Aaron's 76 Type LT Project

10 minute(s) of a 383 minute read

Thanks Bob, baby steps

So I kept looking at my driver side door and it seemed a little thick so I stripped down the back edge area and it turns out there was a repair done. It's not a really deep dent, as it looks like someone pulled it out a bit. But I was really hoping to not have to deal with crap like this, but it could be worse.

You can't see any depth in the below pic, but it shows the size of the repair area.

The question is do I fix it with All Metal over bare metal or use something like Rage Gold over epoxy primer?

5-23-2014

I got off a little early today so I started welding the firewall panel on. I had to do some minor work on the opening for the fender support, but otherwise the panel fits very well. It's the Detroit Speed panel for anyone curious.  

I doubt I will do much to the edges as this is not a show car. But that is still TBD.




Here are some pics illustrating why I always wear a full face shield when I am cutting, grinding, etc. My cutting wheel split for some reason and smacked my face shield right in the middle. I was doing normal cutting and all of a sudden it just broke.

I can't imagine what that would have done to my face and/or my eyes had I not been wearing my face shield. After it happened I had to stop working and take a 5'er.

5-26-2014

I got the rocker panel patch welded in today. Welding upside down was causing me issues yday but I finally found the right voltage/wire speed combo and was able to get better welds. I still had some stalactites to grind down, but at least it's in.

First two pics show the area I removed. I didn't want to jack with pulling it so decided to weld in some clean metal. In the end it will be the same amount of time but I am a little OCD about having big fixes like this on my car. The only one I will (hopefully) have is on the driver side door.





Kind of a crummy pic but here is the patch welded in



I got the firewall plate completely welded in and the welds ground down and polished with 60 and 80 grit

I got some other things done, none of which are very picture worthy. Most of it was taking areas down to bare metal as I move closer to spraying epoxy on the shell. At this stage the main things I have to do before I can spray the shell with epoxy are:

* get the rocker panel patch welds cleaned up
* apply metal filler to the roof-to-1/4 seams. The filler should arrive Tues or Wed.
* get the doors completely aligned. The real issue is the driver door as I uncovered some body work that affects how far inward the door sits. I likely need to address this and then get the depth dialed in before moving on
* stripping the rest of the shell down to metal

5-31-2014

started shaping and sanding the roof-to-1/4 panel filler. I will hit it again tomorrow but unfortunately I ran out of filler (I had some other spots) so I will go as far as I can and then touch it up with a skim coat of metal filler.

I think I need to extend the filler downward as there is a slight dip as shown in the 2nd picture. I sanded the filler with 40 to shape and then 80 and I don't think I can get the filler down far enough to close up that gap. Or maybe the filler is still too high?

Thoughts?

6-8-2014

No exciting updates but I actually made a lot of headway this weekend, just not much that is picture worthy.

The immediate game plan is to spray the trunk floor with the Raptor bed liner. I thought it through and think spraying the trunk floor before I spray the shell will be the better approach. Basically, I'd rather not spray the trunk AFTER the shell is done. I am thinking about spraying the inner wheel wells with the Raptor truck bed liner too based on what others have done. It's a nice black textured look that is durable. I'd do this the same time as the trunk, of course.

I got the inside of the trunk ready for seam sealer but of course what I had was bad so I had to order some new sealer. In the meantime, I got the roof-to-1/4 panel areas just about done. I need to feather the edges some more but they are almost where I want them before spraying. I am being a little OCD with these areas but I want them to be right when I apply a skim coat of plastic filler.

I hit the rocker panel patch with some metal filler and sanded it down. I will finish it up with some Evercoat Quantum after epoxy primer is sprayed. I did some more stripping of the annoying areas, like around the trunk opening and the rear tail panel. I also got the inner wheel wells stripped down for refinishing.

So all in all I took a nice step forward.

6-9-2014

The new compressor should be here by Thursday so I spent time running the air line. I got the MaxLine RapidAir 3/4" kit. I need a few more small items to install the rest of the items which should happen tmro. I will also add some drains to the "valleys".

In a perfect world I would have added more line but this is more than enough. I will add a flex line from the compressor to the inlet that will add some more length.

6-18-2014

Just got back from a biz trip in Boston so will work on the Camaro some these next few days but I first need to get this big mamma jamma set up, which I will work on tomorrow night. It will be replacing my stout 26 gal compressor (which is for sale if any Houston area guys are interested). On the plane ride back home I mapped out the rest of the game plan through painting the shell. I just need to execute the plan. The new compressor will help a lot with the rest of this project.

6-22-2014

Didn't get anything done on the Camaro but got the compressor line finished with the drains, the filters installed and the compressor on its mobile base. Ideally the compressor would be bolted to the slab but my garage does not allow for it has to be move-able. I will secure the compressor to my workbench when it's in use however. Getting all the lines installed to my liking took more time than I expected, but this was a critical step of the project.

I will spray using the top filter and do everything else using the bottom filter. I need to run a line over to the hose reel for air tools, which will be easy. I also need to hook up the electric line. After that I can switch over the new compressor and start spraying, among other things.

For anyone interested, the paint filter is the Devilbliss QC3, the air tools filter is a water filter and regulator from tptools.com, the hose reel is a Cox Reels, the hard line is Rapidair Maxline. I connected the QC3 to the Cox via a hydraulic line from Northern Tools.

6-29-2014

So I got the air compressor system all working yday, which is nice. The extra capacity is really great to have.

I spent time stripping the wheel wells to spray this week and prepped the firewall for another few coats of epoxy primer. I decided to install the 4-speed hump so I could spray epoxy primer where I will be cutting. It will be more efficient to just spray all these areas at once.

I posted this in the Body forum, but I am unsure if the placement of my aftermarket 4-speed hump is too far to the left or if that is correct. I am using others' measurements as a guide.





As you can see the top is level in that position, which I would expect.