My 1st 68 panel

[LockDoc]

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Good looking parts!

I decided to keep my trim strip. Easy to store and hard to find if you need one....

LockDoc

[richard2717]

Not much been going on between work and other priorities. I did get a couple hours this morning to finish knocking out the frame painting with the por15. Last time I was painting with it I was super careful not to get any in the lip of the can or on the lid figuring it would allow me to get it open easier this time. The 1st can I had I ended up popping holes in the lid and putting a screw in it after each use, but that got to be a pain and it wastes a lot of paint having to use something to pour it in. Well as you can see it did not matter that I kept the rims clean. I finally got it open but destroyed the can. Luckily I keep a case of new ones here for my sign paint mixing station so I just poured what was left in one of them


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[richard2717]

With the body on the lift it blocks a lot of the light from the ceiling so rather than push the lower half out all the time to work on it I bought some LED retrofit bulbs for my halogen light stand. It had great light before but the heat would run me off pretty quick. These bulbs cost me about $30 for the pair on amazon and are pretty decent. Time will tell how well they last but I figured I would give them a try at least.


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[Getter-Done]

Nice looking lights.
When I did use POR15
I use saran wrap on the lid it helps.





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[richard2717]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Nice looking lights.
When I did use POR15
I use saran wrap on the lid it helps.
Attachment 1907117




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That is a thought. I will try it next time I break the can open.

Thanks

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by richard2717

That is a thought. I will try it next time I break the can open.

Thanks

I do the saran wrap too. it works good. Even a little progress is good progress....

LockDoc

[richard2717]

Think I have decided to go ahead and buy a complete new engine for this thing and get it put in while I have the body off. I want a reliable cruiser and with a new crate it will give me some peace of mind.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by richard2717

Think I have decided to go ahead and buy a complete new engine for this thing and get it put in while I have the body off. I want a reliable cruiser and with a new crate it will give me some peace of mind.

I have used Jegs crate engines on two of my builds now. It really makes it easy and I have had good luck with them.

LockDoc

[Classic Heartbeat]

Here is my Panel after about 15 years. Still have a couple more to go. I decided to powder coat my chassis though... WES

[richard2717]

Wes
Been watching yours back in the shadows for a while. Impressive work so far. I really like the back door setup but I have enough work just getting it back close to original

So far I am not a fan of powder coating. Every single thing I own that is powder coated has failed and it peels of in sheets once it has a nick in it and the weather gets up behind it. I was going to give it a shot on my seat frames because they would have been protected but once I got the pricing on that, I continued with my paint gun.

[Classic Heartbeat]

Ya, I definitely understand that. My Panel will most likely be a trailer queen or at the very most driven on only nice days.. I should be good.. (If I ever finnish it. )

[richard2717]

Originally Posted by Classic Heartbeat

Ya, I definitely understand that. My Panel will most likely be a trailer queen or at the very most driven on only nice days.. I should be good.. (If I ever finnish it. )

I am hoping the last time mine sees the trailer is when I take it for inspection (if I choose to not do historic tags) I am building it with the understanding that not every trip is going to go to plan so I don't see the need to spend big bucks on perfect paint and such. Heck, I can't even detail it here at the house since I have a 2000' lane that is either dusty or muddy. If I go to a car show, I would have to find a car wash 1st I am hoping it never sees the rain again but around here storms will pop up without warning leaving no other choice but to get wet.

[richard2717]

Work finally slowed down and equipment maintenance "seems" to be caught up so I got a few hours in on the panel. Going to try to get back on the "at least a few hours each week" schedule and see if I can't get a lot of stuff knocked out this winter. I have been collecting nice parts all along and I "think" at this point I have everything I need to get this thing knocked out.

The majority of what happened would not normally be worthy of pictures. I spent most of the time removing body filler from the lower sides and scraping undercoating off from underneath. Someone needs their body man card revoked. This box is about 16" square and I am not done. Some of the filler is almost 1" thick. The rocker panels were filled completely with filler, the only thing left of them was just the outer edge. Feels like the box weighs about 40lbs. The undercoating actually did its job though and saved the majority of the under body from rot.


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[richard2717]

just some more general pictures

It had to have taken more time and cost more to do this abomination vs doing it right


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[richard2717]

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[CG]

Doh! Someone went from being a body man to a sculptor.

[Getter-Done]

Wow that's about 4 or 5 gallons in just that lower quarter.
Well It will get better MPG now










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[richard2717]

I did take the time to move my purdy chassis out from under the body before going to town. It fit real nice under my 6x10 cnc router table. Anybody looking for an older router table? lol

had to throw a tire under the front and snap a pic. I am not a fan of the laid out trucks but wanted to see what it looked like in person. Still not a fan. I did lower this one a little but nothing like this would take. I got way too much other stuff to do.

