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Today I welded in the patch panels I fabricated yesterday for the lower sills, right and left sides. The stock I used to make the patches was 18-gauge galvanized sheet metal. Galvanized metal can release some toxic fumes when it is heated, as in welding, so I am always careful to work in a well-ventilated area and also take the precaution of removing the galvanized coating from the edges of the metal I'll be welding. I used a wire brush along the edges of both panels on both sides of the metal before getting started. My first step was to drill out the holes in each patch where the fenders mount onto the sill. I used a 3/8" bit. And I repeated the same on the driver's side. I found some nuts that seem to fit the bolts that held the fenders on the one side that hadn't rusted out, though I'm not sure those bolts were original. In any case they were a 5/16" 24-pitch nuts. I welded them to the inside of the patch panel using my mig welder and moving around the outside perimeter of the nuts using small spot welds. Here you can see the nuts through the holes I drilled from the underside. The holes are oversized a bit but will allow clearance for the bolts to go through. Then I held the driver's side patch into place and tacked it with three spot welds at the corners. And then I started welding across the top. My technique is to weld the metal into place using numerous spot welds, rather than trying to lay down a continuous bead. This way I am able to keep everything relatively cool and yet still get good penetration of the metal. I worked in three clusters along the top of the patch, welding a spot in each cluster and then moving on to the next cluster. I worked my way all the way around the bottom of the patch in this manner. I had to do some hammering of the patch with my 5-pound sledge hammer to bring it into shape along the way. Then I moved over to the passenger side. After ensuring it was a good fit I tacked the patch in the corner. On this side I wanted to get the top welded in first so I could make the other edges fit and manipulate the shape of the panel as necessary. So I worked across the top with spot welds, allowing some time to cool in between welds. Then I moved down the right side and then the left side of the patch. And finally I welded the bottom. And I finished off the process by grinding down the welds using my angle grinder.

Tonight I made a quick repair to one of the jack hole plugs that was damaged. One of the little arms that holds the plug into the lower sill underneath the door was broken off and missing. The plugs cover up a small metal tube inside the sill where a post from the OEM jack is inserted to jack up the car. I've heard horror stories about the jack slipping out of the tube and gouging up the door. Maybe this happens and maybe it doesn't, but to me it isn't worth the risk so I will never jack the car using the original jack in the sill. But when I got the car it had only one plug in place, I was lucky to find the second broken one inside the car and will repair it and put it back into place for an original appearance. I started by stripping the red paint from the plug using a Clean & Strip wheel from 3M. Here is the good side of the plug, showing one of the arms that holds the plug into the tube. The other arm was missing altogether. So I just cut out a narrow strip of 18-gauge steel and welded it into place. And with the repair made the plug popped right back into its rightful place.

Today I spent most of the day fabricating steel patches for the worst-rusted areas of the front fender sills, the area under the front fenders down close to the ground. This is the area where the front fenders bolt to the underside of the body, and an area where the fenders are apt to rust as well as the sills. Although relatively solid, rust holes had begun to penetrate the area and the best course of action was to cut out the rusty sheetmetal and replace it with solid steel. Starting on the driver's side, I just drew up and cut-out a patch from posterboard big enough to cover the rusty area, then I taped the posterboard up onto the sill in order to trace the cutting perimeter onto the body. I traced the outline using a black Sharpie marker. On the passenger's side I did the same, and it required a patch of a different shape. The nice thing about using a posterboard template is that I could then lay it flat on my steel stock and trace out the shape the patch would need to be before bending. I used 18-gauge steel for the patches. I cut out the patch using a pair of electric sheet metal shears. I cut out both the left and right patch panels the same way. On the driver's side I made a rough bend in the patch panel so it would have a curve similar to the sill. I just sandwiched the lower edge of the steel between to short lengths of two-by-four and pulled up on the upper edge to bend it. Then I cut out the rusted sill area from the body just using my Dremmel with the little cut-off wheel. The thin Dremmel cut-off wheels were used up pretty quick so I had to keep switching in new ones. After cutting halfway around the top I could see that there was plenty of rust inside the sill. In fact, I could see where the bolts that connected the lower fenders into the sill had rusted and broken off in their nuts. I finished cutting out the rest of the area. Here is the removed rusted-out sill area and a side-by-side with the new patch after I fine-tuned the shape of the patch a little more. I cleaned up the edges of the remaining surrounding sill using a cleaning wheel on my drill. Since I had to cut out the nuts that the fenders bolt into at the bottom of the sill, I will need to drill holes and weld in some new nuts onto the patch. I marked the location of the holes in the patch. Then I moved over to the other side. Instead of using the Dremmel I used my angle grinder furnished with a metal cut-off wheel, which went much faster through the sill. This was definitely a better tool for the job! There was less rust inside on the passenger's side but I still had to clean up the remaining metal using a stripping wheel. Here is the patch panel bent roughly into shape alongside the cutout. I prepped the inside areas of the sills on both sides by washing them out using Simple Green and also spraying on some Metal Prep to address surface rust. Then I painted on a coat of Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator. The Rust Encapsulator is supposed to seal in rust and prevent any further deterioration. I just applied a generous coat of Rust Encapsulator using a brush. And I did the same on the other side.

