[jpnovak]

Tom, The wheels are finished similar to the current economy RSR finish threads. Do a search. I did the prep work months ago but just got around to finishing them.

My Procedure: The wheels are prepped like this. First use chemical stripper to remove as much paint as possible. Then sandblast the entire wheel. I used $2.50/bag play sand in a HF pressure pot blaster. I set the pressure at about 80 psi. T his will remove the residual paint and also etch the surface of the factory annodizing. The resulting finish will look like flat aluminum with a very rough texture. The next step is to mask the center to the pattern of your choice. I think that masking these wheels was the worst part of the whole project. Next I sprayed two coats of rattle can primer and then 3 coats of satin black. Both were $5/can Rustoleum products. To finish it all off I sprayed one light coat of satin clear on top of it all. The rough texture and the clear gave a slight sheen to the aluminum finish.

The oil cooler setup was entirely DIY. No kits at my house. Its a Setrab radiator style cooler. I just found one that had the size I needed to fit snugly in the nose. Then I started cutting. Once the cooler was fitted and the lines attached I sketched the shroud on cardboard and built a metal version. Any local HVAC shop could make the shroud for a nominal fee.

Funny, I don't have any pics of the engine except when I first picked it up. Let's just say it was a bit dirty.