Was finally able to get gas for the welder… go figure the place I went to Monday at lunch was out of my bottle size so I had to wait until the afternoon. I found this somewhat amusing because had I tried to get a new tank Thursday or Friday I might not have had luck as the store said it was odd that they had a big run on them, guess everyone is welding something.
So today I got to finish (semi) the arch repair, I still have a piece to do but I will get that when I do the boot and boot floor.
Next up was to fix the holes on the waist rail (I think thats what it is called), I had a cut from another car I was hoping to use but closer examination I figured it was too rotten. So I started filling the holes with the welder… that didn’t work so well. I ultimately cut a section out and welded it in, and still filled holes with weld. I have a piece of aluminum laying around just for these types of jobs.
Now that this panel was patched up it was time to prime everything and then paint it with some rust protector spray paint I have laying around. The way I look at it is the areas that won’t see the media blaster before paint will still be covered. Once I primed everything with weld through primer I taped up the welding surfaces then hit it with the paint. Amazing how nice it looks with a coat of paint on it though. I also prepped the quarter panel for welding while the paint was drying.
Next up was some final fitting and tweaking before hitting it with the welder. I had an issue with the forward side of the wheel arch the panel seemed to be sitting out even though all the other lines looked good. After a lot of fettling and hammering I finally got it in a position I was happy with. One lesson I think I learned on this side is the arch closer and quarter panel need to go in together, not the closer before as I would have been able to line things up better.
Then I started welding, The butt welds could use some more grinding and maybe a little fill of some weld, I might do that later. They will most likely need a skim of filler before paint, I have bought a file sander (its like a mini belt sander) to help with tight areas but I really need a die grinder or something. Overall I am happy with how it turned out, next side I am going to be more careful with my panel cuts as the gaps on this side ended up pretty big. the forward part of the quarter still seems to be sitting out. but only when I look from the rear.. guess this one will eat at me for a while. The spot welder helped out big time with this panel though, even if it starts to weigh a lot more the more you use it lol. I did not add spot welds to the rear boot as I will be replacing it and because the spot welder wouldn’t weld through rust. I did add a couple Cleco’s to hold things in place for now.
Finally I clamped up the outer sill to make sure it still fits correctly, I could install it now that I am basically done with this side. I have already decided I will leave them off until the car is blasted, this way it won’t get filled with blasting media.
For a bonus I wanted to see what my wheel arch would look like as well… I had previously put it up to the car before I started all this but now that this side is all fresh and the lines are pretty much correct, I figured why not.
Seeing it had gotten ridiculously hot in the garage that is all I achieved today. Not sure what I am tackling next but I know its on the RH side. Still debating on the rear bin or starting on the door post then bin/arch/quarter. Either way I believe the bracing will finally be coming out as the floors are now solid and the LH side is done.
The Rust chronicles 