1972 Canadian H-Code 340 Dart Swinger Special Resto - Finally started!
It's time to ease back into my project after taking a couple months off, I decided before tackling the right quarter I'd get some of these parts that I had dipped and have been sitting around in bare metal prepped and epoxied.
The hood was straight forward, a good scuff with red scotchbrite and sanding with 220 on the orbital, hang and epoxy.
The fenders were in pretty good shape with the exception of a rust hole at the lower back of both of them, the dipping really made visible the extent of the rust holes and also made it a bit easier to fix since its all bare metal now. A lot of members would be intimidated at replacing a quarter panel and tub themselves but this small repair is something most people could tackle if they have a bit of welding abilities and some tools to cut sheet metal with. I should have taken a few more pictures but I tend get into the repair and forgot to take a few of the welding. Anyhow these are the steps I used for this simple and solid repair.
First was to clean the fender and sand it down with 220 grit and red scotchbrite to clean it up before fixing the hole.
Next I drilled the two spot welds on the inside lip that holds the section of skin on the outside I was removing and cutting out the section that needs to be replaced.
I cut most of it with my body saw and the long cut with my cutoff wheel but you could use the cutoff wheel for all the cuts. When I remove the section it revealed that the brace on the inside was rusted thru as well so that would be the first section to be replaced.
I didn't take any pics of this but I cleaned the rust off and cut a rectangular section out back to solid metal and traced a new piece from that hole, cut and stitch welded it in with small spot welds and ground it smooth.
Next step was to take some thin cardboard ( cereal box cardboard ) and make a template off of the section I cut out, I had to straighten it out some to do that. Then cut the piece out from the sheet steel and fine tune the fit leaving a small gap to weld into.
I clamped it into position and folded the lip around the brace with a hammer and dolly, take your time and use the dolly on top of the patch to support and dampen the hammer blows while you roll the lip around and flatten it to the brace.
Then I slid it off and final checked the fit, drilled a few holes on the inside lip for plug welding lip and sprayed weld thru primer on the brace and inside of the patch, clamped it in position and stitch welded it in place keeping it cool with air in the process.
Then grind inside and outside smooth and you've got a good solid repair, try to seal it well from the inside, a little tricky because the brace is in the way but there are different products for sealing in concealed areas.
Hope this helps anyone who would like to try a small rust repair.
Next the other fender, same repair.
It's time to ease back into my project after taking a couple months off, I decided before tackling the right quarter I'd get some of these parts that I had dipped and have been sitting around in bare metal prepped and epoxied.
The hood was straight forward, a good scuff with red scotchbrite and sanding with 220 on the orbital, hang and epoxy.
The fenders were in pretty good shape with the exception of a rust hole at the lower back of both of them, the dipping really made visible the extent of the rust holes and also made it a bit easier to fix since its all bare metal now. A lot of members would be intimidated at replacing a quarter panel and tub themselves but this small repair is something most people could tackle if they have a bit of welding abilities and some tools to cut sheet metal with. I should have taken a few more pictures but I tend get into the repair and forgot to take a few of the welding. Anyhow these are the steps I used for this simple and solid repair.
First was to clean the fender and sand it down with 220 grit and red scotchbrite to clean it up before fixing the hole.
Next I drilled the two spot welds on the inside lip that holds the section of skin on the outside I was removing and cutting out the section that needs to be replaced.
I cut most of it with my body saw and the long cut with my cutoff wheel but you could use the cutoff wheel for all the cuts. When I remove the section it revealed that the brace on the inside was rusted thru as well so that would be the first section to be replaced.
I didn't take any pics of this but I cleaned the rust off and cut a rectangular section out back to solid metal and traced a new piece from that hole, cut and stitch welded it in with small spot welds and ground it smooth.
Next step was to take some thin cardboard ( cereal box cardboard ) and make a template off of the section I cut out, I had to straighten it out some to do that. Then cut the piece out from the sheet steel and fine tune the fit leaving a small gap to weld into.
I clamped it into position and folded the lip around the brace with a hammer and dolly, take your time and use the dolly on top of the patch to support and dampen the hammer blows while you roll the lip around and flatten it to the brace.
Then I slid it off and final checked the fit, drilled a few holes on the inside lip for plug welding lip and sprayed weld thru primer on the brace and inside of the patch, clamped it in position and stitch welded it in place keeping it cool with air in the process.
Then grind inside and outside smooth and you've got a good solid repair, try to seal it well from the inside, a little tricky because the brace is in the way but there are different products for sealing in concealed areas.
Hope this helps anyone who would like to try a small rust repair.
Next the other fender, same repair.