Kicking Pixie's Butt....

Kicking Pixie's Butt....

Could have said something more suggestive than that I guess but let's keep it PG. Managed to get some further work done on the rear valence and rust removal. This stage is the final part of prepping and painting. I don't want to squander the last of the color matched paint!  Sand, prime, sand, prime, fill, prime and paint. Repeat as needed. While waiting for the paint to dry I fixed up Trixie's front air dam and spoiler.

Here are a few pics. Clear coating is the last part and coming soon!

 Lots of sanding and priming to go. Those small marks and defects just drive me nuts!

 Rear sanded and ready for a first color base coat to bring out all the spots I missed....

 The nearly-final product at work. Blending with some 800+ grit wet sanding and then clear coating.

 Shot of the passenger side. I took the time to really sand out the lower portion and get things smooth.

Aw heck, with the back end looking so good (and having to wait until the paint dries on the back).

Some other bits done while waiting....

Why Have Just One? It works for most things.

When working with any air tool or blasting equipment the old challenge of "not enough air" comes up. You can go down to Lowe's or someplace like it and buy your way out of the problem or you can get a bit crazy and do what I did.

The one hurdle that I had after getting a big enough compressor was a big enough tank for not a lot of money. Solution: old propane tanks. Now, you may be concerned over safety and so am I. The last thing I need is a big bomb in my garage. So, get your tank from a reputable supplier and have it pressure tested. You also need to make sure you have a means to drain the tank of moisture. Easiest solution is to install the tanks upside down and have a drain valve. I went and tapped a new drain in the bottom. Also fill and drain water to get rid of any residual propane.

I prefer the 100 pound tanks, so called because they would hold approx. 100 pounds of propane. They are tall and take up very little room. The tank is about 16" in diameter and 48" tall, holding about 9600 cu. in. (5.6 cu. ft) of compressed air. That's about 42 gallons of air per tank, with the dual setup we're talking 84 gallons of 125 psi capacity!

Welding, Part Doo...

Last night was welding night and up until midnight a few things were accomplished: 1) cutting out some rot on the rear valence, 2) building and filling one of the bumper mounting locations; 3) second pass on the side markers delete (who knew that the little bolt holes would be such as pain!); 4) the replacement of last years' rear wheel well area. Here are some further pics of the carnage.

Photo showing the cut out. I could have gone further but at this time it was best to get the rot out and POR 15 the rest. 

 I took 22 gauge mild steel, a ball-peen hammer and a section of berber carpet to pound and shape the corner piece you see. Could have been prettier but it does the job and will be finished off with some filler.

 Close up of the passenger side rear bumper mount location. Years of moisture rotted the outer layer and instead of cutting another piece I decided to try the weld bead fill method of building up the area. Wow, lots of wire went in there!








This one was started at about 11pm last night. I hemmed and hawed about doing this and in the end decided that more bondo was just not the right thing to do. It did hurt a bit doing the cutting....

 Shot of the section pulled off the car. That panel sealer was really holding on. Didn't stop the rust though. I'll have to cut some more, weld on some patch to attach the new panel.

Looks like the new Walouth and Netsch panel will fit pretty close. Nice to have new metal!











UPdate: I spent last night welding in the panel. First was the rebuilding of the interior trunk panel and wheel well. I was surprised at the solidity of the weld panel, even without the attachments of the trunk panel! I did finally remove the rear wheel and weld up the interior seams to keep everything tight. Now for a small amount of filler instead of a big can of it.

Welding, welding, welding....

Managed to spend some time revisiting those areas of the '82 that were "treated and released". The side marker deletes were showing signs of corrosion and the patches sent to me by Layne of BF fame were just the fix! Bondo just sucks for anything more than a very thin skim coat. After a while the expansion of the patch just pops the damn thing off and you waste so much time you are better of welding in new steel. I'm convinced that any large patch with that stuff is a time bomb. I am debating redoing the rear wheel well... The base patch looks okay but there is compromised metal near the patch. I have the WandN panel to do it, just have to build up courage and find time to get it done. Here are some pics of the work so far.

Shots of the drivers side panel with the marker delete discs welded in. you can see the patch panel left over from last year but the bondo outer coating was popping off. 

 Pic of the passenger side. I took too much steel off the edge and the welder blew holes in the panel! Ouch! Got some building up of the bead to make up for it!

 This is the seam at the rear valence that was patched over with just bondo and the rust started to come through. I decided it was best to just shoot a bead of weld along the ground out seam. Man, does that inner panel seal catch on fire! Yikes!

Passenger side close up with some additional weld bead to close the holes. Welded inside and out. Thanks Layne!