Been busy working 10-16 hour days and have not had the time to update for a while...
So far I got most of the Body work done. I can't touch the Fenders or the Quarter panels because we are Putting Cutout Flares on.
So the only other body work I can do until I get the Flares is the Cowl and the Rocker Panels. Driver side being Replaced right now.
Here is the Fiberglass Hatch stripped down to the Epoxy.
Here is how I fixed the Chip out of the Bottom of the Fiberglass Hatch.
The Crushed Resin and the Fibers were cut out and sanded smooth (This is to make the Repair easier.)
Then the area that is going to be Patched the Gel Coat was ground off down to the Fibers. (About a 1/16th of an inch.)
And masked top and bottom to the Original shape, To prevent to much Shaping work.
Then Mixed the Resin and Put the Fiberglass Cloth in and let it sit for 15-20 minutes to let it setup.
Then the freshly mixed Resin was applied to the Original Fibers on the Hatch.
Then right before it started to Gel the Soaked Fiber Cloth was applied. And the Bubbles were smoothed out.
This is right after it fully cured.
Then the Cured Resin was Filed down to just below the surface.
And a Fiberglass Reinforced Filler was applied.
Then all the Original Body lines were filed back into place.
And blocked smooth with 120 grit.
Front
Rear
This Creates a Repair that is as Strong if not Stronger then the Original. (Because it is Repaired under the Surface.)
Now the Top of the Door Repair.
Here is the Patch that matches all Body lines.
The match masked onto the Door, (This is so you can cut the Damage out and cut the Patch at the same time (To create a perfect Patch.)
Then it was cutout with a high speed and Folded over so the Backside could be cut (This was done do to the lack of access to the Backside.)
Here is the New patch Welded in.
Then the welds were Grinded smooth and a Fiberglass Reinforced Filler was applied (I allways recommend the use of a less porous Fiberglass Reinforced fillers directly over welds.)
It takes a lot to get body lines 100% correct. There is about 13 Hours into this Edge alone. 3 Coats of Fiberglass Reinforced filler and about 4 coats of a Standard thinned filler. (at the Deepest point is only about a 32nd" of an inch.
This is a Very high stress area and any Plastic fillers over 1/16th of an inch Will not Survive...
Here is the Repaired Pillar.
The welds were ground smooth.
And there is 2 Coats of Fiberglass Reinforced filler and 3 Coats of Standard Filler. and one Coat of Thinned Filler.
This is about 7 Hours of work.
I Recommend away from ever Fabricating an edge with any plastic Fillers of anykind. Edges are weak point and it will fail with time.
Here is the Driver door after some Shaping work. (Not much access to this area.)
All holes were welded shut.
There is about 13 hours into this Repair on the Door.
None of the filler Exceeds 1/8th of an inch. Originaly there was 3/4s of an inch of filler in this door. (Dumbasses...)
Here is the Body work on the Passenger door.
On the hood.
And the roof.
the Rocker Showed up Wednesday morning at 11 AM. So I got started on
removing the old Rocker...
Ford went way overboard on the Rocker 67 Spot welds... I worked on it from 11 AM to 11 PM and only managed to get half of it out...
Some of the of the spot welds were close to impossible to remove. But I just finished pulling it out yesterday.
It started out as trying to remove it clean (in one piece)......
And got everything cleaned up and am going through all the Fitting processes now.
Right now I'm working on the Damage to the Quarter panel Caused by the tire Rubbing the Wheel housing, Causing it to force the Back in about an inch. (This is an extremely Reinforced area.) and is being difficult to get it correct...
I'm not going to go into any details on this till I get a chance to get pictures.
Richard
)