I did finally find a local guy willing to give me a hand with putting the covers on my buddy seats (read... I am dropping them off for him to do lol)
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[richard2717]

The panel has been up in the air so long I was used to just walking under it when needed. Almost broke one of my side mirrors this morning so took them off before I did. Looking kinda cruddy so I put them on the polish wheel then put them away.




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[richard2717]

Originally Posted by CG

Doh! Someone went from being a body man to a sculptor.

You not kidding. I almost think they would need to roll the truck on its side just to keep it in place till it dried

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Wow that's about 4 or 5 gallons in just that lower quarter.
Well It will get better MPG now:lol

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If I ever get off my butt and get the new panels on. I just keep telling myself every little thing will turn in to a big thing one day


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[HO455]

Originally Posted by richard2717

just some more general pictures

It had to have taken more time and cost more to do this abomination vs doing it right


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If I was to guess I would say it was done in the 1980's when there were no sheet metal parts available and body men still knew some thing more than how to bolt a new part on.
It definitely went through the low buck repair shop. A skilled bondo man could have done that rocker in a day and had it ready for blocking. I had a 68 Beatle that was bondoed up like that. Maybe it's a 68 thing.
I hope you had an idea the panel was like this when you purchased it.

Keep up the good work. It looks like you have a nice shop work in. I know that makes it easier for me to keep making progress. Especially in the off season.

[richard2717]

Originally Posted by HO455

If I was to guess I would say it was done in the 1980's when there were no sheet metal parts available and body men still knew some thing more than how to bolt a new part on.
It definitely went through the low buck repair shop. A skilled bondo man could have done that rocker in a day and had it ready for blocking. I had a 68 Beatle that was bondoed up like that. Maybe it's a 68 thing.
I hope you had an idea the panel was like this when you purchased it.

Keep up the good work. It looks like you have a nice shop work in. I know that makes it easier for me to keep making progress. Especially in the off season.

Don't get me wrong, I have used my fair share of Bondo in my day, but never would I have considered doing something like that. I did know it had bad lower issues when I bought it and I actually have good OEM panels to replace it with if I need them to go that high. I just figured I would pull the goop out and see how bad it really was. I figure since most of the lower panel area is available now I might be able to just use them instead of my oem skins. The only panel I will need to fabricate will be the inner lower on the passenger side rear. it is rotten and is different on the panel vs the suburban since the panel does not have the spare tire well. If I do end up using the suburban skin I might just put the spare pocket in. Long way off from that though. lol. I think I posted pictures of the skins earlier but if not here they are again.


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[LockDoc]

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Wow! That's a lot of filler. Looks like they put it on in layers, that's probably why it didn't slide off on the floor....

Sometimes when I have a single project that I'm not looking forward to I have to tell myself "Just Do It". Then I jump in and before you know it it's done and I have a big smile on my face.

LockDoc

[HO455]

Originally Posted by richard2717

Don't get me wrong, I have used my fair share of Bondo in my day, but never would I have considered doing something like that. I did know it had bad lower issues when I bought it and I actually have good OEM panels to replace it with if I need them to go that high. I just figured I would pull the goop out and see how bad it really was. I figure since most of the lower panel area is available now I might be able to just use them instead of my oem skins. The only panel I will need to fabricate will be the inner lower on the passenger side rear. it is rotten and is different on the panel vs the suburban since the panel does not have the spare tire well. If I do end up using the suburban skin I might just put the spare pocket in. Long way off from that though. lol. I think I posted pictures of the skins earlier but if not here they are again.


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You and me both. . At least they used some sheet metal to anchor all that bondo down. I was helping a friend do a quick respray of a 73 Satellite years ago and about a 10"circle of bondo just fell out of the front of one rear quarter panel when we were scuffing the paint with a couple of DAs. The Bondo was filling a hole rusted in the panel. They had backed the Bondo up balled up newspapers. Needless to say the "quick" part of the respray was out of the window at that point.

Looking forward to the next episode here on the Bondo channel.

[richard2717]

While i had some help in the shop today I got the front clip pulled off and got the tub re-centered on the lift so I can work on it a bit easier. Did not find muck more in the way of surprises other than the front speakers. They will be taken out and welded up. I am actually happy with how nice the bottom of the A pillars "seem" to be. Still have to pull the last few scraps of outer rocker away but it might be the only place I don't have to work on


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