Bodywork Progress Rant

[BobT-47P15]

I would say the fender welt new was either stainless covered or black.

If if matches the car, it was probably painted over during a repaint.

Just my 2 cents worth.

I will give a lot of credit to both Fred and Joe for all the work done on

their cars. It's more than I would want to tackle. You should be proud

of all you've accomplished. The end results will be nice....then you'll

be cruzzzin. :)

[55 Fargo]

This morning I went down to a Harbor Freight that I discovered is not too far from me and bought a 20 lb. sand blaster. I'm now stripping the car in parts and just finished the fenders there was more rust than I thought lurking beneath the paint and I have some badly pitted areas. My little speed blaster won't be able to handle what's ahead, I know that. So I did a Harbor Freight location check and found one not that far away. 56 bucks for an el Cheapo 20pound blaster made in China. I had one of these before and when it was working, it really took the rust off. Problem was, it wasn't working very often and I now think a lot of that might have been my fault because I didn't have the air filtered properly. So now I have a filter and a separator and if the weather holds up tomorrow I'll be blasting. Today I finished stripping the paint off the rear fenders. I used a Makita 8" disc grinder with 80 grit paper. It really takes the material off, but that factory lacquer from the 40s will gum your paper up in no time. I learned to reduce the RPMs on the tool and that helps because it doesn't get the stuff so hot, which makes it soft, which makes it gum your paper up. And what I discovered was that the fenders I thought were nice and straight aren't so straight after all. Amazing what paint and rust and grime will hide. Once I got it all down to bare metal I discovered lots of dings, dents, creases, dimples, etc., etc. So, Fred, I'll soon be joining you with the filler work. What are you using? I have Evercoat for the skimming and for deeper areas I'm planning to use Ultra Glass, which is for welded seams but I like the way it works. Also, I had a question about the vinyl welting that goes in between the back fenders and the body. It has a decorative bead on the top that shows. I'm assuming you can paint this without doing anything special to the paint. Does anyone know otherwise? I've seen them unpainted and I'm not crazy about the look. Mine came painted from the factory. I know there's paint for vinyl, plastic, etc. but I'd like to just shoot it along with the rest of the car.

Joe, I have used the Ultra glass sparingly, I use the regular lightweight filler to build and shape, then a type of Gold fill and finish filler, then for glazing I am using a 2 part polyester glaze. I have not glazed a lot yet, but will after the first coats of 2 k high buld primer are laid down.

I am now using the Evercoat metal 2 metal filler in those areas that would have used the Ultra Glass before, over weld seams, and for areas to water proof.It is a metal filler that is of a high quality, some say closest thing to lead, not sure about that.

I would just use any regular filler for the inital build and shape, then switch to Rage Gold or Extreme to skim and finish up the area, sand to a nice feather edge, then shoot your 2 k urethane high build, then guide coat mist block 220, see what you got,fill everything, lay on some more primer/surfacer, block with 400 or 500, and you should there, if not block with 220 and see where your at, repeat if necessary...........Fred.Jor you gootta remeber, I am not a bodyman, you are not a body man, we can still get good results, but this second nature for guys who do this all the time.......Fred ps I am going to be satisfied with a half-way decent paint job in the end, don't need or want a show finish, thats not me, and I don't want to be worried where I park the car at any given moment, or worse, not wanting to drive it for fear of an accident....

[55 Fargo]

Not sure if your car was a lacquer hjob form the factory, didn't Chyrsler Corp use Baked Enamel for most of their car lines well ino the late 50s or early 60s before they switched to acrylic enamel.

The fender welt can be painted, not sure it won't peel though this vinyl stuff, I am using mine as black, don't mind the look.....Fred

[billwillard]

The fender welt comes in many colors but I would not paint it as I think it would peel easy. I would paint the fenders off car but if you want to paint them on car bolt fenders to car placing a 1/4" spacer between the fender and body in about three places. After painting remove the spacers and install the welting of your color choice. You have to cut pieces out of the welting to make it follow your fender.

[Rodney Bullock]

I found that Ford has the best welting made, they also have an assortment of colors. As you can see in this pic the fenders and body have been painted. You have new bolts in your fenders anyway so before you paint your car just loosen the bolts after the pint dries pull the fenders away from the body of your car. Take a peice of string and run it from the begining of the fender seam to the end then cut it. Take your welt and cut it to the lenth of the string. Once you cut the welt to lenth look at were the bolts are and cut triangles where your bolts line up with the welt, by cutting triangles you can adjust it bacl and forward. Pull it tight as you tighten the bolts that way it's nice and neat. This is a pic after doing this process it is a two man job

[55 Fargo]

I would say the fender welt new was either stainless covered or black.

If if matches the car, it was probably painted over during a repaint.

Just my 2 cents worth.

I will give a lot of credit to both Fred and Joe for all the work done on

their cars. It's more than I would want to tackle. You should be proud

of all you've accomplished. The end results will be nice....then you'll

be cruzzzin. :)

Thanx for the kind comment Bob, I do a lot of credit to guys like you and this forum, for which my project might not have been possible without such great help.