Earlier this month I repaired the area in the body where hoodpins had been installed by welding closed the holes and then using body solder to fill them in to level. This afternoon I finished them off by applying some body filler and then sanding the areas smooth. I applied the Metal 2 Metal filler to each side. Then later in the afternoon, when the filler had dried, I sanded it.

Last week I applied two coats of body filler to the front apron, sanding in-between. After the last coat the surface was rough, so I did a little sanding to straighten it out. I applied some black guidecoat and sanded again to reveal the high and low spots. And I also used the guidecoat on the top surface of the apron. So I continued sanding to bring down the high areas to the level of the lows, creating a uniform surface.

This morning I did a final sanding of the second coat of body filler I applied to the rear fenders yesterday. I started on the driver's side, using a hard block with 120-grit paper to hit the straight areas, and then using some finer 150-grit paper in my hand so that I could get into the transitional curves along the fender flares. Once I'd finished the area was pretty smooth, I'd say 95% of the way there. The rest of the finish will be accomplished in block sanding with the rest of the body. The passenger side rear fender was a little wavier, so I used my random orbital sander with a 120-grit sanding disk. To the touch it didn't feel quite as smooth as the other side, so I applied some guide coat, just using black spray paint. Then I sanded again using the hard block and the dark areas where the guidecoat didn't sand off revealed the low spots.

This afternoon I spent a lot of time doing bodywork on the front fenders. At some point in the car's life it was clearly involved in a front-end collision on the front passenger side, and the resulting fender repairs left a lot of holes from the slide hammer used to pull out the dents. When I bought the car bondo was spilling through these holes inside the fender, inviting moisture to penetrate the metal under the filler. Also on the driver's side there was a dent just below the headlight that had been pulled and it required more attention as well.

The first thing I did was to remove any remaining paint and/or filler or seam-sealer from both front fenders, and give them a thorough washing. I scrubbed any residue, grease, or adhesive from both fenders using a brillo pad and some Simple Green. Then I rinsed both well and parked them on the back patio to dry in the sun. After 90 minutes in the July Texas heat the front fenders were totally dry. I started on the less-mangled driver's side fender. Here is the dent in the fender and the hole probably used to try to pull the dent using a slide hammer. I used a Clean n Strip wheel in my drill to clean the metal. With the area cleaned up I used my mig welder to patch the hole. The welded area I then cleaned by hitting it again with the wheel to remove any scale and then wiping with acetone to get any grease. The next step was to fill the dent with body solder in order to get it as close to level with the surrounding metal as possible. I brushed on the tinning compound that would enable the solder to bond to the steel. Then I heated the tin with my propane torch until the impurities burned off brown and black. Those I wiped away with a clean white shop towel. This left a thin coat of tin that bonds to the steel and the solder bonds to the tin. The body solder will not bond directly to the steel without this step. Next I started applying the body solder, which comes in rods, by heating the solder and placing dollops from the end of the rod into the dent. The repair definitely looked rough, but my strategy was to build up the solder above level and then bring it back down with a grinder to make it as smooth as possible. I have found applying the solder smooth when hot to be impossible. So I used three stacked cut-off wheels in my 4 1/2" angle grinder to grind away the excess solder to try to get it as level as possible. And as you can see from the side the result was close to the profile of the original metal, albeit not a smooth surface. After grinding I wiped the area again with acetone. In order to get the solder repair smooth I applied a thin coat of body filler on top. I've been using Metal 2 Metal filler from Evercoat, which I like a lot. I put a scoop of filler about the size of a golf ball onto my board. Then I added 12 drops of hardener per the instructions on the can, and gathered the filler on a plastic spreader. I applied the filler without working it too much on the surface, which I've found just makes the surface rough. Once again I applied a coat that would be proud of the final surface so that I could sand it later in order to bring it back to flat and blend the edges into the surrounding fender. And here is a shot from the side of the repair.

Next I repeated the same process on the passenger side front fender, which was in worse condition. I welded up all the holes used to straighten the fender (must have been a bad dent!) and then cleaned and applied tinning compound. And I applied a mountain of body solder. And I spent some time grinding the solder back. This shot was about midway through the process.

