My Unexpected '66 SWB-Fleet-Restomod Project!

[Modges'66]

Yeah,
My parents moved here about six years ago because it had a pole-barn twice the size, and a bigger lot than the one at my childhood home. Since then he has doubled the size of the barn, and we are still cramped for space!
This is the major reason that this is my unexpected build project. He told me that he wanted this for himself, but he didn't want to do all of the work just to wind-up leaving it to me! Ha-Ha!
This way he can just pull up a stool and watch me & ask me "how many times are you going to block-sand this thing?"...I just keep telling him "till its straight"

[Modges'66]

I decided to repair one of my OEM fenders this weekend.
after close inspection, I noticed that someone had already started their own version of repair by welding the holes up & metal-finishing the surface.
I spotted a few areas where the surface looked to have some issues, and poked them with an awl, and just as suspected the fender was paper thin.
The awl poked right thru!
I then began cutting a hole for closer look at where the fender needed to be patched.

[Modges'66]

I then sand-blasted the area & primed it with self-etching weld-thru primer,
& used a repair patch-panel as a donor for the repair. I cut & ground the patch for a near perfect-fit, & primed the back side of the patch before welding it in place.
I welded the panel in using a series of random placed tack-welds, being careful not to get the panel too hot, to avoid warping. Ample time also needs to be given for panel cooling between welds. Spot, wait, spot, wait......wait! spot, wait! Sounds like a childrens book!
The process took awhile, but turned out pretty nice.

[Modges'66]

I then ground down the welds, sanded & cleaned-up the inside of the fender, applied & blocked out the filler. Now it is ready to prime & block...Prime & block, will it ever end?

[Modges'66]

I had the insides of my fenders sandblasted & got them primed this past weekend. I primed the side that faces the road with the same epoxy primer that I used on the bottom of my cab. It dries kinda shiny, and is some really durable stuff that is not too workable, but tuff! On outside I'm using Dupont Corlar epoxy primer.
Both have great corrosion resistance.
I have already started to block-sand them, but have no finished photos yet.

[Modges'66]

I finally got my frt fenders block-sanded this past weekend along with the dashboard.
I was happy with the results, so I started working on the grill support panel.
It seems that this could be the crappiest panel known to man.
I will post some additional pics as soon as I can!

[McMurphy]

Can you post a pic or two of the areas you just patched, after the block and sanding please?
I am guessing you are using a self leveling filler primer like Slick Sand?

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Can you post a pic or two of the areas you just patched, after the block and sanding please?
I am guessing you are using a self leveling filler primer like Slick Sand?

Sure, I meant to take some photos of that area as it turned out flawless.
I am using Dupont Corlar epoxy primer (part of the Imron family) on the viewable side of everything.
It is a super-stable, high-build primer. You need a gun with atleast a 1.4 tip to spray it. It takes awhile to dry & sands like cement, but the rep says (his opinion) it wont bite-in to the body filler over time. He sells it mostly to high-dollar restoration shops.

I blocked the front fenders for a 2nd time this week. I am getting closer to color! Just 3 more big things to work on, the hood, box, & tailgate....Probably will take the rest of the summer.

[Modges'66]

How's this McMurphy?
I've been blockin the smaller panels at home to save on gas & driving time, but went to my parents tonight to exchange some finished parts for not so finished parts!

[Modges'66]

And a few more pics.

[McMurphy]

Wow man....
Only on the underside can you see where it had been patched! That is awesome work!
I want to go with repop fenders on mine, but I may take a second look at them now that I see how well yours turned out.
Very motivational!

[Modges'66]

I didn't try to finish the underside at all, just ground the weld off & primed it!
The primer that I am using on the underside dries kinda shiny, and is real thick...I took the photo with the intention of displaying the weld the best that I could. I'll probably just scotchbrite it & paint the underside.
And don't forget, I got a couple hours of block-sanding into these.
I'm pretty proud, but why shouldn't I be?...Isn't this why we are doing these builds?
I was just going to buy fenders too, until I saw all of the work that you were doing on your build!!!.....Inspiration/motivation!

[Alan's Classic]

Progress is lookin' good, keep it up!!

