Resurrecting the 1966 Dart Wagon
Today I powered through metalwork and only stopped for dinner since I ate breakfast. I started out cleaning up the trunk floor extension and straightening it. Sprayed some weld thru primer on the area to be welded and moved on to prepping the new quarter section. I finished up shaping the end piece that is hidden behind the bumper, welded it, ground the welds and then gave the entire back side a thick coat of epoxy primer. Next, I screwed the panel back in place, rescribed the line to cut, and then proceeded with trimming until fitment was acceptable. After that, I just started tack welding until I had the entire piece secured and the butt joint was flush in all areas. I had to be really careful of heat placement with a piece this big because too much heat would warp the hell out of it. After a few hundred tack welds, I had a consistent bead all the way around and used roloc discs to grind it flush. I am still working on planishing all the welds and bumping out any remaining dents in surrounding areas. I will only need a skim coat of filler in a couple small areas but 75% of the panel weld area is smooth and no filler needed. I am VERY HAPPY with the result!!!
Charlie
Today I powered through metalwork and only stopped for dinner since I ate breakfast. I started out cleaning up the trunk floor extension and straightening it. Sprayed some weld thru primer on the area to be welded and moved on to prepping the new quarter section. I finished up shaping the end piece that is hidden behind the bumper, welded it, ground the welds and then gave the entire back side a thick coat of epoxy primer. Next, I screwed the panel back in place, rescribed the line to cut, and then proceeded with trimming until fitment was acceptable. After that, I just started tack welding until I had the entire piece secured and the butt joint was flush in all areas. I had to be really careful of heat placement with a piece this big because too much heat would warp the hell out of it. After a few hundred tack welds, I had a consistent bead all the way around and used roloc discs to grind it flush. I am still working on planishing all the welds and bumping out any remaining dents in surrounding areas. I will only need a skim coat of filler in a couple small areas but 75% of the panel weld area is smooth and no filler needed. I am VERY HAPPY with the result!!!
Charlie
