Stripped the hood the other night and only found a couple of small dings. Woo hoo! I just need to break out the putty knife and apply a little glazing putty to make it perfect.
I hope to start stripping the roof (finally!) this week. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel...
Will try to get some updated pics for the next post.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Sunday, July 6, 2014
A Quick Follow-Up on refinishing the dash...
Looking back at a couple of posts, I realize I never gave an update to painting the dash area while still in the car. Well, I'm happy to report it went amazingly well!
I would say the secret to my success was PREP! Lots of masking, ever-so-carefully applied, and covering everything else with drop cloths and newspaper.
Can't wait to get the body done so I can start on putting the interior back in the car.
I would say the secret to my success was PREP! Lots of masking, ever-so-carefully applied, and covering everything else with drop cloths and newspaper.
Can't wait to get the body done so I can start on putting the interior back in the car.
Driver-Side Fender Repair...
I started stripping down the driver's side fender and found there was a little more damage there than what I was expecting. The front corner had been hit.
At some point an attempt was made to pull it out and they coated it with body filler. Part of this process also included not straightening out the substructure of the fender or broken welds, and hammering some of the factory edges flat rather than straightening the metal back out.
It took me a couple of hours, but I got the fender a lot closer to where it came from the factory, but it will still need filler to help true up the metal, just not nearly as much as was there originally. And, the substructure is welded back in place as it should be.
At some point an attempt was made to pull it out and they coated it with body filler. Part of this process also included not straightening out the substructure of the fender or broken welds, and hammering some of the factory edges flat rather than straightening the metal back out.
It took me a couple of hours, but I got the fender a lot closer to where it came from the factory, but it will still need filler to help true up the metal, just not nearly as much as was there originally. And, the substructure is welded back in place as it should be.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Patching the Doors...
Been a while since my last post, but I have been busy working on the wagon. The engine is running great, but will need a little finer tuning. And, the bodywork continues.
I finally gave up on the two doors on the driver's side. The damage was pretty bad, and I was constantly struggling with trying to true up the doors. So, I purchased a couple of replacements. But, they came from a sedan, so I had to remove the window frame from the original door ans swap it onto the new one. Sorry, no pics on this process, but I do have some of the rust repair on the corner of one of the passenger's side doors.
Like many cars from this era, the dew wipes gave up years (decades?) ago, and contaminants and water made their way into the door. They formed a mud at the bottom, blocking the drains and eventually rotting the corner of the door from the inside out.
I don't have a picture showing the rust, but I did get one right after cutting away the rust.
I tried to keep away from the edge of the door and out of the body line. I also tried to keep it as small as possible. Once the hole was cut and everything cleaned up, I cut a patch to weld in place. It got a pretty nice fit.
I have a copper bar with magnets in it that I used to help hold the patch in place from the backside.
My welding could be better, but it got the job done.
A minute or two with the grinder, and it is ready for a little filler to clean it up. I'm giving the Eastwood filler a try, but so far, I'm not thrilled. It's green with a blue hardener making mixing by color almost impossible relative to Bondo. It also doesn't sand as easily.
Sand, and one more coat and it should be just about ready for primer!
I finally gave up on the two doors on the driver's side. The damage was pretty bad, and I was constantly struggling with trying to true up the doors. So, I purchased a couple of replacements. But, they came from a sedan, so I had to remove the window frame from the original door ans swap it onto the new one. Sorry, no pics on this process, but I do have some of the rust repair on the corner of one of the passenger's side doors.
Like many cars from this era, the dew wipes gave up years (decades?) ago, and contaminants and water made their way into the door. They formed a mud at the bottom, blocking the drains and eventually rotting the corner of the door from the inside out.
I don't have a picture showing the rust, but I did get one right after cutting away the rust.
I tried to keep away from the edge of the door and out of the body line. I also tried to keep it as small as possible. Once the hole was cut and everything cleaned up, I cut a patch to weld in place. It got a pretty nice fit.
I have a copper bar with magnets in it that I used to help hold the patch in place from the backside.
My welding could be better, but it got the job done.
A minute or two with the grinder, and it is ready for a little filler to clean it up. I'm giving the Eastwood filler a try, but so far, I'm not thrilled. It's green with a blue hardener making mixing by color almost impossible relative to Bondo. It also doesn't sand as easily.
Sand, and one more coat and it should be just about ready for primer!
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