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Suggestions on Bodywork

1967coronet said:
Looked at the lid, It needs to be replaced.
as time goes by on your work you will get better at the welding and finishing them off.
Click to expand...

Easier said than done. No aftermarket available other than a newly released fiberglass bolt on (several lift off fiberglass available).

I'll tinker with it a bit.

Jim
 
Also been thinking about how to slow the decay in the weld joints along the bottom of the rocker panel weld joints (where some of the patches have gone). I spent a lot of time this weekend trying to get the dirt and crap (lots of junk was left in these inner well pockets from the previous body work). I am sure these is the #1 reason for the decay, once it gets that gook wet it stays wet for a long time. I am thinking of using the Eastwood products to

1) Rust Remover Gel and glop that down in these joints from the inside and let that work for a while
2) Soak the joints with the Rust Encapsulator (maybe thinned a bit so it penetrates into the seam better)

Or is it better to just leave it alone and keep it dry (I don't plan on this being a daily driver just a weekend family outing car)

Jim
 
If you can get it all cleaned out something like por 15 ect would be good. I would not leave any dirt crud in there though it will attract moisture.
If you have to fix the lid. { I didn't know they were that hard to locate but after reading some I see what you mean }
I would skin the back panel after grinding at least a 1/8 inch off all 3 edges, that will open it up and you will have to spot it in a few locations to hold it together. come off that top break over edge with the top of the new skin, leave 1/2" excess all the way around the two sides and bottom to fold over and dolly flat spot weld and seam seal, removing that 1/8" at the start should get you very close to matching up the lines. the swoop up on each end can be cut at the angle needed.
You will need to clip / cut a small vertical slice right were it starts its angle up to aid with the forming. I would drill a few 1/4" spot holes through the skin in areas that have solid metal behind for button welds to tie it together solid.
the recessed area were the lock sits would need to be cut out and brought straight out to spot onto the back side of the new skin, working in a recess is a pain so weld from the back and finish the front edge with a few more small spot welds and seal it up with the tiger hair / short strand glass.
There is some hrs there in that lid, body sheet metal is available through Keystone or other body supply chains. That one is going to test you LOL
 
Thanks I know it will. I know a few good welders, I may get them over here for the trunk. I have the rest of the patches complete and sealed with short strand glass. What is clear the simplest way to test the integrity of the metal is touch it with the welder. If it is solid enough it will weld, if it not it simply evaporates into thin air and leaves a cavern between the body and the patch :). Tonight I got impatient and ended up grinding more that I should and got to fill in more areas with weld than I really needed to but the "L" patch took me less than two hours to complete, including fixing shooting myself in the foot. Much faster than the previous ones.

There honestly wasn't much scale/crap in that wheel well corner. It was weak where the discoloration was for sure. I think I am going to just run some simple rust converter in the seams and leave it. The car will be lucky to ever see rain again, plus here in the desert it is never very humid.
 
Jim, high build is good but I would hold off on it until you have the car pretty straight and blocked out with 180 / 220. After you think its straight lay a couple coats of high build on it and guide coat it and re block the car. Then do it again same deal prime and re block.
the last 2 coats of primer { third time } wet sand with 400 if your happy with the results of the second guide coat blocking.
 
So is it better to weld body panels on the car or off? Like I want to try my hand at welding and have some repairs on my roadrunner shell I can practice on due to having nice solid parts of the same type on my parts car that will be replacing them. Example on my passenger side door there is a small rust hole that defiantly shouldn't be replaced with a whole door skin but my parts car's door is flawless so it will actually go on the RR but I want to teach myself to weld so Id like to repair the small rust hole on the original RR door myself.
 
