Good lord, what have done?

[theunz]

First off, the fender looks more like a 69 to me. A good metal worker could fix any of your issues. I assume you are wanting to do the wok yourself, so the question is how good are you with a hammer and dolly and with a welder as well. When I took some auto body shop classes in the early 80's we were taught that filler was to be no thicker than an 1/8 in thick, so you could just bondo over the marker light hole, but it would be better to just patch it properly. The screws to fill the emblem holes is just plainly a bad idea! The valance is repairable but would not be easy for a novice to do. If I remember correctly it is welded in. Although the bumper will cover some of it there will still be a lot of it exposed. As far as the mirror goes, well that's personal preference. While I know that mirrors give better visibility when mounted on the fender I just don't like the way they look, but then I'm just not into the whole JDM thing. Keep in mind that a lot of what you think won't show up will after its painted! Body work is tedious, but rewarding. Have Fun!

[bossbob]

I guess it could be a 69, just thought the hole looked a little large for the tear drop light. Obviously I still have a lot of learning to do with these cars. Anyway, I have one more door and fender to do and it will be 99% bare metal, with just a little clean up here and there.

Next question is in regards to the next couple of steps. I've been reading a lot and watching videos about body filler on bare metal, laying epoxy primer down first, doing body filler over epoxy, etc. etc. etc. So far, I've learned that body filler is "designed" to be applied to bare metal, on the other hand, lots of body guys go right over the epoxy, so here lies my issue. Should I rough out the body then epoxy and then do the finish work/blocking, or lay down the epoxy and start from there. I feel fortunate that so far the body is in great condition other than the front fender and 1 small dent in the rear, we'll see what's under the other door and fender.

I'm kinda old school in the sense that I've always believed that you should go down to bare metal for any body filler and prime over that.

So, for those that have been here and done it, what do you recommend.

[pebbles]

In my case its cost. If you can afford the extra cost of epoxy go for it. Just make sure before you spray, that the car is clean and straight. I perfer to prep the metal to a point of being ready for “paint” before ANY coatings are applied. Albeit it 80 or 120 grit. That includes gaps and panel to panel contours. So yeah lots of hammer and dolly. NO bondo to fill gaps or level panel to panel contours.
Remember the roadster metal is very dirty and must be super clean before any fillers or coatings are applied.
I once knew a guy who was a great metal finsher and bodyman. Always prided himself in his metal work.
He hand made T tops for a custom car. One day the new owner forgot to latch one. It flew off at 50 mph. 1/2” of bondo. Work for him dried up very quickly. Sadly He moved away from the area never to be heard from again.

[C.Costine]

Bob, I will reinforce what pebbles says above. I started on my '67 in early 2015 after having the car in indoor storage for about twelve years, planning to just do a good prep and then a paint job. Recognize the threat of mission creep! I could have saved a LOT of time by removing the body from the frame, but that is in hind sight. I simply kept finding more and more that I wanted to do as I got deeper into it. During the twelve years of storage hundreds of tiny bubbles developed in the paint. They were due to tiny rust spots under all of the paint. I removed most of the paint with a DA with 80 grit paper. A twisted wire cup wheel is a great help in irregularly shaped places and depressions. I sand blasted here and there where I needed to in order to get down to bare metal in nooks and crannies. I would get a better valance to work with. You can cut the spot welds with a tiny hole saw tool made for the purpose, than weld the new one on with "plug" welds. Mine was nowhere near as bad as yours, but the edges of the holes are very tough to get nice. I am a strong believer in rust converter. Contrary to the user instructions I even use it after sandblasting in order to get the tiny particles of rust that are hiding down in the pits. I also injected it into the spot weld lap joints such as where the valance attaches in order to neutralize any hidden rust to keep it from creeping out later. I used direct to metal filler, then sprayed my epoxy primer on after blocking the fill areas down to as smooth and level as possible. I think that most of my epoxy primer would have been sanded off before finishing with filler. I see epoxy primer as being an absolute necessity, but since your roadster seems to be smoother than mine you may be better off with an initial coating of epoxy. If the light fixture patch is welded in with continuous weld I would leave it. If it is spot welded I would redo it because there is already rust between the two parts. I would remove all of the screw plugs and weld the holes closed. After the filler work and Epoxy primer I sprayed polyester filler in three coats, I then blocked it with the help of guide coat. I then sprayed two coats of 2K urethane high build primer, and blocked that. I am now in the final stages of spot high build aerosol priming and smoothing. I took many side trips away from the body work to clean and rebuild components that I had removed in order to get a break. I removed the engine and transmission in order to be able to do a good engine room job. BEWARE OF MISSION CREEP!! Have a plan in place to prevent it!!

[Gregs672000]

My car was a rust bucket, and 32 yrs ago there were not many options for a college bound kid on a budget (me). Sems Rust Seal was an amazing product that has stood the test of time in my car. There were multiple areas of rust that needed to be treated but would be hard to paint, like under the dash or way inside panels. Every place I used the Rust Seal has remained rust free even without a top coat of paint. Highly recommended.

[bossbob]

Well the car is 100% stripped with the exception of a few hard to reach spots that I'll address while I work each panel.

Found this on the passenger side front fender.

15437898516711.jpg

Door is a little off, this corner was filled with filler to match the rocker panel.

15437898516280.jpg

Passenger door has some low spots, and there is a dent at the bottom of the rocker passenger side. Other than that, it's in pretty good shape.

15437896980421.jpg

Kind of cool to see the body lines come out...........

[greydog]

I'd echo what Dave said Bob.
I'd want to get the body roughed (meaning, panels worked, welding done filler applied and long boarded to 150/180 feather edge first. Then do epoxy to seal the whole thing and poly/guide coat.
Most expoxies don't sand well so you want to get the car to the point where you think all you need to do is block/final sand so you're not fighting what you've already done.
I'd weld up the fender holes, and work a couple of the low spots on the fenders, then attack the valance. That'll be a bugger because the metal in the area of the openings has been creased which stretches it so you would likely have to shrink as you shape. It's a skill that can only be acquired with practice (and fixing what went wrong as you learn). It may be much easier and quicker to obtain a good used valance and replace it.
Assuming you're good with the rest of the door fit, you can make that gap nicer by using a pc of wire as filler and welding it to the sheet metal. the side of the wire gives a good round edge so once welded and sanded, it looks factory.
Body work is tedious and I find myself getting impatient to get color on the project. DONT!!!
Make sure you're happy with what you've done before you move to the next section.
I've painted over old paint with no trouble and had the job last years. Recently tho, I was repainting the hood on my '68 and since the factory paint was solid on half the hood, I decided to epoxy over it. I used a new paint and have a solvent attack line where the urethane reducer got thru the expoxy (maybe not dry enough) that I'll have to deal with. I suspect had the old paint been completely removed, I'd have been ok. Point is, any time you "settle" or short cut, even a little, it can bite you.
Dan

[bossbob]

Thanks,

I'm listening to everything being said, and appreciate all the feed back. I figure, I've got plenty of time, so I'll be addressing the panels one at a time, blocking it out before the epoxy goes on. I may see what a professional can do about the valance, but also keeping my eye out for a replacement. I think I can handle the rest of the car myself, welding, blocking, etc. I like the idea of adding a wire around the door. Patience is not one of my finer points. Looking at Alex's car, and a few others. I want to be there too............. I find myself wanting to go to the paint store daily, but I know that's months away.