july 28, 2011

Primed at last! I used a self etching high build urethane primer surfacer. I will block out the whole car in a few days, then reprime the car, at which point, it should be ready for paint.

July 23, 2011

Today I focused on the rockers, mainly. Because of all the "massaging" I had to do to get the door gaps right ( repro parts - gotta love em) there were quite a few little dimples in the rockers. I gave both a coat of bondo top and bottom, as I have my doubts about how well the sill plates will fit. If worse comes to worse,  at least the upper part that shows will look good, and I can run without them. Not what I would choose, but I'm preparing for the worst case scenario. I also spent time with a file smoothing out the inside radius of the left rear wheel opening. I initially used a grinder to get the lip close to being an equal measurement all the way round, but until the bodywork was complete, there was no way to get it totally accurate. It's not perfect (again, due to using repro parts), but I'm fairly happy with how it looks. Fabricating the inner wheelhouse pieces and mating them to the patch panels so that the curvature and radius of the wheel opening are correct has been one of the most challenging parts of the metalwork on this project. A true ghia afficionado ( sp?) would quickly note that there are no spotweld dimples where the outer and inner quarters mate, but what the hey, it's going to be a driver, not a tralier queen.

July 20, 2011

Back at it after a couple days off. The bodywork is pretty much done on the rear section now, with the exception of sanding out the last few spots of finishing putty. Much of today was spent stripping the paint off of the remaining areas, and dealing with the many little surface rust pits under the paint. I have been using little gold wire wheels from crappy tire in my rechargable drill, which has been working quite well. They work almost as well as the "muleskinners" I used to use back in the day, which was a small wire wheel similar to what I'm using now, but they were dipped in some kind of rubberized epoxy that held the bristles stiff. Can't seem to find them anywhere now. There is some rust under the flange that runs around the back of the opening for the convertible top, so I will have to sandblast that area before priming.

July 16, 2011

Today I fabbed up a couple of braces for the rear pan. I used an old rusted one for a pattern, which worked out quite well. I think I saved myself about $50. I then started on the bondo work on the rear quarters. I ground down the entire panels, as there were numerous small dents, as well as a number of small bits of surface rust under the paint that needed to be addressed. I'm about half way there on the left quarter, and have the second coat on the right quarter.

July 15, 2011

Today I fit and welded in the rear pan section. I believe this is the only piece I have installed that won't need filler on it. I somehow misplaced the two inner braces that keep the pan from flexing, so if I can't find them I'll have to reorder a set. I spent  a couple hours welding up all the engine compartment tin from underneath, and also fabbed up another inner wheelhouse patch for the right side. They aren't going to be the prettiest wheelhouses, but since parts aren't available, there's no other alternative. I still have to grind down a bunch of welds in the engine compartment, but need to round up a smaller grinder with a 3 inch wheel to get at the tight spots. As mentioned before, the trunk, hood and doors need to have the inner flanges sandblasted, but other than that, the rust repair should be complete and now the bondo work begins.

July 14, 2011

Today I finished off the left rear secton. Since the last post, I did a bunch of shrinking to get the compound curves right. I then welded in the engine compartment tin, and fabricated a couple of patches for the rear bottom portion of the inner wheelhouse that had rotted away. Once everything was welded up, I remembered that I needed to cut the holes where the rear bumper brackets go through the body and attach to the frame. Luckily I had a piece that wasn't totally rusted away, and was able to make a template to get them in the right place. This section took a bit more time than the other one, as I had to fix rust around the tailight area, and also graft in a piece above the patch panel, as it was very thin from rust. Next will be the rear pan section.

July 12, 2011

Today I started on the left rear corner. I welded the inner pieces together first. I had to salvage the long brace that goes underneath from my donor car, as you can't buy this piece. I cut and fit a section from another quarter piece I acquired, as the area around the tailight was rusted away. This required quite a bit of fitting, as it had to line up with the lower patch piece as well. I used the side marker holes as a reference point, which worked quite well to orient the upper patch. I then clamped all the other pieces in place to make sure everything lined up properly, then removed everything but the two outer patch pieces. I hammer welded these pieces in, but the panel will still require a bit of shrinking, as the lower, repro piece has more of a bulge than it should have, ( suprise suprise) so didn't want to line up perfectly with the quarter.

July 10, 2011

Today I welded up all of the pieces I had tacked in from yesterday. I also had to make up a patch for the rear area of the wheelhouse, as it was totally rusted away, which took several hours to make and fit as it was quite involved. I welded the side reflector holes up, as I don't like the looks of them. All in all this corner went together quite well, considering the amount of inner and outer pieces that had to mesh together properly. One corner left - plus the rear pan! (well, I also have to strip the doors, hood and trunk, and sandblast a bunch of surface rust, but I'm feeling like I'm over the hump now).