Good news all around on the last of the metal work front tonight.
While it kicked my *ss a bit, the last of the welding on the small patch got completed. The part I had the difficulty with was the overhead welding on the underside of the pinch weld. Not because it was overhead (which is almost always difficult anyways), but because of the giant glob of seam sealer in behind and in the most inaccessible spot. Every time I struck the arc, the sealer would melt and run into my weld puddle contaminating it.
Have I mentioned lately my dislike and disgust with the factory’s over use and abuse of the stuff?
But anyways, I persevered and overcame it. Here’s a look at it now that it’s finished, also note that I got the ugliness of the shrink (shrunk?) area profiled and taken care of.
When that was done, I ran a tape line along the bottom of the pinch weld, and trimmed off the excess like I did on the other side. Looks much better now.
Happy that everything from the wheel opening back was finished and taken care of, I turned my attention to something I’ve been kind of dreading and therefore procrastinating on:
Removing the rocker panel moulding on this side.
If you might recall, when I removed the same moulding from the other side, I found an ugly little surprise waiting for me underneath, a nasty rust hole. Fearing I’d find a similar issue lurking beneath this one, I’ve left it till the last moment.
Well, tonight was the moment of truth. After pulling it off, I was pleasantly surprised (and very relieved) to find no holes! Just a little surface stuff that needed to be taken care of. Here’s what I found after removing the moulding:
While the rust on the right in the pic looks pretty grim, it really wasn’t that bad. I stripped the last of the old paint and primer off with 80 grit on the DA, then knocked the majority of the rust off/out with the Clean n Strip wheel. That left just a few deeper pits, and the screw hole that holds the end of the trim on.
I quickly buzzed up the screw hole (I can always add it back in later if need be), then ground it flush and tackled the last of the rust pits with a 36 grit disc on my angle die grinder. They all came out quite nicely without digging too deep into the surface.
Here’s the exact same panel after the work was completed:
All that’s left to do here is clean up the underside of the pinch weld in this area, but that can be done at anytime. At least this way, the surfaces of both full quarters are ready for filler and blocking work to start when Mike comes over on Sunday.
So that’s it! The last of the metal work on the back half of the car is finished! That’s a great feeling, and I’m extremely happy with that fact.
That’s it for now guys, thanks for checking back in regularly. As always, drive angry my friends!
D.
While it kicked my *ss a bit, the last of the welding on the small patch got completed. The part I had the difficulty with was the overhead welding on the underside of the pinch weld. Not because it was overhead (which is almost always difficult anyways), but because of the giant glob of seam sealer in behind and in the most inaccessible spot. Every time I struck the arc, the sealer would melt and run into my weld puddle contaminating it.
Have I mentioned lately my dislike and disgust with the factory’s over use and abuse of the stuff?
But anyways, I persevered and overcame it. Here’s a look at it now that it’s finished, also note that I got the ugliness of the shrink (shrunk?) area profiled and taken care of.
When that was done, I ran a tape line along the bottom of the pinch weld, and trimmed off the excess like I did on the other side. Looks much better now.
Happy that everything from the wheel opening back was finished and taken care of, I turned my attention to something I’ve been kind of dreading and therefore procrastinating on:
Removing the rocker panel moulding on this side.
If you might recall, when I removed the same moulding from the other side, I found an ugly little surprise waiting for me underneath, a nasty rust hole. Fearing I’d find a similar issue lurking beneath this one, I’ve left it till the last moment.
Well, tonight was the moment of truth. After pulling it off, I was pleasantly surprised (and very relieved) to find no holes! Just a little surface stuff that needed to be taken care of. Here’s what I found after removing the moulding:
While the rust on the right in the pic looks pretty grim, it really wasn’t that bad. I stripped the last of the old paint and primer off with 80 grit on the DA, then knocked the majority of the rust off/out with the Clean n Strip wheel. That left just a few deeper pits, and the screw hole that holds the end of the trim on.
I quickly buzzed up the screw hole (I can always add it back in later if need be), then ground it flush and tackled the last of the rust pits with a 36 grit disc on my angle die grinder. They all came out quite nicely without digging too deep into the surface.
Here’s the exact same panel after the work was completed:
All that’s left to do here is clean up the underside of the pinch weld in this area, but that can be done at anytime. At least this way, the surfaces of both full quarters are ready for filler and blocking work to start when Mike comes over on Sunday.
So that’s it! The last of the metal work on the back half of the car is finished! That’s a great feeling, and I’m extremely happy with that fact.
That’s it for now guys, thanks for checking back in regularly. As always, drive angry my friends!
D.
