I find myself spending more time than originally planned on little things that don't add any functional benefits, but either bugged me or I simply liked the subtle benefits. Case in point, the steel spacer sleeves used in the front and rear suspensions. Some people paint or powder coat them, others leave them uncoated. What I love about building this car is everything is new, shiny, and not rusty(compared to 50 year old Jeeps from Wisconsin). Leaving them uncoated just didn't seem right to me considering the sway bar install manual even shows the sleeves covered in rust.
I have an Eastwood powder coating gun but decided to go a different route. I had an extra foot of 6061 aluminum tube in the correct diameter and thickness, so I measured each sleeve and cut new ones. I measured and sanded each on a disk sander, then chamfered inside and outside edges to clean them up.
Next I tightened a few at a time onto a bolt and chucked it into a drill for my own "lathe". I then used 220 grit sand paper with the drill running to give them a brushed look. I chose note to coat them, we'll see if they start to oxidize over time.
Here you can see the upper sleeves for the rear.
Here are the lower sleeves for the rear. I followed the same procedure for the fronts as well.
As mentioned, completely unnecessary since there are easier ways of keeping the steel pieces from rusting. I do like the blushed look though, and and even though my car is NO where near a show quality vehicle, a little bling never hurt. Free since I had the aluminum but it's probably only $8-ish worth at a local metal supply if anyone else did something similar.
-TJ