Lavron's '64 Build Thread

[poboyjo65]

Wonder if it would be best to sand now before it gets rock hard? IDK. Thanks!
JT

I dont remember the 3m panel bond being that hard to sand ,I dont remember it getting rock hard but it gets hard,lol. but yes after an hour or so,maybe longer this time of year it is getting hard but still soft enough to work with & would be good to get a lot of the excess off. I think I was cutting or using a rasp or like for partial cured bondo,to get the excess off then only minor sanding after it fully cured. I used screws to on somethings or areas that I couldn't clamp so I would go back over & fill screws holes & stuff in a second application later on if needed.
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[Joe Travers]

I think I was cutting or using a rasp or like for partial cured bondo,to get the excess off then only minor sanding after it fully cured.

Thanks for jogging my memory, John. Yep, rasp it was to knock off excess before sanding filler. I found my old Haynes body work book in the closet I used years ago on my last job (which turned out pretty good). I'm sure products made now are much better than back then. Trying to play catch up with you guys.

JT

[tomb22]

I also used it to fill the drip rail above the windows after media blasting them. I then sanded them smooth. Worked great
tom

[lavron]

Need to find the easiest method without building too much heat.

I quenched my welds often with a damp rag, if I could find a natural sponge I would have used it but all I could find was artificial sponges and they tend to melt, Of course, short welds and skipping around a lot, going slow and letting it cool naturally or quenching it with the damp rag and then going back and filling in-between the first set of stitches. I did mostly flanged panels to weld to compensate for my lack of skill and cheap welder but doing butt welds would be better with a small gap between panels so the weld can be ground even with the surface and if you can TIG or use the wire that Powerband mentioned where the wire is sofer you could conceivably make patches with no filler or minimal skim coats, I know it helps to hammer and dolly the welds when they are hot if you can get to both sides but that is not always possible.

Like I said I am ok with some filler to smooth the panel but not thick coats that can crack and fall off, I think I will be satisfied with the work considering my car will be a driver and not a collectible or rare Comet (I mean it is 1 of 1 )

I know in the video where I put the Bondo Glass on there it looked like a lot, but in the last vid you saw where I sanded almost all of it off, if you ever used Bondo Glass you find out you can not make it pretty but it is not designed to be a single and finished coat but is a fiberglass strand reinforced filler and is made to be an initial layer to help over stuff like welded panels etc that might need the strength of the fiber, it is some of the goopiest stuff I have ever used, the polyester filler is a dream to use after using that stuff, it spreads on there so smooth and be spread super thin, I will probably put it on a little thicker than what my final thickness will be so I can block it in and make it super smooth, we will see how that goes

It was a bummer I could have put that filler on today but got tied up with other stuff and never even made it out to the shed. Hopefully, the warm weather will hold but it sounds like it is supposed to start raining tomorrow.

May ought to turn the car around and tarp over the engine. Thinking about putting the ramps under it to raise it some to make the working height a little more convenient and also drop that tire out of there again maybe put the trailer tire and wheel up on there, if I had two I would just pull the rears off and leave some trailer tires on there, for now, I may try and get a second wheel and have the old weather checked tires on the trailer right now put on them when I install new tires on the trailer (or get some new wheels for the trailer, I have a set of steel wheels off of the Jeep if I can find all of them)

Anyway, hopefully when I get the job done I can make you guys jealous of my nice rear quarters

Tom has your front fender extensions held up well or have you started to see any cracking where you bonded them on because I am bound and determined to mold my front ones on as well Just have to figure out how to attach the chrome insert back on there after I do that, not sure if I can reach in from the grill opening and install the nuts, I am ok drilling access holes through fronts of the fenders if I need to like I did in the rear to attach the eyebrow trim back there

See Ya,
Mike

[Joe Travers]

doing butt welds would be better with a small gap between panels so the weld can be ground even with the surface and if you can TIG or use the wire that Powerband mentioned where the wire is sofer you could conceivably make patches with no filler or minimal skim coats

That's my plan. I can stick weld well but don't own a TIG. I have an old friend that would lend me his, I'm certain. He's a hot dog and should be able to point me in the right direction. I asked him if he would do the work for me but he doesn't have time. Practice makes perfect (or nearly)

Thanks!

JT

[lavron]

I dont remember the 3m panel bond being that hard to sand ,I don't remember it getting rock hard but it gets hard,lol. but yes after an hour or so,maybe longer this time of year it is getting hard but still soft enough to work with & would be good to get a lot of the excess off.

well in my case it is cold enough an hour is stretched out to days, I found it is like Bondo where you need to cut off the outer waxy skin and then it sands better, I used the DA and 40 grit, I kept the sander moving and flat against the panel to keep from making any holes and digging too much out, as I progress probably 80 grit will be as course as I use, I hope to put the next coat on so smooth I don't have a lot of cutting I need to do mostly just blocking it in and flattening the panel. Also, I think you need to be careful and not heat the panel bonding adhesive (or any two-part epoxy like JB Weld, etc) up with a sander or grinder because it will get soft and gum up your paper and make it messy

As a full disclaimer, I did patch a hole about the size of a dime in the bottom front of the cowl using POR15 and POR Patch (it is like a really thick POR 15) that would have required major disassembly to repair "properly" it was up behind the fender and under the hood hinge support, I chose to clean up the edges and brush or grind the rust left (I can't remember which I did). I still had the end of the cowl cut off so I could reach in from the side and fully coat the rust spot with POR Patch and smooth it down, of course you know that is dried rock hard like POR15 does, I did it before I painted the inside of the cowl with POR15, epoxied the patch down over the passenger side cowl vent as well and sealed it with POR Patch before painting so it is slick and smooth and should not trap any water (the A/C install calls for removing both fresh air vents in the cowl but I left my drivers vent in there, hopefully, it will not be in the way of the AC ducting, I like having a way to naturally cool the car when it is too cold to open the windows but needs just a touch of fresh air.

