May 17, 2022: I got the passenger side trunk floor patch welded in today. Tomorrow I’ll get the #5 body mount brace welded back in and hopefully get the wheelhouse patch at least tacked in place.
Bernadine: 1978 Buick Regal Restoration/Build
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May 18, 2022: I still have a bit of fitting to do on the passenger rear wheelhouse patch, but I did get the right #5 body mount brace welded back in today.
May 26, 2022: This past Thursday I got the right rear inner wheelhouse patch fitted and tacked in place. I was out of town Friday & Saturday, but I was able to get the patch fully welded on Sunday. On Monday I got all the welds for the right side wheelhouse & trunk floor patches sanded.
For Tuesday I made a list of little details (welding the floor pan-to-rear seat brace back in place, fill little missed spots in previous welds, etc.) to take care of so I could move on to what I consider to be “the next step”, but about 4 or 5 tacks welds in I ran out of MIG gas, so I did a little garage cleaning instead.
Since I didn’t want to waste another day yesterday, I decided to start the horrid task of removing the original undercoating from the underbody. After about 45 minutes or so I was able to get the spare tire well, left side trunk drop, & a few other little places on the rear done.
Right side inner wheelhouse & trunk floor shelf patches welded in place & sanded smooth (enough):
Spare tire well & left trunk drop with undercoating removed:
For Tuesday I made a list of little details (welding the floor pan-to-rear seat brace back in place, fill little missed spots in previous welds, etc.) to take care of so I could move on to what I consider to be “the next step”, but about 4 or 5 tacks welds in I ran out of MIG gas, so I did a little garage cleaning instead.
Since I didn’t want to waste another day yesterday, I decided to start the horrid task of removing the original undercoating from the underbody. After about 45 minutes or so I was able to get the spare tire well, left side trunk drop, & a few other little places on the rear done.
Right side inner wheelhouse & trunk floor shelf patches welded in place & sanded smooth (enough):
Spare tire well & left trunk drop with undercoating removed:
May 31, 2022: I did more undercoating removal today. I was able to get the entire right floor pan from the firewall back to the the rear seat brace done, as well as the trans/driveshaft tunnel and the right side trunk drop. No pictures of said work though because I was exhausted, and absolutely covered in black s#!t & didn't want to even touch my phone. Overall I'm glad the car isn't a rust bucket underneath (or anywhere else), but that undercoating SUCKS.
June30, 2022: Progress has slowed a bit in the last couple weeks, but I’ve still gotten some things done when able. I got pretty much all the rotted spots cut out of the passenger rear wheel opening and lower rear quarter panel. The spot on the front side of the wheel opening needed a fix for the outer wheelhouse lip & quarter panel lip, which have both been fixed now. There was a similar section on the rear side of the wheel opening, but this one also had some rust on the quarter panel outside the wheel opening. This one still needs the outside portion patched, but I did get the outer wheelhouse issue fixed.
Passenger rear wheel opening, pre-surgery (I just realized I don’t have a before picture of the front side):
Front edge of passenger rear wheel opening. First picture is after cutting out the quarter lip rust. Second picture is after the repair:
Here’s the spot on the back side of the wheel opening. First picture shows the quarter/lip section cut out, but wheelhouse rot still in place. Second picture shows wheelhouse patch complete:
Passenger rear wheel opening, pre-surgery (I just realized I don’t have a before picture of the front side):
Front edge of passenger rear wheel opening. First picture is after cutting out the quarter lip rust. Second picture is after the repair:
Here’s the spot on the back side of the wheel opening. First picture shows the quarter/lip section cut out, but wheelhouse rot still in place. Second picture shows wheelhouse patch complete:
Also, here are some pictures showing the passenger side underbody after the hellish undercoating removal:
Oh I remember the under body coating.... Ugg. Fun stuff. What are you using to remove it?
I used about 4 cans of oven cleaner (nasty stuff) and after several applications and about a week it mostly dripped off.
I used about 4 cans of oven cleaner (nasty stuff) and after several applications and about a week it mostly dripped off.
I’ve tried a couple different methods. On the rear wheelhouses I used a 2” putty knife & a heat gun, which worked really well because the undercoating was pretty thick. On the underbody I’ve been using 4” stripping wheels on my angle grinder for the areas where the undercoating is fairly thin, and on the areas where it’s thicker I’ve done the heat gun/putty knife thing first, followed by the stripping wheel.
I definitely like the idea of using oven cleaner (or something similar) to break the stuff down and have it fall off though. I might give that a try for the other half of the underbody.
After the oven cleaner i hit it with a pressure washer. It was messy and I was soaked but 99% of it was gone
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