1966 Dodge Dart
Well I finally got back out to the shed and spent a few hours on the fender that I welded in the patch. After banging and beating to get the metal as close as I could to where it should be I mixed some short hair fiber glass and covered the area with the glass filler. I used the glass filler because it is water proof. One thing I found is that the glass is much harder to sand! Once the first layer was on and sanded down I mixed up another batch of of regular putty and finished spreading and sanding. Still had a few low spots so another mix of putty and this time things came out good. My hardest part was the flare around the wheel well where it blends into the lower section. and keeping a good body line. Here are some pics as I went:
After that area was completed which took me about 5 - 6 hours and many re putty and sanding I decided I was going to weld the holes for the trim belt line shut. I had at one point filled them with a small metal plug then glued that in with 3m 8115 bond. I decided to weld because I saw a 70 dart that someone had just filled the holes with a putty and over the years the repair shrunk and became very visible. Well I knocked each one out then welded the holes shut. I was careful to not over heat the metal by welding a small spot then blowing compressed air on the weld. Moving to another spot and repeating back and forth until all holes were filled. Oh one other thing I used some small pieces of brass that was given to me to use by one of our members here (zkx14) Thanks!
Before welding these small holes shut I placed a small ball peen hammer in the hole and tapped it down slightly with another hammer so the welded area would be just a slight lower then the body. Once welding was completed I ground down the welds and started filling each area with glass again. Ruffed it in and then more filler. The problem I ran into was at the front of the fender there are 2 indentations and from grinding I lost the small belt strip that is about 1 1/4" wide so I had to ask some questions in the body area of this forum on best methods to rebuild those lines. Got some great info and then went to You tube and watched some videos and then back at completing these areas. Here are some pics of these areas:
You can see the body line area and how I used tape to help rebuild that line hopefully straight!:
Lastly I needed to finished the edge inside the engine compartment area on the fender that I welded a new piece of metal in about 2 years ago and never completed. You can see the filler applied but I didnt take any pics of it when done. Not sure why except I forgot!
I then finished sanding the front headlight area and I think that should complete the work on this fender. Now I just need to get primer on it.
My next area is going to be the drivers door so I can put the door and fender on the drivers side of the car before starting the other fender and the rest of the passenger side.
Thanks for following and feel free to comment on anything you see I should think about doing differently as this is my first attempt at anything like this.
Thanks Rod
Well I finally got back out to the shed and spent a few hours on the fender that I welded in the patch. After banging and beating to get the metal as close as I could to where it should be I mixed some short hair fiber glass and covered the area with the glass filler. I used the glass filler because it is water proof. One thing I found is that the glass is much harder to sand! Once the first layer was on and sanded down I mixed up another batch of of regular putty and finished spreading and sanding. Still had a few low spots so another mix of putty and this time things came out good. My hardest part was the flare around the wheel well where it blends into the lower section. and keeping a good body line. Here are some pics as I went:
After that area was completed which took me about 5 - 6 hours and many re putty and sanding I decided I was going to weld the holes for the trim belt line shut. I had at one point filled them with a small metal plug then glued that in with 3m 8115 bond. I decided to weld because I saw a 70 dart that someone had just filled the holes with a putty and over the years the repair shrunk and became very visible. Well I knocked each one out then welded the holes shut. I was careful to not over heat the metal by welding a small spot then blowing compressed air on the weld. Moving to another spot and repeating back and forth until all holes were filled. Oh one other thing I used some small pieces of brass that was given to me to use by one of our members here (zkx14) Thanks!
Before welding these small holes shut I placed a small ball peen hammer in the hole and tapped it down slightly with another hammer so the welded area would be just a slight lower then the body. Once welding was completed I ground down the welds and started filling each area with glass again. Ruffed it in and then more filler. The problem I ran into was at the front of the fender there are 2 indentations and from grinding I lost the small belt strip that is about 1 1/4" wide so I had to ask some questions in the body area of this forum on best methods to rebuild those lines. Got some great info and then went to You tube and watched some videos and then back at completing these areas. Here are some pics of these areas:
You can see the body line area and how I used tape to help rebuild that line hopefully straight!:
Lastly I needed to finished the edge inside the engine compartment area on the fender that I welded a new piece of metal in about 2 years ago and never completed. You can see the filler applied but I didnt take any pics of it when done. Not sure why except I forgot!
I then finished sanding the front headlight area and I think that should complete the work on this fender. Now I just need to get primer on it.
My next area is going to be the drivers door so I can put the door and fender on the drivers side of the car before starting the other fender and the rest of the passenger side.
Thanks for following and feel free to comment on anything you see I should think about doing differently as this is my first attempt at anything like this.
Thanks Rod