Started by finishing the sandblasting.
Got everything done except the sway bar as it was too large for the cabinet. That included the spindles, dust covers, radius arms, upper and lower control arms, control arm knuckles, sway bar clamps, and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff.
Cleaned up with some enamel reducer. I set them up like VW lawn art and got to priming. Using the Metalok primer again, as I like how it covers and the funky mustard color will make it easier to paint the black color.
Moved the van far enough away so that overspray would not be a problem, mixed up the glossy black Imron paint (because I had some in the garage, otherwise I may have chosen a matte finish).
Baking rack makes a great drying rack, and an old rotor is perfect to screw in the tie rod assemblies for painting and drying. I will let them sit this way for a few days to allow the urethane to properly cure before installing the Powerflex bushings. Then we are set to do the install.
Also cleaned up the replacement steering rack and installed the Powerflex kit. That will get installed in the next few days as my passenger inner tie rod is toast.
So in the middle of this process, my spiffy 16 month old 60 gallon Kobalt compressor went south. Once it got hot, it seized up tighter than a mouses sphincter. Would only get to 65 psi. I was fit to be tied I was so angry. Here I was about to finalize the preparations for the front end, and no more air.
Called the number on the side of the unit, which got me to Lowe's customer service. Some woman with a slow South Carolina drawl started trying to talk me off the edge. She must have apologized a dozen times in the first minute but ultimately stated that I needed to bring this 250 pound compressor (that is hard lined, hard wired and bolted to the floor) into Lowe's for them to send it out and repair it. Now the sticker that is still on the side of this unit states that there is a 3 year hassle free guarantee and on site service, and I bought the extended warranty on top of this, but I still need to bring it in?
Completely did not make sense, and this woman's accent was really getting under my skin because all I can imagine is a heavy Paula Dean type sitting in a cubicle with an extra heavy duty chair to support her Bon Bon inhaling body talking around the the issue as if I was lying about what is stated on the side of the unit. I thanked her for her time, followed by a comment stating that she has not helped anything nor my confidence in anything Lowe's sells. And to have a thoroughly un-enjoyable day - but I said it very nicely and with a slow drawl so she would fully understand. I was getting no where fast, and angrier by the second. After all, when you spend $700 on a compressor you have certain expectations. And I am by no means a constant user of the unit, so for it to die this soon baffles me. If I were a constant user, I would have bought a higher quality unit.
For this last half of the conversation, I had been watched by my wife. She later told me she has never seen me so angry and now knows why I got into so much trouble as a child with all the fighting. Anyway . . .
Took a few breaths, grabbed my paperwork, the sticker on the side of the unit and headed to my local Lowe's. I was polite in explaining my story to the assistant manager at the entry door. Within minutes I was surrounded by more blue vests (managers) than I knew existed at any one time at a single Lowe's. A call into corporate on how to do the exchange led to a profuse apology from the manager for the customer service person (who was obviously wrong) and that they will exchange the unit.
Now to find a time to get it swapped out - and prior to doing so I need to disconnect power, hard air lines and detach from floor. They state they could swap the next day. Great! BUT, in order to do so I would need to buy the new one and then when the old one shows up, they would refund the original purchase. Just happens that this day was a Massachusetts state tax holiday - so I saved tax, and my delivery costs. So when the older compressor is refunded, my new cost will be $100 less than original cost.
Guess that helps offset the hassle. My warranty will restart as day one when the unit is delivered. Best reasonable outcome I can think of?
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