If fućking things up was a competitive sport, I'd be an Olympian.
Yeah I've got another one around here somewhere. I like extras.
BUICK 1964 Skylark Coupe Project
- Thread starter joesregalproject
- Start date
I got up into the 50s today so I decided to give the blaster a run. It worked better than I expected it to. My my compressor ran continuously and probably lost a few years of its life in the process but I never ran out or even low on air. At one point I had to stop because the compressor was getting so hot that a lot of condensation was forming and it completely plugged up the water separator. So I shut the machine off, bled the pressure out, drained the tank, let it cool off and swapped the water separator.
The blaster itself worked great, although I found a few things helped it siphon more consistently. One was to shorten the media feed hose. They give you a lot of hose so I cut it in half. The other was to raise the sand bucket up to the level you are working. I set it on top of a trash can. It was messy but the results are pretty hard to argue with.
The blasting did reveal some pinholes around the bottom corners. Nothing major but not sure how I'm gonna attack those just yet.
Also my box of clean and strip wheels that RabbitHoleSS recommended. They work great. They generate very little heat and remove the paint fast and they wear slowly. The finish is a little too smooth for primer so I will be DA-ing over those areas with 60 or 80. But they will be very useful in getting this car stripped.
The blaster itself worked great, although I found a few things helped it siphon more consistently. One was to shorten the media feed hose. They give you a lot of hose so I cut it in half. The other was to raise the sand bucket up to the level you are working. I set it on top of a trash can. It was messy but the results are pretty hard to argue with.
The blasting did reveal some pinholes around the bottom corners. Nothing major but not sure how I'm gonna attack those just yet.
Also my box of clean and strip wheels that RabbitHoleSS recommended. They work great. They generate very little heat and remove the paint fast and they wear slowly. The finish is a little too smooth for primer so I will be DA-ing over those areas with 60 or 80. But they will be very useful in getting this car stripped.
What about using the lead-replacement metal body filler to fill in the pinholes?
Now me, being the suspicious sort that I am, would, at this point be wondering, "Did my pinhole eat its way in from the trunk, or out from between the skin and the inner shell? And is it just a pinhole or is it an omen of a larger problem??" Yeah, I know, a huge dump of cold reality on a fantastic job. I am wondering because a lot of that surface area that you just blasted is hollow, it has open spaces and pockets because of how the inner skin was stamped. Those are moisture traps, which betray the damage they can cause via the pinholes that you just mentioned. Might be time for step two and a serious injection of that Ofospho solution, possible under a small amount of pressure, to drive it into the cracks and crevices where man can't go otherwise. After that, Mig, Tig, or, as suggested, metal loaded body filler. Out of sight, away from comment.
Nick
Nick
Usually I'd fiberglass pinholes with Fibral Lite and sand smooth, but with these, I can't really knock the surrounding metal down to give the fiberglass something to hold onto because the trunk skin is right behind them. Welding them up would be a good solution but blowing through and making them worse is a very real possibility. Brazing is old-school cool but it went out of style for a reason- too much heat, Flux causes paint adhesion problems, galvanic corrosion can occur... lots of problems with it. I actually think JB Weld could work in this situation. A bit unconventional but I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work. It's a two part epoxy, cures hard, waterproof, sandable, paintable, sticks really well to steel. This isn't a high-flex area so don't have to worry much about flexibility. The holes are small enough that it could easily fill them. Then skim over with some Rage Ultra once it is primed.
Definitely a valid concern and I intend on spraying something inside the panel to kill or slow any rust in the panel. I poked around a bit with a screwdriver and couldn't find any other soft spots so I feel okay about the metal that's left. I do believe the majority of the rust came from the outside just based on how deep the pits were but I'm sure there is some rust inside as well.
You could also fill them with seam sealer.
Decklid is stripped pretty much as good as I'm gonna get it. Wanted to prime this weekend but it was just way too cold. Probably spray it sometime this week.
My trunk to rear window filler panel came and I quickly realized I fùcked up. Chevelle is different. About 3 inches too wide. However after more research I found that LeMans/GTO is the same and that panel is reproduced, albeit a lot more expensive, to the tune of about $300 more. Not money I want to spend but at least it is available.
My trunk to rear window filler panel came and I quickly realized I fùcked up. Chevelle is different. About 3 inches too wide. However after more research I found that LeMans/GTO is the same and that panel is reproduced, albeit a lot more expensive, to the tune of about $300 more. Not money I want to spend but at least it is available.
Well, that's kind of disappointing. Deck lid looks good thought.
You get a like for the quality prep work im seeing. Too bad about the fitment issue. Always a chance someone local needs a piece and doesnt want to worry about potential backorder issues as tax money starts rolling in...
