Well, I have started the dreaded bodywork and paint on the Beast. I originally planned to just bondo out the few areas that needed it, get some matching color, and paint those areas. As most jobs like this, it has now spun into an uncontrolable tumble towards full body spray.....
So, with my normal youthful idealism, I dug into the front left fender to get rid of the old bondo, repair what I could, replace the filler, and then paint the repaired area. In the photos below, you can see that it didn't look too bad at the start, but as I peeled off more filler, the worse it became. After a few hours of this, I knew I needed an entirely new fender- this one was just finished.
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| just starting, after removing chrome, lights, etc. |
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| this does not look so hot |
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| it doesn't get any better from this angle either.... |
So, I looked around for a replacement panel, and actually found one out in Vermont for $100. The seller (his friend actually) was conveiniently coming through Maine in a few days, and offered to drop it off at my house!! Just more confirmation that most British car nuts are extremely friendy and generous to fellow nuts. It was even the same color as my car- not that it matters since I'll be painting it anyway.
I removed the original fender in prep for the new- and that unfortunately means the dash and the windshield need to be removed. The support leg of the windshield runs through a hole in the back of the fender, and the dash really needs to come out to remove the windshield. Obviously, I've had the dash out in the past, so this was really no problem for me.
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| Removed. |
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| Another shot.. |
Once the fender arrived, I began the minor repairs, hammer/dolly work, filler, primer. This went pretty well, but is really only the 2nd or 3rd time I've ever used a hammer/dolly or filler- so there is a steep learning curve here. After repair and filler, I sprayed on some primer to protect it while I worked on other areas.
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| New fender- needs work as well- but not as much |
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| Progress |
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| sanding off rust spots or dents in prep for filler |
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| filler going on a dent |
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| Test fit- this needs some attention later |
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| interior primer |
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| hi-built primer, after self etching primer on any bare metal |
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| more primer |
I removed the rest of the chrome in the front, and then the lower valance that sits below the front bumper. I figured this would be a perfect piece to practice painting. I brought in an inner fender wing that would have never seen the sun for NAPA to scan for a paint match. After priming the valence, I tried the new paint. It did not match my original paint at all- but I was not suprised. The beginnings of the "uh-oh, I might need to actually paint this entire car" thoughts started to creep into my head. Once I wrapped my head around the idea, I jumped in full speed and started to remove what I would need to for a full respray.
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| more stuff removed |
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| sanded valence |
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| primed valence |
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| painted valence |
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| wet sanding |
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| after sanding and polish- not too bad for a hack like me |
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| another angle after 1st polish. I wore through to the primer on the edges. |
As this was going on, or paint was drying, I polished, cleaned, painted, lubricated, etc the parts I had removed. I received a bench mounted buffing wheel for Christmas (wow- the perfect gift!!) and this made the polishing much easier and higher quality.
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| polished overriders (bumper) |
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| buffing wheels |
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| polished bumper, side trim |
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| polished turn signal trim and lens |
So, for the next few weekends, as weather permitted, I removed all of the chrome, vinyl top, right fender, hood, trunk lid, door and cabin vinyl, sills, all door hardware, rear exhaust, and many others.
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| ready to remove right fender and hood |
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| fender is gone |
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| progressing around the car |
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| door panel and window mechanism is out |
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pretty much stripped and ready for sanding, hammering, filling, sanding, cleaning, and more sanding.
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Next installment- more body work, filling, sanding, cleaning, sanding, more sanding, more cleaning, etc.....
