Another orphaned Reo rescued

[fargazer]

Well, I seem to be attracting used Reos for refurbishment. I have yet another one, in a trade for some vape equipment I no longer use. Poor thing is pretty dirty, and someone did a bad job painting the door as well as painting over the case magnets - luckily, that seems to be the limit of the bad painting.

I've got it soaking over night, and will reassemble tomorrow. If I feel particularly included for pain and suffering, I'll see just what it takes to remove the case magnets

I'll try stripping and repainting the door, and order a new one if I can't do a good job at it. I figure I'll buff it up, pair it with a Cyclone, and sell it cheap to someone who otherwise would have trouble affording it. If they don't want it, then I'll send it to Rob to be ground to a LP and get the new 510 installed. Re-coating it would be nice, but a few dings from use doesn't bother me, nor will the bare atty area - it's not like I treat it like a delicate angel anyway.

 

[mousiemaximus]

pics or it didn't happen

 

[RGLP4Lyfe]

Hey I'd consider taking it off your hands! It wouldn't be my first Reo but hey triplets is where it's at right? Would you sell without the cyclone? If not, that's ok. Let me know what your thinkin!

 

[Fishcakes]

Very cool!!!

 

[Neolithium]

Must see pics!

 

[fargazer]

Pictures when it is done; right now it's a bunch of pieces soaking in a dish soap solution

 

[Papa_Lazarou]

Good for you for bringing her back to full life. Couple of pics - before and after - would be nice and prolly help with placing it in a new home.

 

[Rat2chat2]

I would love to see what you do with it. So glad the reo found a good home with someone to love it.

 

[FatBill]

i think it great to resurrect a reo. We are looking forward to pics! The only used reos I can find belong to me and already been re-done. Except one...but she's gonna get shaved to a Lp and new contacts soon.

 

[fargazer]

Quick update; it looks like whoever "Bubba painted" the Reo body to cover the magnets didn't bother to remove nor tape off the plastic shield either. Black paint in lotsa lotsa places.

Still soaking, but most of the dried juice and such is gone. Probably will set some time aside this weekend to refurbish, and I'll post pictures then.

 

[fargazer]

OK, this is a "in progress" photo of what I've got:



I've removed the black plastic cover that covers the 510 tubing; it, along with the top edge where the magnets are, was covered in some crappy black paint. The lower edges, on each side of the spring, were scraped to the aluminum. When I removed the paint to expose the magnets, the entire top edge came off to reveal the bare aluminum.

What I've done is taken a touch-up pen used for scratches on AR-15s, and put several layers of that over the scratches on the aluminum. It covers well, matches decently when it dries, but it's nowhere near as robust as true powder coating. I'm going to keep putting a layer or two on each night till the weekend.

A number of us with copper vein doors use something called "ProtectaClear" to prevent our copper from tarnishing. I've read up on it, and it's pretty tough stuff - it's recommended for use on copper clad cookware, and typically that kind of cladding is on the bottom and sees some abuse at temperature. I have a can, and after removing the spring and taping the contacts, magnets, and 510, I'm going to put 8 or 10 light layers of it on the Reo over the course of the weekend.

The door was crudely painted a dull blue; I'm stripping that to the metal, polishing it, and just using ProtectaClear on the surface. As far as the rest, it'll get new tubing, new bottle or two, and a button cover.

If this were for me, I'd probably turn this into a dink-around project - strip it completely, grind it down to low profile, and have it Cerakoted and stenciled with some of my wife's artwork or some such. However, this is for a friend who couldn't afford a Reo any other way:

• If this all holds up, I'll sell the box, a Cyclone, and a Fusion drip tip to her for $100, which is roughly the value of what I traded for it. If she wants a differently colored door, she can buy the paint and do that herself
• If it doesn't hold up, I'll swap in one of my other Reo's bodies, sell it to her for the same amount, and make this "Project Dink-A-Bout" and see if I can do something interesting with it.

On a related note, if this touchup pen / ProtectaClear holds up decently, it might be something to do to SP Reos that have been ground down to LP (assuming the bare aluminum bothers some).

 

[Papa_Lazarou]

Nicely done. Very cool you're doing this for a bud in need (and worst case, hey, you've got a project reo).

 

[fargazer]

Well, it looks like the Reo is worse off than I had thought; the delrin retaining screw hole is stripped, and now that I've cleaned out the paint from the 510 I'm having issues with it. There's just a few too many bumps in the road to want to give this to someone.

New plan: I've substituted my SP Reo for this one, and sold it, a Cyclone, and a Fusion drip tip for $100. That takes care of her.

I'm putting that money toward a new Reo from Rob - as soon as the 510 connection issue is resolved. That takes care of me.

I now have a gallon of Citri-Strip on order; when that arrives Thursday, it's the nuclear option - I'm going to soak this Reo in it and remove everything - powder coat, 510, the whole works. I'll fix the stripped delrin retaining hole (not sure if I'm going to embed a small nut, or just fill in with JB-Weld and re-drill and re-tap), and send it and the door off to OCD Mods to grind to a LP and give it and its door a custom Cerakote job. Once that's done, I'll send it to Rob for a new 510 connection.

 

[JC Okie]

Eeewwww....fun project. Sounds like you're on top if it. I'm guessing the magnets are the least of your worries....but let me just say that if you can get the paint off of them without removing them, do. Magnets are the biggest PITA I've ever had to deal with on a REO....and have messed up several trying to change/replace them.

 

[Filthy-Beast]

Drill all the way through, use a longer bolt and a nut on the outside. Put a rebuild kit in it and it will vape like champ and make a great gift for someone in need.

 

[Quigsworth]

...or PM me, I'll take it as is...

How do you come across these dead to near dead Grands?...I've looked and looked (maybe if they're too far gone no one bothers to post them for sale)...if any one has a truly hurting Grand (I don't care if the 510 and/or the delrin cover screw is stripped, missing magnets, delrin cover, spring, fire button or hideous paint jobs) if the body and door are somewhat intact and it's sitting there collecting dust send me a PM...there's no such thing as a dead Grand.

...here's the latest Grand resurrection...now running a mosfet



...I didn't take a before pic but when a buddy gave it to me I had to take it down to this before I could even start...

 

[Papa_Lazarou]

...here's the latest Grand resurrection...now running a mosfet

Damn, Quigs. You do good mod. That derringer looks even sicker flush mount like that.

 

[ed101z]

Fargazer. How is the project going? Good job man. Post some updates.

Quigs. The leveled Reo Grand looks awesome! Got any updates? Also, did you get a chance to use ProtectaClear? I've ordered some ProtectaClear, and will get started on my own project soon.