On sucks where you typically need to weld especially as the panel rolls under the car and it almost becomes upside down.... I took the trunk lid off so I can weld from the top and flat by positioning the lid

Jim
 
'73bird said:
So is it better to weld body panels on the car or off? Like I want to try my hand at welding and have some repairs on my roadrunner shell I can practice on due to having nice solid parts of the same type on my parts car that will be replacing them. Example on my passenger side door there is a small rust hole that defiantly shouldn't be replaced with a whole door skin but my parts car's door is flawless so it will actually go on the RR but I want to teach myself to weld so Id like to repair the small rust hole on the original RR door myself.
Click to expand...
If your going to have the door off anyway, then yes repair it on a table or stand, for just a small spot if your not planning on pulling the door, { no color change , good hinges ect } the just fix it in place.
 
1967coronet said:
If your going to have the door off anyway, then yes repair it on a table or stand, for just a small spot if your not planning on pulling the door, { no color change , good hinges ect } the just fix it in place.
Click to expand...
How about fenders
 
Well I am on the downhill side of the trunk repair. It is a great job, no. Will it pass the laugh test, most likely. It was done with all hand tools and I ended up replacing almost all the metal on the back skin and the bottom inner lid frame, it was too rusted. All I wish I had was a break so I could have folded the bottom lip of the new back skin cleaner but the chrome trim will cover the ripple in the edge.

I still need to weld the spot welds, clean up other welds and finish dressing the welds with the grinder but here is the final product. Some photos have the edge trim installed to show how it fits into the trim groove and the fit and finish.

DSC_0016.jpg DSC_0017.jpg DSC_0007.jpg DSC_0008.jpg DSC_0009.jpg DSC_0010.jpg DSC_0011.jpg DSC_0012.jpg DSC_0015.jpg
 
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Looks good Jim, You got a solid panel now to work with, welds are looking good also.
Nice job. :thumbsup:
 
So I have the car 98% stripped of paint now…. I will be painting the epoxy primer any day now. I noticed the other night that the trunk floor (above the fuel tank area) has a lot of pin holes. The trunk leaked (as usual) and there are a lot of deep rust pits in the floor. It is very solid other than the deep pitting. I am sick of welding :) is there a simpler way to seal this up and stop the rust? Thin coat of fiberglass filler and epoxy primer top and bottom?

Jim

P.S. Opinion. I really don't want to disassemble the front end before I put the back end back together. I am thinking of painting to a body seam in the engine compartment and getting the rest of the car completed. Then pulling the engine/tranny via the bottom of the car afterwards to finish up the inner fenders and firewall while I work on the engine and tranny. Does that sound insane? I just don't want to keep collecting parts on the shelf, it needs to start to go back together soon :)
 
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Geez looking at the photo to the left I can't believe the car in the garage is the same one!
 
JimKueneman said:
So I have the car 98% stripped of paint now…. I will be painting the epoxy primer any day now. I noticed the other night that the trunk floor (above the fuel tank area) has a lot of pin holes. The trunk leaked (as usual) and there are a lot of deep rust pits in the floor. It is very solid other than the deep pitting. I am sick of welding :) is there a simpler way to seal this up and stop the rust? Thin coat of fiberglass filler and epoxy primer top and bottom?

Jim

P.S. Opinion. I really don't want to disassemble the front end before I put the back end back together. I am thinking of painting to a body seam in the engine compartment and getting the rest of the car completed. Then pulling the engine/tranny via the bottom of the car afterwards to finish up the inner fenders and firewall while I work on the engine and tranny. Does that sound insane? I just don't want to keep collecting parts on the shelf, it needs to start to go back together soon :)
Click to expand...
Jim, Epoxy and or fiberglass will not stop the rust, can you seal it up ? sure but the rust will continue until its cut out. Lots of guys swear by the different rust convertors on the market to stop it. Myself I don't , to me that stuff is kinda like STP overhaul in a can. I hate to be the bad news guy but now is the time , you don't want to deal with the trunk floor 2 yrs later.
 
JimKueneman said:
Geez looking at the photo to the left I can't believe the car in the garage is the same one!
Click to expand...
Yes , you have came a long way on it, as far as painting the engine bay area , yes that isn't bad just break it on a body line and the fender inner flanges so you have a clean line to mask off at when you shoot the rest.
 
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