'55 International Metal/Body/Paint Work

[theastronaut]

The doors didn't fit in the openings very well with uneven gaps all the way around. I learned how to use 1/8" welding rods to fill up the gaps and make them even on the blue '65 I restored.








I started by bending the 1/8" welding rod to the shape of the door/panel edge and used magnets to hold the rod flush with the edge of the panel.







Once the rod was tacked in place I fully welded it on. I like to do one spot weld at a time, skipping around to limit heat build up until all of the gaps are filled in.









After fully welding the seam, I ground the welds down flush with the door skin. I used a 4.5" grinder to knock down the biggest part of the weld bead, then switched to a 2" air grinder to finish off the weld.









There were smaller uneven spots that 1/8" rod was too big to fit so just welded up the edge enough to close the gap.








There were some spots that were too tight, so I had to grind them down and reweld the edge to make the gap larger.

[theastronaut]

The hinges needed rebuilding so I had a local machine shop drill and ream them for oversize hinge pins. The pins weren't available oversize, so I had to hunt and find replacement pins from other cars/trucks that would fit, or atleast be workable. I found some for a Dodge truck that were too long, which was great since the driver side door had an extra long tapped stem on the bottom to mount the mirror.


Before pressing the pins out, I cleaned and stamped each half with LT, LB, RT, and RB so they wouldn't get mixed up. I stamped them where they slide in the door so I could keep the area masked off, and the bodywork/paint process wouldn't cover up the markings.









The edges were pretty rough so I smoothed them, and in the after pic you can see where I added oil-impregnated bronze thrust washers to keep the hinges from wearing as quickly. The washers were also the only way I had to adust the door up and down.

[65Pickup]

Beautiful work as usual, I like your pace and varied tasks. When I saw the red fenders I thought you were done. Nice to see the welder at work again. Do use a TIG or MIG its very nice I'm thinking TIG?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by 65Pickup

Beautiful work as usual, I like your pace and varied tasks. When I saw the red fenders I thought you were done. Nice to see the welder at work again. Do use a TIG or MIG its very nice I'm thinking TIG?

Thanks man, I'm using a Miller Millermatic 130XP MIG.


Another couple teaser shots, one as I was working on the panel alignment metalwork, and the other is after the bodywork was done and sprayed with PPG K93 tinted surfacer/sealer.

[theastronaut]

The grill panel was a nightmare, almost no part of it was straight. The center bar was pushed in and twisted right in the center emblem stamping and highly stretched, there was rust between the inner brace and outer sheetmetal, the bottom peices behind the bumper were mangled, bent, and cracked, and one of the headlight stampings was pushed in a good bit. The joys of not having replacement panels available!






Headlight/turnsignal area warped.






Grill bar damage..








Bumper filler damage.






Rust.






Cracks, in every corner of the bumper bracked notches.

[theastronaut]

I cut the grill bar out to straighten it, there was no way all the damage was coming out if I left it in.


Once it was cut out I braced the straight side with a 1x1 steel tube and heated the crumpled area red hot with a torch and bent the bar roughly back into shape.




Overall shape is alot closer, still needs fine tuning.






After more time heating, bending, shrinking, and stretching it was pretty close. At this point it's only tacked in place to check how it fits in the opening. The two end points where it's spotwelded to the panel needed straightening as well.








After all metalwork was done and welded back in place. That's a flexible stainless ruler on top of the grill bar in the bottom pic, I use it alot to check how even or flat a shape is.

[Shaun1162]

That is some amazing bodywork... Top notch work. Good to see an old Cornbinder being saved.

[andrewmp6]

I don't say this much but i would let you work on my stuff anytime.

[El Campo]

Read your whole thread as well as all of your others in the past. Love them all! What i was wondering is you used Spies SS on the blue truck and it turned out amazing. What made you jump over to the Omni on this one? And you are doing BC/CC on this one correct?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Shaun1162

That is some amazing bodywork... Top notch work. Good to see an old Cornbinder being saved.

Thanks, I'm glad it's being saved as well. I've always thought that eventually there's not going to be a thing of "its too far gone to save", and I think with projects like these, that's starting to come true. Even though they're rough and need a ton of work, they're not going to be around in the future if we don't start restoring the rough ones too.

Originally Posted by andrewmp6

I don't say this much but i would let you work on my stuff anytime.

Thank you, that's a very nice thing to say! I live in SC and send my VW engine machine work of to SoCal so it's done right. Theres "VW machine shops" around here but... they leave alot to be desired. I know where you're coming from with that comment!

Originally Posted by El Campo

Read your whole thread as well as all of your others in the past. Love them all! What i was wondering is you used Spies SS on the blue truck and it turned out amazing. What made you jump over to the Omni on this one? And you are doing BC/CC on this one correct?

Thanks El Campo! I did end up spraying Spies 8000 series clear over the blue SS. That was the very first all over job I'd done (just panels in tech before that) so I didn't have much spraying experience and the SS didn't come out as slick as I wanted it to, so we scuffed and cleared it.

For the International, it's BC/CC- Omni base and PPG 2021 clear. I though it would be ok to use Omni since I'd be spraying over red tinted surfacer/sealer and would cover good. It sprays and lays out fine, just took a little more base than I thought it would to cover. I've sprayed PPG base on a Jeep and loved it, so I shoulda stuck with that. The Omni is decent with a color matched substrate, but I'll stick with all PPG from now on.

