Body Work

Life got in the way so, I haven't posted for a while.  I've set the goal to paint and roll by next Spring.  So, it's time to start the body work.  I decided to start with the front wheel wells.  I know, I know.  You're saying "Didn't you know you can buy those?".  Well, I've learned that after market parts are never as good as originals.  They are always thinner and never seem to fit perfect.  More than that though, I'm cheap and since these wheel wells won't really be seen by anybody that looks at my car (I don't plan to enter any car shows) this is a good place to practice my welding and sheet metal skills.

Ya, they look pretty rough.  The only areas that aren't rusted are the areas covered by road tar.  It looks like the prior owner passed a little too close to a road crew at some point.

Most of the bolt holes had been wobbled out and some had cracked the metal.  So, after stripping all the paint, rust and road tar off, I proceeded to weld patches on the trouble spots.

Clamp

Weld

Grind

Cut a new hole

Same process on the other wheel well

I used the POR-15 process to cover everything.  I have used it on other projects and if you follow the directions it works great and leaves a ceramic kind of coating.  The one problem is that if the item is exposed to UV rays it will develop a white powder kind of coating.  That shouldn't be a problem with these wheel wells.

The major problem I had to tackle was an access hole the previous owner had cut into the passenger side wheel well to access a bad blower motor.  I guess that was easier than removing the fender.  I decided to put a removable patch in there since it was much easier than trying to butt weld a patch in and who knows?  I may need in there again someday.

Since this part is completely covered by the fender, I'm not too worried about what the back side looks like.  I may put a silicon gasket in there someday, but for now, I have no plans to drive in the rain or even when there's the possibility of rain.

And they ended up looking like this.  Now on to the fenders, the doors, the roof the rear quarters, the.....