I think I showed how I just screwed the ends of the cowl (under the fender) back on and sealed them with seam sealer so I could remove them at any time if I needed access to the cowl and wouldn't have to cut them off again (tying to do my future self some favors)

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

Rainy windy day



No bodywork today, going to stay in the house and try to avoid pneumonia.

See Ya,
Mike

[SASSY]

Somebody has to watch the wood stove flame on a day like that! I've become somewhat of a pro at it
Fred

[lavron]

At least it is liquid for now

See Ya,
Mike

[SASSY]

We were doing alright white wise till a week or so ago. Lately been on the quad pushin snow every other day!
Fred

[poboyjo65]

when I built my shop it started out as a carport,then added a side wall for shelves & stuff,then because the rain blew in I closed in one end but with a 12 wide doorway & built double swinging doors.so Now I had 3 sides like you Mike. I knew I wanted a 12' garage door & opener for the front but before I got the door I put up a 12' wide heavy duty tarp,it was from a gravel truck . I had a big job I needed to do & didnt have time to put up a door. the tarp was a lot longer than my 7'' high door,& I didnt want to cut it so I rolled it on to a 2x4 which help to hold the tarp still in the wind & I could roll it on up when I need to open the shop & had something to hang it on at the top ,which worked fine then later on I put a piece of 4'' pvc pipe along the bottom & rolled the excess tarp on it,ran a couple strings under it with a some small pulleys & made it raise & lower like some of the roll up bamboo window blinds, even had a roll on the wall that I could crank for the string to roll up on to raise the tarp. it worked so good I left it up for a long time. the tarp had eyelets on the sides that I had bent nails to hook those on & keep the sides closed when the wind was blowing hard. with a propane double Mr. heater I could get it toasty in there!

[tomb22]

Tom has your front fender extensions held up well or have you started to see any cracking where you bonded them on because I am bound and determined to mold my front ones on as well Just have to figure out how to attach the chrome insert back on there after I do that, not sure if I can reach in from the grill opening and install the nuts, I am ok drilling access holes through fronts of the fenders if I need to like I did in the rear to attach the eyebrow trim back there

See Ya,
Mike
[/quote]


I keep checking them out, but have not seen any cracking at all. I'm very pleased so far with the decision to bond the fender extensions on.
tom

[SASSY]

when I built my shop it started out as a carport,then added a side wall for shelves & stuff,then because the rain blew in I closed in one end but with a 12 wide doorway & built double swinging doors.so Now I had 3 sides like you Mike. I knew I wanted a 12' garage door & opener for the front but before I got the door I put up a 12' wide heavy duty tarp,it was from a gravel truck . I had a big job I needed to do & didnt have time to put up a door. the tarp was a lot longer than my 7'' high door,& I didnt want to cut it so I rolled it on to a 2x4 which help to hold the tarp still in the wind & I could roll it on up when I need to open the shop & had something to hang it on at the top ,which worked fine then later on I put a piece of 4'' pvc pipe along the bottom & rolled the excess tarp on it,ran a couple strings under it with a some small pulleys & made it raise & lower like some of the roll up bamboo window blinds, even had a roll on the wall that I could crank for the string to roll up on to raise the tarp. it worked so good I left it up for a long time. the tarp had eyelets on the sides that I had bent nails to hook those on & keep the sides closed when the wind was blowing hard. with a propane double Mr. heater I could get it toasty in there!

This very much sounds like the saying
"Haven't got time to do it right, but have time to redo it,,"

Fred

[poboyjo65]

when I built my shop it started out as a carport,then added a side wall for shelves & stuff,then because the rain blew in I closed in one end but with a 12 wide doorway & built double swinging doors.so Now I had 3 sides like you Mike. I knew I wanted a 12' garage door & opener for the front but before I got the door I put up a 12' wide heavy duty tarp,it was from a gravel truck . I had a big job I needed to do & didnt have time to put up a door. the tarp was a lot longer than my 7'' high door,& I didnt want to cut it so I rolled it on to a 2x4 which help to hold the tarp still in the wind & I could roll it on up when I need to open the shop & had something to hang it on at the top ,which worked fine then later on I put a piece of 4'' pvc pipe along the bottom & rolled the excess tarp on it,ran a couple strings under it with a some small pulleys & made it raise & lower like some of the roll up bamboo window blinds, even had a roll on the wall that I could crank for the string to roll up on to raise the tarp. it worked so good I left it up for a long time. the tarp had eyelets on the sides that I had bent nails to hook those on & keep the sides closed when the wind was blowing hard. with a propane double Mr. heater I could get it toasty in there!

This very much sounds like the saying
"Haven't got time to do it right, but have time to redo it,,"

Fred

but the reality was I was hoping to find used stuff for cheap & I'll make time to redo it when I find what I want at a price that makes me grin! Gave 25 for the door,had to spend some more for new rollers & a some brackets & a free garage door opener ,,,it just fell in my lap! sound familiar Fred?

[SASSY]

Geez,,, did I mention that I bought my overhead door used,,?
It was a 16 ft door that I cut down for a 12 ft opening.
Ya, we do have a few things in common, cheap being one
Fred
Edit
Mike, just noticed your on, you better clamp on those guys with the 65s they get off track