Matt Drayer's Journal

I've been procrastinating on applying primer to the engine bay. It's too cold. It's too late. My son has hockey practice. It's snowing outside. I need more propane for the heater. Eventually, though, I ran out of excuses. Falling behind on our new "Marblehead MG" YouTube channel videos, after only two weeks of production, is adding more wood to the fire. Off to the cold garage I go to fret some more.

Staring at the raw engine bay, I see that one screw that has defied all removal attempts. Well, I simply can't prime until that's out. Nothing has worked so far. The head's slots have stripped, and it won't twist out with channel locks or vice grips. I have a new set of Harbor Freight reverse drill bits, maybe one of those will work. If not I guess I still can't do the primer.

90 seconds later I have zero excuses.

I set up the phone on a tripod and pull out a red 3M scrubby. I tell myself I'm only looking to scratch up the paint to make a good surface for the primer and POR-15, I'm not trying to get down to bare metal. This is a comforting thought -- there are so many little angles and corners -- the only way to turn them all into shiny steel would be sandblasting or an acid bath, and that's not happening.

Scrubbing done, time for the sander. I'm picking up speed now, getting back into the swing of things. I keep reminding myself I'm just scuffing, not stripping. The job goes quickly, and it's now Good Enough for primer.

Should i be putting primer down at all? Maybe I should just go with POR-15? What if I do this wrong? What if it all peels away when I'm done, and everyone can see that I'm incompetent? Maybe I should go back inside and read more decade-old threads of people arguing with each other about primer vs. no primer under POR-15. No one cares, Matt. Just do the primer. But, should i use a brush? What about a roller? Maybe I should buy a paint sprayer -- that's what everyone seems to do. Yeah, before I do this wrong, I could go back inside and do more research on air guns... MATT, STOP IT! DO THE ENGINE BAY!!!

I do it. I crack open the can of Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer and begin brushing it on (Wait! This part's not rusty! What if the metal isn't rusty? What if it's just...metal? MATT, KEEP GOING.). The primer color is gaining ground. (Is the garage too cold? Is it too thick? Should I thin it out? Maybe I should...KEEP GOING). Good bye yellow cross member. Good bye black seam sealer. Good bye exposed sheet metal. It's all one color now. Primer brown, but at least it's consistent. It doesn't look like a Frankenstein car anymore. It just looks like a car. It looks...great?

I did it. I put the primer on. I'm certain I did it wrong, but it looks so much better than it did. What a step forward. What progress!

Progress, indeed.

<br/>Marblehead MG - Episode 7: Engine Bay Primer