1978 Malibu Project, 4th times a charm

[Wraith]

Sometimes it's the little things. After cleaning up the shop I took time to rebuild the lower hinges with new bushings and pins. That was the easy part but required a grinder to knock off the pushed out edges on the stock pins but also requires the use of a press to push the new pins in. Done.

 

[David.C]

That's how you get it done! I go out to the garage and do something every night no matter how small (even if it's just putting my tools back where they go, lol). It's the only way to get them done.

 

[Wraith]

In conjunction with a work trip yesterday I scored another trunk lid, b-pillar trims, and the elusive quarter window trims in Austin.




With an "office" day today I spent an hour working on the lid to see just what's up. I buzzed down the passenger side with 80 grit which will work fine on the paint, what little is left, but there is still that pesky surface rust to deal with.

I did this using two applications of Ospho rubbed in with #0000 Steel Wool, both coats left wet for about 5 minutes, wiped it all off with a water damped towel, wipe down with wax/grease remover, then hit it with 80 grit again. There's still some minor pitting but I should be able to clean that up with another coat and scrub in with a stainless brush.

 

[Wraith]

Fun with paint stripper and Ospho!




And more Ospho

 

[Rktpwrd]

Modern art!!!

 

[Clutch]

It's starting to look like a nice lid

 

[Wraith]

Thanks. There's not a lot of good lids around and I really wanted to stay away from fiberglass. This is definitely savable with some elbow grease.

 

[Wraith]

Back at it with the lid and some primer. I had to strip back the seam sealer as it was lifting in a few spots with some surface rust underneath so it all came off, then Ospho along the seam, then broke out the sandblaster for some stubborn pits.





And we rolled it all outside for a coat of primer along with the inner fender from the truck





And all tucked back in for the night



Unfortunately the Harbor Freight spray gun decided it didn't want to cooperate but we did get at least a protective layer shot and I can seam seal the trunk before we work the couple dings out of it.

 

[Clutch]

Back at it with the lid and some primer. I had to strip back the seam sealer as it was lifting in a few spots with some surface rust underneath so it all came off, then Ospho along the seam, then broke out the sandblaster for some stubborn pits.





And we rolled it all outside for a coat of primer along with the inner fender from the truck





And all tucked back in for the night



Unfortunately the Harbor Freight spray gun decided it didn't want to cooperate but we did get at least a protective layer shot and I can seam seal the trunk before we work the couple dings out of it.

Looks good. You know the nice thing about a harbor freight spray gun is it's cheaper to replace it than to clean it

 

[Wraith]

Looks good. You know the nice thing about a harbor freight spray gun is it's cheaper to replace it than to clean it

This one has done it's time, we have used it probably a dozen times, cleaning between each, and it was bought on sale for $8.