When it comes to bodywork, I give a lot of credit to Rodney Bullock,Tim Adams, Robert KB, Steveplym, Dezeldoc, Joelokie,and Young Ed, these guys have answered a lot of my endless questions, and Tims experienced advice has carried me a long way.

Yall have been a big help, in educated me and walking me through a lot of uncharted territory.

Rodney's car pics are a tremendous inspiration for all of us, wow what a collection of fine automobiles.

I have always enjoyed answering your question's too Joe flanagan, good to be of some help to you, if infact I was.

Well enough blather, off to nightshift for work......Fred

[Joe Flanagan]

Ed,

As far as I can tell, it was painted from the factory. It's the original paint, Kitchener green. Same color is even in the wheel wells, underneath the hinges, underneath the tail lights. Unless sometime in the past sixty years someone disassembled this entire vehicle and repainted it. That's the way it looks to me.

Jim,

I went to the Harbor Freight at Potomac Mills. I guess that's Dumfries. It's like being in a candy store until you stop and say to yourself: This stuff is really junky. Fine for a short term tool like what you and I have bought, though. Figures it would rain here. I can still take the Makita to the doors and when it starts coming down, call retreat.

[Joe Flanagan]

Bob,

To tell you the truth, if I had it to do over again, I might have chosen a car that wasn't as far gone as this one was. I'm glad I did it but I'm not sure I'd want to go through all that again. The really fun part is just beginning for me. Doing all the rust work and clean up and cutting and welding and everything else that was necessary wore me out at times. Thanks for your compliment.

Fred,

I've heard good things about Metal 2 Metal and might pick some up tomorrow. Don't know about the fender welt. If I can find a color that will go well with Kitchener green, I'll just put it in as is. And thanks, Rodney B. for the tip on installation. Fred, I know exactly what you mean about not wanting to worry about where you park it or not ever wanting to drive it for fear of dinging the paint. I want to drive this car. I plan to take it up 95 to Massachusetts on a regular basis. I don't want a trailer queen. I'll get it as nice as I can get it and then just enjoy it. But I will do my utmost best. Even when the car is built and running it will still be my project. I'm looking forward to running down the highway knowing I built the thing. There's huge satisfaction in that. And then the transmission falls out. Just kidding. To be honest with you, I'll be driving down the road with white knuckles knowing I built the thing.

[dezeldoc]

Fred, why you using so many different kinds of bondo? I use the same from start to finish, no compatibility problems that way. The metal bondo is pretty good on seams and such.

[55 Fargo]

Fred, why you using so many different kinds of bondo? I use the same from start to finish, no compatibility problems that way. The metal bondo is pretty good on seams and such.

Well Deez, initially was using only regular lightweight body filler, then glaze, found out about the gold premium fillers.

Once my last gallon of lightweight filler is finished will stick with the premium gold fill and finish filler and 2 part polyester glaze for the fine finishing.

A lot of bodyman I have talked with on other websites, like autobody 101, and Hotrodders bulletin, use a regular filler for the initial build coat and to create the shape/contour, then switch to the more expensive finer stuff to go on top to finish and block with. A lot of them don't glaze, but use there high build primer and block that instead, and use the primers more in there finishing.

Not sure I have ever had compatibility amongst polyester fillers, not saying there couldn't be, just never had this problem, some are better and finish much finer than others.

The cheaper lightweight filler I use is about $15.00 a gallon, but it is courser, and tends to clog the paper and get sanding scratches much easier. The gold fill and finish filler, made in Canada by www.proformproducts.ca ,I also use there 2 k urethane high build primer surfacer, I get it for $65 a gallon. The gold filler is much nicer to work with, sands well, does not hardly clog any sandpaper.

So far so good.......

[Plymouthy Adams]

lots of imperfection can be cured with primers..however..just be aware that over time and after the top coat has been applied..shrinkage can and does occur where primer alone was the filling agent..stick with the 2 part polyester or glaze if you can readily see the imperfection..you will thank yourself later for that..

[Joe Flanagan]

Well, today I spent most of the morning running around getting stuff: Sanding blocks, wax and grease remover, sandpaper, sand, just a bunch of things I needed. I put together my Harbor Freight sandblaster and put it under pressure. No leaks. But then it started to rain, so I didn't get to do anything else. Tomorrow if it holds up, I'll be out there.

[dezeldoc]

Well Deez, initially was using only regular lightweight body filler, then glaze, found out about the gold premium fillers.

Once my last gallon of lightweight filler is finished will stick with the premium gold fill and finish filler and 2 part polyester glaze for the fine finishing.

A lot of bodyman I have talked with on other websites, like autobody 101, and Hotrodders bulletin, use a regular filler for the initial build coat and to create the shape/contour, then switch to the more expensive finer stuff to go on top to finish and block with. A lot of them don't glaze, but use there high build primer and block that instead, and use the primers more in there finishing.

Not sure I have ever had compatibility amongst polyester fillers, not saying there couldn't be, just never had this problem, some are better and finish much finer than others.

