1968 Chevy Bel Air Wagon Project

[Advanced Design]

Best of luck in achieving your goal! Sounds like a fun time.

Great job on the tail lights and the bumper. Excellent work!

[flatbed67]

Thank you Ol Blue K20 and Advanced Design. I really hope that I
can make it. I just had winter vacation the last week, and it went by real fast.
I got the tail lights done, and some granding and sanding, not much else. Just
got to keep on every night, I guess.
Anyway, I think it looks even better now, with the tail gate stripped and sanded.



It's soon time for the first epoxy to go on.

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks great! You have a great start on your goal.

[flatbed67]

Thank you Ol Blue K20, it's getting pretty close to the first coat of epoxy
primer. I got the grille removed today, and it should be one of the last things
that has to be removed before paint. The rear side windows have to be removed
too, the glue strips have dried out on both sides, so they hang by the top and
sides only. After that, hopefully, it will be mostly "progress", in that to this point,
I've been removing parts from the car almost daily.

[mongocanfly]

The recessed taillights are a nice touch...most people would never know it was a custom mod...

[Ol Blue K20]

Now the fun begins...

[flatbed67]

My aim is to make it look kinda factory, so people who don't know Chevrolets
that good won't notice, as you said, mongocanfly. '68 Chevrolets are rare here, so it
might just work
And yup, Ol Blue K20, the fun has begun! Honestly, spraying epoxy isn't
the most fun thing you can do, but at least it feels like progress. In a couple
days I hope to be able to block the better looking parts of the body, and then
start working with body filler.
It will probably take a copious amount of body filler to make this sea of
sheetmetal look any kind of straight. Not only because of its size, but also, since
it's been dented in all corners, and along the right hand side, the roof has been
welded on, and someone sandblasted the bejeezus out of the hood.



It looks better already. Amazing what a uniform color can do.

[Ol Blue K20]

Much better.

[Getter-Done]

Great job.
It is taking shape.
Looks like you will have it ready for your cruise.

[Lokin4AReason]

nice progress and keep those foto(s) coming ....

[flatbed67]

Not really much to show, photowise, just can after can of poyester filler going
on the hood. I didn't realize how big the dents still were.
In any case it starts looking like a hood again.
Good thing is, after the hood is done, the rest will be easy.
Yeah, I know, I'm just trying to kid myself.

[Ol Blue K20]

Looking good, keep going and keep posting your progress

[flatbed67]

You probably won't beleive this, four pounds per can:



This pic is taken before I started woking on the front piece, which too is/was
pretty dented, and needed a nice amount of filler. I'll post a pic when it's done,
in a few days.
I think I'll avoid dents, next time I buy a project car...

[mingoman]

Shaping up nicely!

[flatbed67]

Slow progress now, even if I'm in the shop several hours almost every day of the
week. I had to make a composite photo to convince myself that I am making
some kind of progress.



To the left a pic from when I started working on the wagon. Five millimeters of
bondo on the front of the fender, a bit less than a quarter of an inch. I did some
bumping and hitting from the inside, and got it decimated by a lot. It looks like a
lot of bondo in the new pic too, but it's more the acerage than the thickness.
The left side is shaping up, and I put on the first filler in all the places that
needed it on the right hand side today. Actually looks like there's less work on
that side. The roof is getting close too.

[flatbed67]

I noticed that I hadn't posted a pic of the hood and front piece after I had them
done.
I decided to go all out Kustom and made the hood peak continue over to the
front piece. Might as well have some fun while I'm at it

[flatbed67]

It's been less than three weeks since I epoxied the wagon, and started filling
and sanding. It already feels like an eternity. There's not one piece of sheet
metal on this car that isn't either dinged, welded, crashed or smashed, so it's
been a lot of work, even if the result won't be anything close to perfect.
Getting close, only the tail and right hand side rear quarter to go before moving on to the next stage.
Here's a pic of the tail gate and rear corner. Pretty work intense details.




And yes, before anybody comments, I do bondo better than sheet metal

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks pretty good. There's a lot details in that corner

[Advanced Design]

Wow, you are putting in the hours on this one! Going to be nice when you get to paint stage.

[flatbed67]

Thank you Ol Blue K20, lots of shaping, round corners and stuff. Almost
there on this side now, I just had to fill a few pin holes a few moments ago, so
they will be sanded tomorrow.
Nice of you to notice, Advanced Design Every day in the shop the last
three weeks, save for a couple days when I have been busy otherways.



Still some sanding to do on the left hand side tail light recesses. Roof is done
too, so only the right hand side rear quarter still to do, and then it's time to
undust the garage for another layer of epoxy. I have cheap epoxy, and will use
it as sanding sealer before the paint goes on.

[Ol Blue K20]

It's looking good.....

[flatbed67]

Thank you Ol Blue K20.
Everything checked on the to do list! The fill&sand list, that is.
The wagon was backed out of the garage for some air, as the garage floor was
washed. Actually a good idea to blow off the dust outside. Obviously.



At this moment, almost everything is masked off, ready for another coat of
epoxy which is planned to go on tomorrow.
Fun thing: When the car was outside, I was kinda planning to get out. No
handles or cranks! I was just going to call a pal, when I got the good idea of opening the
tail gate window as a blan B. I finally got the door open pretty easily by sticking
my hand in through a hole and getting the latch mechanism to unlatch.
Sometimes you just get yourself into trouble

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by flatbed67

Thank you Ol Blue K20.
Everything checked on the to do list! The fill&sand list, that is.
The wagon was backed out of the garage for some air, as the garage floor was
washed. Actually a good idea to blow off the dust outside. Obviously.



At this moment, almost everything is masked off, ready for another coat of
epoxy which is planned to go on tomorrow.
Fun thing: When the car was outside, I was kinda planning to get out. No
handles or cranks! I was just going to call a pal, when I got the good idea of opening the
tail gate window as a blan B. I finally got the door open pretty easily by sticking
my hand in through a hole and getting the latch mechanism to unlatch.
Sometimes you just get yourself into trouble

Trouble is my middle name. ..lol. It's looking pretty good.

[flatbed67]

Epoxied, according to plan.

[Ol Blue K20]

Awesome headway