I have been following this build and your doing a great job. Don't let the rust get to you , your talent will fix it.
BUILD THREAD Project Olds Cool (Recognition!!)
- Thread starter Rktpwrd
- Start date
Thank you!
Nah, I generally don’t let it get to me, I knew it was there all along and had to be dealt with eventually. Every once in a while I get a little overwhelmed and it depresses me, but usually within a day or two I’m over it and good to go again.
Thanks for the positive comment, I appreciate the support. It’s nice to hear from some of you that read the thread and updates, but rarely comment.
D.
Donovan,
Is the next step to prime (and maybe even paint) the inside or is to clean up and repair issues on the outside (or some third option I am not thinking of)? My mind can see reasons for both approaches, but I am sure you probably have a plan and a good reason to follow it.
Is the next step to prime (and maybe even paint) the inside or is to clean up and repair issues on the outside (or some third option I am not thinking of)? My mind can see reasons for both approaches, but I am sure you probably have a plan and a good reason to follow it.
I’m gonna roll the answer to your question into an update, because it should help to address your inquiries.
Generally speaking, it largely depends on the panel and its own unique circumstances. If you look at how I did the fender, I completed the outside before beginning the inside. That’s because the most modifications were done on the outside, and redoing the inside was more or less cosmetic with no major repairs to be done.
On the door however, I started with the inside because if the bottom seam was completely rotted out and gone, that would’ve required the most repair first. Make sense? I’m not ignoring the outside of the door by any means, it’s just that if there were/are repairs to be done there, they would be much easier to do than the inside ones.
Because each panel has its own unique requirements, you have to be flexible in deciding what to tackle and when. In my case with this door, I will likely get the inside re-seam sealed, then get the bodywork done on the outside, prime the outside, then epoxy prime and paint the inside just as I did with the fender. It makes the most sense to proceed in that order to me.
Ok so now onto the update part of it, which ties into above. Over the last two nights, I’ve continued to pick away at the door, and have been making some pretty good progress. Last night, I removed and cleaned all the old butyl that held the vapour barrier on, feather edged all the inner edges, and welded up the front and rear holes that held the wide trim on. I also found a couple broken welds either side of the top, so I repaired them at the same time. This is why it’s not a good idea to slam your doors guys!!
Welding up the trim holes was done from the inside of the door, then it was flipped over and the voids were addressed from the outside. Here’s the two holes welded up and dressed down:
With the door now flipped and the bulk of the grunt work done on the inside, I turned my attention to the edges and outer skin. First off, I worked diligently at trying to grind out as much rust from the bottom edge as I could, I estimate I got probably 95% of it. Not bad, all things considered.
The two rust spots halfway up the front edge of the door came out completely, which made me happy:
Then I gave the outer skin a good evaluation in the light while it was still glossy, and circled all the door dings to give myself an idea of how much work it was gonna need. As you can see, most of the little dents are towards the back of the door, typical parking lot rash and door dings.
Now for the bad news.
There are a couple perforations in the outer skin, but strangely enough, they’re not where you’d expect. Not along the whole bottom edge where it constantly collects water and gets beat up from rock chips, no, they’re up around the mirror!
This is because in that area, there are multiple layers of sheet metal sandwiched together, as well as the upper inner reinforcement. Obviously, somehow water had gotten in between those layers and started rusting from the inside out. Unfortunately a patch will have to be made and welded in here.
Back down at the bottom of the door, I stripped the lower 8” or so of old paint off, and textured the surface in preparation for eventual filler:
With that done, I switched gears and treated the outside bottom with rust converter. It’s still very wet in this pic...
...but you can see how any rust spots almost instantly turn black. This is what’s supposed to happen, and why it was important to treat the entire lower edge:
Once I had the outside treated, I somewhat clumsily flipped the door over and treated the inside lower edge while I was at it.
That’s it for now, but it was still a considerable amount of work. By tomorrow night, the rust converter should all be cured enough that I can remove the excess and mix up some epoxy to brush in the seam areas. From there, who knows. Either fresh seam sealer or stripping the outside of paint, or maybe that rust patch I’m dreading.
Thanks all. Till the next one,
D.
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This stuff:
https://goo.gl/images/5PG7gJ
It’s got a mild acid in it, you can smell it when you’re applying it. I put a small amount in a paint mixing pail and just brush it on/in with a cheap disposable chip brush.
Looking good Donovan! Glad the door wasn't too far gone...looks like it'll work out alright.
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