.

Nothing new to see, (no pics) but a jumbled mess of wiring to show that I am working on it.
I only blew about ten fuses while trying to figure out what worked and what didn't.

I got the brake problem solved and the wiring is virtually done. It turns out that when the fluid level on the cup says MAX, it doesn't really mean stop at that line.
As a last resort to try and understand why the brakes wouldn't move, I overfilled, (above the MAX line), and voila! we have brakes. Who knew?

Waiting until Tuesday to pick up some 1/2" square tubing to use for a raceway on the bottom of the frame.
All the wiring and switches are 'roughed' in place and each one works as desired.
The next step is to do one more test drive and then it's time to tear it all apart finish welding, prep, and paint it.
The body prep is about 50% complete.

Currently, I'm looking for a business within a reasonable distance, that does 'spray chrome'. Found only one so far, but they are booked for at least a full year.

I will get some pics shortly showing some progress.

Anyway, I'm glad to be back working on it, and I might actually get it done before Christmas. Yeah, I know I've said that before.

.
 
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Messages
3,058
Location
Apple Valley, California, USA
I think this project should be renamed to StreetCrawler, not StreetRunner. It really has been a slow pace getting this completed.
But things have been moving along nicely recently. I've been motivated and working on it for a couple of hours or more each day.

I finished the wiring to the point that I got everything working.
I got a sound system that works, and now I've decided it is time to tear it all apart and finish the welding and any other minor fab work that is needed.

I started with the 'mock engine'.( see pics )
Then I will be removing the drive components and front steering etc.
Paint them all and then reassemble them
.

 
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