The cheaper lightweight filler I use is about $15.00 a gallon, but it is courser, and tends to clog the paper and get sanding scratches much easier. The gold fill and finish filler, made in Canada by www.proformproducts.ca ,I also use there 2 k urethane high build primer surfacer, I get it for $65 a gallon. The gold filler is much nicer to work with, sands well, does not hardly clog any sandpaper.

So far so good.......

This is not sculpting 101, it is bodywork. If you need more than 1/8" of bondo you need to get the metal closer. if you want to make it sand better and get rid of pinholes thin the bondo out with a little resin on the last coat. I would hate to be paying the material bill on this! In my opnion you are going through a lot of unnessary steps and a lot of material you don't need. When you sand with course paper you should just rough it out then move on to the finer stuff for finishing. bondos that sand real easy and don't clog the paper have more talic to it and are more brittle. the old bondo we used to use 30yrs ago you could bend damn near in half before it would break, the new stuff won't go 1/4 of the way before it breaks.

[55 Fargo]

This is not sculpting 101, it is bodywork. If you need more than 1/8" of bondo you need to get the metal closer. if you want to make it sand better and get rid of pinholes thin the bondo out with a little resin on the last coat. I would hate to be paying the material bill on this! In my opnion you are going through a lot of unnessary steps and a lot of material you don't need. When you sand with course paper you should just rough it out then move on to the finer stuff for finishing. bondos that sand real easy and don't clog the paper have more talic to it and are more brittle. the old bondo we used to use 30yrs ago you could bend damn near in half before it would break, the new stuff won't go 1/4 of the way before it breaks.

I basically am doing what you are saying, but maybe you can hit an area with 1 coat of filler block it and your on your way, I am not this good,"yet".

If I am hitting area with filler that is 8 inches by 24 inches, I have a lot of imperfewctions, the filler is going on thin, a lot of it is no where near 1/8 of an inch, and a few places it may be slightly thicker.

I usually go one coat of filler, sand and shgape, follwed by another coat of filler, out past the perimeter of the initial coat, then sand with finher paer as you say, then if it needs a touch of glaze I do it, the primer can take care of the rest, I hope....LOL ps, should I use the finer bondo or the coarser less brittle bondos, you are right that they are more brittle, remember old Marson White Lighting

[Rodney Bullock]

Fred, Do you have some dollies? They are the heavy metal hand held devices that you use to knock dents out. This is what you use to get your body work close enough to put putty on. It's only adfter using those do you fill sand. Can you show us a pic of the fender you are trying to fix. I wish you were closer

I got my 55 Chevy back this morning, I had to fix some stuff they could not put back on and get my electric working right again. I lost my lights park,brake and headlights. The wife and I worked on it for about an hour. After I got everything working again we raced up and down RT301 until we got hungry. We got home and it started to rain, all fun stopped:mad: Oh well there is always tomorrow. I got those gravel shiels and rocker moulding installed as well...neat

[Brendan D25]

The Chevy is looking good Rodney, I like the way you painted the brake drums to match the car. It's a sign that you are getting old when the fun stops when you get home. . Brendan.

[55 Fargo]

Hammer and dolly work is all done, with the exception of the roof, my filler is not thick by no means, mostly about 1/16 of an inch up to 1/8 in spots, and few small areas a tad thicker, which is for me totally acceptable.

On my rear fenders, it was the bottom back corners that were really beat-up, they had the usual, dimples like crazy, cracks, I hammered out this tin then weded cracks, little holes etc, then filler work, but sometimes you need a large coverage to get a panel level and smooth, not deep filler, just expansive over the intended area.

The majority of the car has very little if any filler, like the rear 1/4s, the doors, hardly any fillers, the front fenders, have some filler on the top to level out things after the hammer and dolly work to take care of small dimples etc.

I am not laying on thick fillers to avoid trying to shape things up first, these fenders would have been a lot of work for even a seasoned body man let alone a greenhorn, such as I.

I have seen filler work that is 1 inch thick, up to 1/4 is the general outer limits with 1/8 inch thick being acceptable.I like to keep it as thin as possible, but when doing big areas, I have found it's best to finish a fillered area with a toatl skim coat of filler or 2 part glaze that overlaps the entire filled area, and then some, helps to make things straight.

I have heard of the resin in the filler trick, but have never tried it, I would imagine the resin would rise to the surface allowing a smoother sand...

[Rodney Bullock]

Fred, I was just checking, hammer and dolly work does come first and if you did it to the best of your ability then that's all she wrote:) The filler work(bondo) is to be used with less is better. You learn to cut it with the sand paper that way you don't wipe your work out. As you progress on an area you use a finer grit of paper. Most of the guy's around here use 320, 600, then 1000. When you are using a sand blaster with good media you start at 600. I have seen these guy's use a hammer and dolly with 600 and not use bondo at all. These cats are very experienced:cool: Watching them do body work is like watching a wood worker. They are one with the panel. Here is a pic of the fender on my Plymouth that I worked for 2 days. I finally got a gut to come over and help me, it took him 20 min. and he had it perfect. He had to remove all the work I did and start over:rolleyes: Yeah, I felt kind of bad until I saw the result:D keep pegging away Fred the end is near!