Today I spent some more time mechanically stripping the tub, including the front end and engine bay. I ended the day by giving the entire tub another thorough cleaning to remove any residual chemical stripper and paint dust.
I began on the cowl area in the front and the top area in the rear. I used a 3M Clean & Strip scotch brite disk on my drill to remove much of the remaining paint.
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Next I worked on the rear fenders and rockers.
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And then I turned my attention to the firewall.
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And the engine bay.
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First I removed the grill cross-supports, top and bottom, using a 1/2″ socket.
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I spent some time using the 3M Clean & Strip disk and then did some hand-sanding on the hard-to access areas.
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Here are the fully stripped left and right sides of the engine bay.
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Where the paint was too difficult to remove altogether, I used 150-grit sandpaper to sand it smooth and feather it into the areas where the bare sheetmetal was exposed.
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I also did some hand sanding inside the trunk.
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On the interior of the body I spent some time with the wire wheel. I removed some remaining adhesive areas and seam sealer from the rear.
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And also from the transmission tunnel.
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I turned my attention to the exterior of the body, specifically the areas under the front fenders. The areas at the side of the engine bay where the hood rests were a bit rusty, so I used a Norton abrasive disk to remove the corrosion.
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And I did the same on the area underneath the front fenders and the lower rocker panels.
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The areas under the fenders came fairly clean, but the most serious rust was on the lower rocker panels. This area will most likely require a patch.
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At the end of the day I gave the entire tub, top and bottom, inside and out, a good cleaning. I wet the entire body and sprayed it with Simple Green. Then I used scouring pads to go over the entire thing.
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Inside the very fronts of the rear fenders I found an area just ahead of the rear wheel wells where a lot of dirt had gathered over the years. This could get damp and promote rust, so I attempted to clean it out. I repeatedly sprayed inside with water, and then used my hand to try to loosen the fine dirt inside. Then I used my wet-dry shop vacuum to suck out the water and mud mixture. After repeating this several times I got most of the dirt out from each side.
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Here are some pictures of the stripped tub after the cleaning. From the front:
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From the left side:
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And from the rear:
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After drying away any standing water with my vacuum and a towel, I allowed the car to air-dry under the warm Texas sun for several hours. In the evening I rolled it back into the garage and ran the dehumidifier overnight in order to evaporate any hidden dampness from the bare metal.