65 Valiant 4 Door
What started out as a quick refresh of the paint job is turing in to a MAJOR project... I suppose that's how it always goes. Hopefully over the next few weeks/months, I'll get all the body work done, and get her repainted!
I've been driving and enjoying my '65, but decided to fix a few problem areas before they got worse. The first one was the rear quarter panel- The car had been in a wreck 30-40 years ago, and had been repaired. The 'repair' was pretty bad- Mostly bondo- So I decided to replace the panel with new metal. While I was at it, I straightened out the rear valance as well-
Then I decided I might as well tackle the rust on the bottom of the fenders. It took me a while to find all the bolts and get them off, but finally I got the Drivers side off-
Hidden under some bondo, MORE HOLES-
Swiss Cheese anyone?
So, I'll need to make up a few patch panels...
Parts Cut....
Edge shaped with shrinker/stretcher...
Edge tacked....
And, the patch welded and smoothed, ready to install.
Once the body work is done, it'll be PAINT TIME. Originally, I was going to just do white- But that was before the project became so extensive. Now, I am thinking about a different color.
I had PLANNED to have it done and back on the road for the Cruise-In at the end of June, But it looks like I might have to push that back to the July cruise-in now :)
What started out as a quick refresh of the paint job is turing in to a MAJOR project... I suppose that's how it always goes. Hopefully over the next few weeks/months, I'll get all the body work done, and get her repainted!
I've been driving and enjoying my '65, but decided to fix a few problem areas before they got worse. The first one was the rear quarter panel- The car had been in a wreck 30-40 years ago, and had been repaired. The 'repair' was pretty bad- Mostly bondo- So I decided to replace the panel with new metal. While I was at it, I straightened out the rear valance as well-
Then I decided I might as well tackle the rust on the bottom of the fenders. It took me a while to find all the bolts and get them off, but finally I got the Drivers side off-
Hidden under some bondo, MORE HOLES-
Swiss Cheese anyone?
So, I'll need to make up a few patch panels...
Parts Cut....
Edge shaped with shrinker/stretcher...
Edge tacked....
And, the patch welded and smoothed, ready to install.
Once the body work is done, it'll be PAINT TIME. Originally, I was going to just do white- But that was before the project became so extensive. Now, I am thinking about a different color.
I had PLANNED to have it done and back on the road for the Cruise-In at the end of June, But it looks like I might have to push that back to the July cruise-in now :)