I made the switch from Spies to PPG after spraying PPG base and 2021 clear with a matting agent on a Jeep and LOVED it. I don't have any pics of the Jeep, but the clear came out killer for a satin job- no cutting/buffing possible so you're stuck with whatever comes out of the gun. Thankfully the 2021 layed out like glass with no runs or trash, then dried to a very even satin finish. I'll take some pics of it this weekend and post them.

[El Campo]

Been waiting for pics!! Don't hold out on us please. Itching to see more
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[andrewmp6]

We have a couple of shops here ones a normal garage i wouldn't let touch my lawnmower let alone my car lol.From what i have learned spend the money the first time its cheaper then doing it over again.Its just nice too see some one really do body work,I have seen enough get it close enough and just down it in filler tell its smooth.I'm not anti filler it has its place but too many use it as a fix it all when its not needed.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by El Campo

Been waiting for pics!! Don't hold out on us please. Itching to see more
Posted via Mobile Device

I know, I know. I tried yesterday morning but photobucket was down for maintenance. Will work on making a post now!

Originally Posted by andrewmp6

We have a couple of shops here ones a normal garage i wouldn't let touch my lawnmower let alone my car lol.From what i have learned spend the money the first time its cheaper then doing it over again.Its just nice too see some one really do body work,I have seen enough get it close enough and just down it in filler tell its smooth.I'm not anti filler it has its place but too many use it as a fix it all when its not needed.

It's cheaper to do it right the first time, and you end up with something that is actually worth something if you sell it. A bad paint job will ruin the value of a straight, solid car/truck in a hurry! I use filler but its very thin where I do use it- It goes on less than 1/16" and 80+ percent of it gets blocked off. I'm working on my metalfinishing skills so that I'm using less and less the better I get. I'd like to take a class on metalfinishing one day!

[theastronaut]

More work on the grill panel, cutting the rust out and welding in new metal.









Another spot that was rotted. Anywhere there was layered panels, I used etch primer to keep the seam protected.











The passenger side bottom edge was easier to replace than fix. I cut it out and used the driver side as a template, and used the shrinker/stretcher to form the lower edge.

[theastronaut]

The corners around the bumper mount openings were cracked, so I ground out them out and welded them closed.










The lower grill panel sections were bent out of alignment, so I leveled the grill with an angle finder.






And then found the angles of the lower panels and made them match from side to side.




I also used the stainless ruler to make sure the panels were in line, or flush with each other.




Bottom edges trued up.

[theastronaut]

More details on straightening the lower edges.

Lumpy and sunk in bottom eges.






After straightening.






Another crack.








More rust.








Metal work done and skim coated.

[El Campo]

Nice man!!! How do u do it when you put another piece of metal on that you have to weld on? How do u prep the inside, do you use weld through primer or how do you keep the inner coating from burning off? Does that make any sense?
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[JHT67]

I love watching folks do what they want with some metal, and a welder.

[chevyrestoguy]

If I ever win the lottery, I'll keep you busy for years!!!

Nice work, John!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by El Campo

Nice man!!! How do u do it when you put another piece of metal on that you have to weld on? How do u prep the inside, do you use weld through primer or how do you keep the inner coating from burning off? Does that make any sense?
Posted via Mobile Device

I grind right around the spot I'm welding (on the inside) and if possible I clean the backside and re-prime after welding. I have used weld-thru primer before but it seems to leave an oily residue, and I don't want that around when it's something I'll be painting.

Originally Posted by JHT67

I love watching folks do what they want with some metal, and a welder.

Thanks JHT67!

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

If I ever win the lottery, I'll keep you busy for years!!!

Nice work, John!

Thanks, that sounds good to me!!

[El Campo]

Astro I feel like you are holding out on pics of paint! I have been drooling over that red paint in those little teaser pics on the "cut and buff" thread. Now we just need some visual relief in the form of some big pictures of this truck!

[Dugan]

I have a 49 international, im glad the body work was done when I bought it, just had to do the rest! haha I wish i knew body work...

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by El Campo

Astro I feel like you are holding out on pics of paint! I have been drooling over that red paint in those little teaser pics on the "cut and buff" thread. Now we just need some visual relief in the form of some big pictures of this truck!

I'm getting there! The owner picked the cab up last week, so I'll try and get the thread caught up in the next week or so.

Originally Posted by Dugan

I have a 49 international, im glad the body work was done when I bought it, just had to do the rest! haha I wish i knew body work...

Having the bodywork already done is a major bonus!



Here's pics of the hood. The inner brace was bent and broken, there was large dents and creases, and a small spot of rust in the nose.

Fixing the rust.













Busted inner brace.




Large creases and low spots on the front of the hood top.




Crease at the rear edge.




Good size dent and crease on the side of the hood.

[theastronaut]

Fixing the inner brace. I cut the damages spot out to repair it, then welded it back in.







Cut it through the cracked area to fix the bent edges.




Straightened and welded back in.

[theastronaut]

Fixing the dent on the side of the hood.

Roughly beat back into shape.




Sanded with a long block to show the high/low spots.




First round of hammer/dolly work to raise/lower the high/low spots.




After another round of hammer/dolly work.