MK3 resto, before & after.

[Eric Sedletzky]

I finished the MK3/108 resto.

It was disassembles, soaked, all chrome removed, straightened, polished, and finally rebuilt.
Here are the before and after pics.

Special thanks to brother Couv for sending me some rebuild parts for it.

The only snafu was the 2nd stage cover clamps rings were striped out. What I did to fix them was put some JB weld into the threaded holes with a tooth pick, then I took some new hex head 4 x 40 stainless screws and coated them with a little silicone lube and ran them into the holes with the JB weld surrounding them, When the JB weld set I unscrewed them and now I have a perfect set of new threads in the hole. I think the JB weld should hold up as long as I don't over torque them.

The 2nd stage cover also had some pretty good dings in it. I was able to metal finish out the dings with a small body hammer and dolly. I carefully line filed the worked areas and then block sanded them down to 500 grit and they polished out perfect.

Also my LDS has redeemed itself with me. I went in there as a joke to see if they had a rubber 2nd stage purge button for it thinking I was going to get blown down the road. The guy came out with a brand new one for me!

I thought it would be cool to have a polished brass finish regulator. It kind of looks like a limited edition gold version of some sort. It should gather a few looks at the next dive I suspect.
The only thing is I know I'll have to hit it with a little polish once in a while. No biggie, I can sit in front of the TV at night and do that.

 

[Zung]

WOW! Fantastic job in record time!

If I may nit pick a bit, because I have the same "issue": the "brand new" cover is not as well finished as the old ones, and I had to trim the rubber around the S insignia with a cutter.

Did you find a new Tee as well or is the original one good?

Congrats!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

WOW! Fantastic job in record time!

If I may nit pick a bit, because I have the same "issue": the "brand new" cover is not as well finished as the old ones, and I had to trim the rubber around the S insignia with a cutter.

Did you find a new Tee as well or is the original one good?

Congrats!

I know, I should get in there with an exacto and clean up the excess ragged rubber a bit.
The old exhaust T had a few surface cracks in it, but a little crazy glue fixed that. I smeared a coat of silicone O ring grease over it as a conditioner and it worked really well with out being to "greasy". I wiped off as much excess as I could and it gve it a nice sheen.

 

[SwimJim]

That was one rugged looking reg! Reminds me of some of the freshly rebuilt ones I got off ebay. LOL. Nice job. I'll bet the pic's don't do it justice.

 

[Couv]

Well done. Damn fine splendid job!

I'm interested to know a bit more detail about dressing out the dings in the case. The hammer you described as a "body hammer" is that what I would call a ball peen hammer? Also, what's a dolly?

I'd like to see someone take a hammer to the case of a G250 to fix it when it reaches the same age.

Thanks,

c

 

[Zung]

I shudder at the idea of taking a hammer to those 109/156's.
I think people got hung for less than that.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

You guys make it sound like I put the cover on an anvil and let loose with a 3 lb sledge hammer LOL

A body hammer is a special hammer used for working out dents in cars. They come in all shapes and sizes.
A dolly is the iron you hold behind the fender or think of it as a hand anvil and they also come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. I'm an auto body man by trade and I've worked not only in the standard collision industry but also in the custom and restoration world too, so I'm good at metal finishing stuff.

What I did was extremely carefully lay the cover out side down against a hard rubber dolly (with some give) and ever so gently tap the digs out with a blunt pick hammer and turn over to see the progress. It doesn't take much with brass. After I got it out to where the dings were completely out and the continuity was there I gently filed them smooth with a very fine mill bastard to get any micro imperfections out (we're only talking thousandths). After that I removed the file scratches with some 500 grit sandpaper and it was ready for the green jewelers rouge and cotton buff on my bench grinder.

I also forgot to mention that the inside edge (lip) along the purge button hole was beat to sh!t. I put a screw driver into a vice with the plastic handle up and layed the cover over and used controlled pressure to slowly move the lip back out all the while viewing it from the side to get the profile even. It was all caved in in spots from the reg being dropped on the ground face down.

Straightening stuff just takes finesse and you cant be scared. It's only metal.
Just be carefull not to file so much that you get areas that are paper thin.
Also don't over pean the dings or you will stretch the metal and you will end up with a high spot.


They have to do all this when you take a piece of crap into the chromers and want it back perfect.
There is no bondo when you metal finish stuff for polish or want it chromed.

 

[Ed Palma]

Beautiful job!

Just a question: could you use a clear coat over the regs just so that it wouldn't oxidize as quickly? It might not be so durable over time, but its an idea I've been toying with ever since I refinished my steel tanks.

 

[Paladin]

Nice job, man. When you gonna start on that Conshelf?

 

[Airleron]

Looks awesome and I really like the finish! Great job!

Lisa