This morning I started by sanding down the first coat of body filler I applied to the rear fenders last weekend. I used a 100-grit sanding pad and tried to work the filler to smooth out the body lines of the fender flares the best I could. Here are some shots after I finished the sanding. I tried to feather the filler in to the existing sheetmetal so the repairs would blend in to the body and eventually become invisible. And then I applied a second thin coat of filler after sanding. In order to get these repairs satisfactory I will need to apply filler, sand, apply filler, sand, and repeat...

So yesterday was actually my last day of work; I've taken a new job that starts in mid-August and is located in BALTIMORE. Career-wise it is a tremendous opportunity for me and also I grew up and still have family in Maryland, so it will be nice to be closer to home.



I intentionally left a week to work on the roadster to get it as far along as possible before we move out. After this week I will need to focus on getting everything packed up and ready to move and getting the house ready to go on the market. As much as I appreciate the art in a roadster, I'm not sure that having one in hundreds of pieces in the garage would be seen by potential buyers as a selling point, so the first order of business is to get it stabilized and cleared out. Lots of work to do, but I have the next week or so to focus on the project.

And I sanded down the first coat of filler on the passenger side door and applied a second coat. In addition to the large dent in the door, the bottom of the door was mishapen, probalby as a result of door dings created over many years. I sanded the first coat using my random orbital sander and then wiped away the dust using acetone. After the sanding I applied another coat, trying to feather it out towards the edges of the dent so I could sand it smooth, only building up filler in the very center of the dent.

Next I applied two coats of body filler over the body solder repairs on the front apron. In the first coat I tried to maintain the right angle at the front edge of the apron. After allowing the first coat to cure I sanded and applied a second coat.

Next I applied a second coat of body filler to the areas of the hood that required it. On the second coat I attempted to feather the filler out away from the dents to transition it into the undamaged areas of the hood. After the second coat dried I used my random orbital sander and a 120-grit sanding disk to sand it smooth.

After cleaning up the welded-in rust patches in the rear fenders I needed to use some body filler to blend in the panels to the body lines. I applied a thin coat of Metal 2 Metal body filler over the patches. Later I will sand off much of the filler and hopefully leave just enough to make the patches invisible and restore the appearance of the fender lip. On the left rear fender I applied the filler in two stages as I worked down from top to bottom. I first swiped the filler onto the fender lip from the body crease right to left, then from the crease toward the fender from left/center to the right.

On the right fender I used more filler in order to finish off the end just behind the wheel well, which I had previously built-up using body solder. In the hot July Texas sun the filler cured quickly on the sheetmetal, and there were even some bubbles. I had to work quickly and it was difficult to get a smooth result, which means more sanding later.

Later in the day I did a quick sanding and then cleaned off the dust and applied a second coat of filler to both sides.

This morning I used my grinder to dress-up the patches I welded into the rear fenders, where I had cut out some rust. I used my 4 1/2" angle grinder with a stack of three cut-off wheels on top of one another. Using the edge of three, rather than one wheel, gives me a wider footprint for grinding and as I tilt the wheels up and down I am able to taper my grinding a bit, which is useful in transitional (i.e. non-flat) areas of the body. First I dressed the welds on the single patch on the right rear fender. Then I switched over to the left rear fender, which had two rust patches. And I moved on to the lower patch. After grinding I used a wire brush on my drill to clean off the metal and remove any scale that was left. The repairs were solid, though with some dimples left around the welds. I kept at it until the metal was clean.

Tonight I welded in the small rear fender patch pieces I fabricated previously. Since the patch steel I bought was galvanized, and welding-up galvanized steel can emit some dangerous fumes, I first used a wire wheel to remove much of the zinc coating from the patches, particularly around the edges. I also was sure to weld outside with good ventilation. The patches fit well within the cut-outs, which I cut to size. For the thin sheetmetal of the roadster body my MIG welding set-up consists of .023" solid-core wire with CO2/Argon shielding gas. So with the patch in place, the first thing I did was tack weld the patch at the top. Again because the sheetmetal is thin, rather than try to lay down a continuous bead around the entire patch my technique is to weld the patch with numerous spot welds, working around the patch until the entire thing is welded in. If I used a continuous bead I would probably heat the metal and burn through before long; using multiple spot welds enabled me to allow one end of the patch to cool a bit while I work on the opposite edge. As I worked my way around I also shaped the patch a bit to try to conform it to the shape of the fender lip. The result was pretty ugly, but strong with good weld penetration without blowing lots of holes in the fender. The welds will clean up nicely later. I also welded in the two patches on the left rear fender.

Late this afternoon I cut out the rusted areas I need to patch on the rear fender lips. I used my cut-off wheel in my 4 1/2" grinder to cut out the areas and then grind the edges of the holes until the patches I'd previously cut fit. The first one I addressed was on the right rear fender. After cutting a hole the right size I applied some Eastwood Rust Encapsulator, which should neutralize any rust inside the fender lip, inside the exposed area. And I did the same on the left rear fender, cutting out to areas where rust had penetrated under the old filler, and then applying Rust Encapsulator inside.