[Modges'66]

I set out to work on my grill support panel this weekend, and after countless hours of hammer & dolly work on the beads & other areas, I was wondering if time would have been better served if I would have just filled them in.
But I thought to myself, if I paint this thing in a pearl or high metallic I want these areas to pop in the sunlight, so I decided to make them correct.
Because of poor die conditions, the bead depth varied greatly, making it look very inconsistent (I am a die-maker, I know these things). So I took a piece of 1/8" x 1 x 3 flat-stock & using it in the 3" direction, I beat-down the "V" of the bead, while continuously moving across the panel, making the bead a constant depth.
Afterwards I took a chain-saw blade sharpening file and ran down the "V" of the bead to cut a radius at the bottom.
The results were fantastic!
Probably hard to see in the photos, and they are not in correct order, but I am pretty geeked on how it turned out!
Let me know what you think!

[Captainfab]

I'd say that grill panel turned out great....as well as your fenders!

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

I'd say that grill panel turned out great....as well as your fenders!

Thanks a bunch for the comments, I really appreciate it!

[McMurphy]

Any chance you could have someone take pics of you demonstrating how you did that?
I had to patch a couple areas of my grill along that edge and I, like you, want that to pop!
and yours certainly does !!!

Nicely done!

[Modges'66]

I can try!
When I'm doing this stuff, I never really think to get the camera out.... Partially because I don't know if what I'm doing will work, & when it does I wish that I had!
It may be a couple days before I'm there to take pics.

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Any chance you could have someone take pics of you demonstrating how you did that?
I had to patch a couple areas of my grill along that edge and I, like you, want that to pop!
and yours certainly does !!!

Nicely done!

Im telling you right now that I feel fairly confident that my truck will be straight & clean like that "Goolsby Customs" truck...I'm even thinking about the same colors.
I know that I have the right people & facilities in-line to paint it, I just need to perform on the prep work...95% prep, 5% painting skills....In my opinion...Bad prep, always a bad paint-job.

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Any chance you could have someone take pics of you demonstrating how you did that?
I had to patch a couple areas of my grill along that edge and I, like you, want that to pop!
and yours certainly does !!!

Nicely done!

These are for you McMurphy!...And anyone else that cares to look!

Now keep in mind, I did this work to the bare panel, not after priming it.
1st I used the edge of a piece of flat-stock to get the bottom of the bead to a consistent depth by tapping the edge with a hammer while moving across the length of the panel. This process may take several passes as you are not interested in distorting the rest of the panel, just the depth of the "vee".
Careful observations need to be given to the effects that are being obtained...You will get a feel for how hard you need to hit it.
Next I took a round chainsaw sharpening file to the bead bottom to remove any high spots that were left.
And finally, I used a square file to sharpen the bottom corner of the bead.
Both sides of the "vee" need to be addressed separately to maintain a straight line for the groove that you are cutting.
Using the files will be difficult at first, as they will want to cut-in on any high spots, but as the surface gets flatter the files will simply glide across, as there is nothing left to cut!
And there you have it!...IMO

[Modges'66]

I didn't get much accomplished this week, on account of my fuel-pump giving out about 2 miles into my 45 mile ride home from work Tuesday, but I guess you can't ask for much more than 275,000 miles from a Chevy Astro fuel-pump!
Luckily, I have a nice BMW 540i that I can step-down to when things like this happen!
And, I ended up getting 3+ hrs of alone time waiting for a tow-truck!...What a deal!
I decided to monkey around with my radiator-support filler panels today, & beat them straight to match my grill support, when I noticed that the beads in them were pretty sad looking, so I made a custom dolly set-up to enhance the look of them too.
I am soooooo sorry that I didn't take any before photos of these, but if you look at your own, I'm sure that you will notice the improvements made.

I also got the inside of my grill-support primed during this time...Hopefully I can make better progress tomorrow!

[Modges'66]

Pics of the grill-support.

[Captainfab]

You're making some nice progress. I like your attention to detailing some of the factory lines

[LostMy65]

Another cool thread that I somehow overlooked.
Great metal work!
Posted via Mobile Device

[furrydice79]

very nice work!