Reconstruction has begun.

[doghows]

The car is coming together nicely. I put the new side panels on and after some trimming and fitting they fit great. Should have the car in primer in the next week or so. Then I get to start the final body work. (Putty is your buddy) I will finally put all the pieces back on the car and see what it looks like with the doors, fenders, and hood on again. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter!!!

[BillP 98201]

Looking good Steve ........ starting to drool some, luv those sedan deliveries!!!!

[Luva65wagon]

Go into the light... go into the light. But wear your sunglasses.

And here you had us all convinced you were an amateur. Excellent work. Can't wait to see it.

I wonder if I could make some big magnetic sheet sedan delivery panels so I could have a faux sedan delivery?

[pbrown]

Slick Sand is your friend if you have a gun to spray it. It will save you a lot of time with the body work. It's wonderful for getting long flat panels truly straight.

http://www.evercoat.com/productDetail.aspx?pID=28

The progress looks great.

[doghows]

Cool, thanks for the tip. I am going to put the car in powder coat primer next. We (my painter friend and I) have done some testing with this epoxy primer and it looks to be a good solution to etching primer and so forth. I need to start with the bondo portion next. Any suggestions on that stuff? After I get it real straight and smooth I will shoot that slick sand for the blocking, and then hopefully off to paint. I have my fingers crossed for around Christmas time.
Then comes the fun part of spending too much money and putting her back together. Thanks for the comments and tips helps with the motivation and final outcome of the car.

[pbrown]

I really like the Rage Gold product. I tried the cheaper stuff and won't go back. The rage gold goes on smooth with no air bubbles and is easy to sand.

http://www.evercoat.com/productDetail.aspx?pID=10

Do yourself a favor and buy good sandpaper too. Get the 3M professional stuff. It's the stuff behind the counter at Wesco so you have to ask for it. It's gold in color so you will know it from the cheap stuff. It's cuts better and lasts longer than the cheap stuff.

After filler, go to Slick Sand and sand that with 220-320. Then put down a couple coats of PPG K38 and wet sand to 400. Then another coat or two of K38 and wet sand to 600. You can seal the whole thing after that with PPG DPLF reduced as a sealer and then paint.

For sanding blocks, get this kit:
http://www.eastwood.com/7-piece-sanding-block-kit.html

You need a very long stiff block too. The red one from this photo is what I have. Mine is 3' long and is great for getting long panels perfectly straight.

http://www.eastwood.com/adjustable-f...-3-pc-kit.html

[doghows]

Awesome, Looks like I am on the right track. I was looking at the RAGE gold this morning, and I already have the durablock set. I think I can borrow the log block from my painter buddy. I really appreciate the tips on the products, I know many people have tried so I like learning from their mistakes. God knows I make enough of my own.
Thanks again Steve H.

[doghows]

Here are the latest and greatest. Got the car into powder coat primer today. Sure looks good all one color again. (dent's and all) So I've been told to scuff the surface with 80 grit and proceed with body work from here. This is all experimental but I have been told it will be fine. I will keep you all posted and we will see how it goes.

[Luva65wagon]

You must be feeling very good at the moment.

It's been a while since I went that far into something and I recall feeling pretty bleak after about 15 months... and seeing months to go. I even painted "HELP ME" at some point on the newspaper I had taped to the windshield. Not a good feeling. Just keep plugging along though and don't let it stall.

[doghows]

I am still very excited about the car. It looks better and better each time I work on it. Now I can slow down a bit since I don't have to worry about rust this winter. Here are some pics after this weekend. Got the sheet metal back on. Still have to do some aligning but looks good as a "whole" car again.

[doghows]

New progress finally... I got the rear axle done. Powder coated and all. Also got the sound mat in the roof and side panels. Wow what a difference, no more metal sound just a thud when you hit it... I won't bore you with the bondo work but I'll put up a pic when it is done and hopefully ready for paint...

[BillP 98201]

Nice job! Glad to see the progress

[Jeff W]

I'd like to see some close up's of your fuel filler modification.

[doghows]

I will get some for you. It was a kit I got from Hagan auto. Included the filler neck gas cap hinge door. Pretty cool kit. Should line up with the stock filler hose as well. But no more pissing down the fender with gas.

[doghows]

OK for those of you who thought I might be slacking, here are some boaring body work pics.. I have about 150 hour in it so far. (yes Larry too).
I checked and I am pretty sure there are no reflections in these..
Did I mention how much I enjoy body work???