And I used some body filler to cover the weld repairs I'd done on the driver's side door, where the metal had ripped from the stress of the rear-view mirror. I just mixed up the filler and applied a very light coat to the area. Then I applied a rough first-coat to the driver's side door. This area is going to require several coats and lots of sanding because the dent in the driver's side door is the worst on the car.

This afternoon I did some work applying body filler to the hood to smooth out the body solder repairs I'd already done. I'm finding that it is beyond my abilities to get most of the solder repairs perfectly smooth without applying some sandable filler to finish off the repairs. Also, on one particular dent on the hood the metal had been ground thin, and when I applied heat to try to solder that area the metal simply buckled. Areas like this are not good candidates for solder repairs, so I used filler exclusively on that shallow dent.

My filler of choice is Evercoat Metal 2 Metal, which is a high-quality filler that has small particles of metal in it that give it a metal appearance. It is plastic filler, make no mistake, but has a metallic appearance. In my limited experience using it I have found it to be a very high quality filler and easy to apply, work, and sand. I bought the filler from Eastwood; buying from a place that turns over a lot of product means you will get relatively fresh stock, whereas a can that has been on the shelf for a long time can be a little less flexible. The first thing I did was to wipe down all of the areas I was applying filler with paper towels and acetone to clean the metal and remove any grease. Next I cracked open the can of filler. I used a plastic mixing board and just plastic applicators available at Walmart. As per the instructions on the can I used about a golfball-sized dollop of filler and applied 10-12 drops of the hardener.
With the hardener added I mixed it into the filler on the board. Wearing rubber gloves, because filler will definitely stick to your skin, I swiped on two stripes of filler over the larger hood dent. By experience I have learned that it is much better to work the filler less than more, because continually going over it makes the coat less smooth, not more smooth. The Metal 2 Metal has decent working time, but is most pliable when it first goes on.
I also skimmed over the weld and solder repairs of the hoodpin holes, as well as the smaller solder-repaired dent on the opposite side of the hood. And I attacked the front hood lip, where I had done a lot of soldering. I applied a thin coat of filler to fill the remaining dents and to blend the damaged area into the other side of the lip.

The last thing I did today was to apply some boldy solder into the remaining voids in the body where the hoodpins had been mounted using the same process I'd used on the apron. After applying the solder I grinded and sanded the area to finish the repair.

This afternoon I spent about an hour working on repairing the front apron, which had evidence of collision damage and a previous repair. I previously welded up the holes that had been used to straighten the dents before filler (but had never been filled). So the first step was to grind down those welds as flush as possible. I used my angle grinder with three metal cut-off wheels stacked up to widen the profile. This makes it easier to cut using the edge of the wheels. After I was finished they welds where fairly flush. I used my body hammer to straighten the apron a bit by tapping the inside and holding my dolly on the face of the apron. Nevertheless the metal was fairly wrinkled after I tried to knock the dents outward, even proud of where they should be. So I used my shrinking disk to try to shink the metal which had first been stretched inward when the dents occurred, then stretched outward when the previous owner pulled the dents and finally when I tapped them outward with my hammer. I applied the 9" shrinking disk, mounted in my large grinder to the surface of the apron to build up friction and heat localized to the high spots, then quenched the area using water to shrink those same spots. I repeated this many times and began to see some progress. After spending several minutes heating and quenching I saw some progress but realized I would still need some filler to get the apron smooth again. So I cleaned the area using a 3M Clean N Strip wheel mounted in my drill.
Next I painted on a coat of the tinning compound that helps the lead-free body solder bond to the steel. I used my propane torch to heat the tin until it bubbled brown. Once the tin turned bright silver I used a clean cloth to wipe away the brown impurities. With the tin applied I quickly cleaned it using some hot water and once it dried I wiped again with acetone. Then I applied the solder to the apron. After applying enough solder to stand proud of the apron I used my cut-off wheel again with the same three-disk set-up to start grinding away the surplus solder. After grinding for about fifteen minutes to get the basic shape I switched over to my random orbital sander with a 60-grit sanding disk. One of the nice aspects of the lead-free solder is it is safe to sand, unlike lead.
The sanding blended the solder into the surrounding steel and made it much smoother. Clearly it still is not perfect, but structurally the area was set and would only require a thin coat of filler to be smooth.

This week my new original-style exhaust manifold arrived! I bought the manifold on ebay after keeping an eye out for one for several months. The manifold that came with the car was an aftermarket header, which is pretty typical because the OEM version was prone to cracking. This one actually does have some cracking and evidence of a repair. I will probably have to send it off for more repairs. But for today I spent a little time cleaning up the manifold with water, Simple Green, and a brillo pad.