65 Valiant 4 Door

[Andgott]

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

 

[dibbons]

Thought you might like to see how I flared my rear fenderwells to fit a 1970 Dodge Challenger 8 3/4 sure grip (4.56 to 1).

 

[chryslerfat]

Nice job on the metal work

 

[SSVDP]

Great work!

 

[Andgott]

More done...

I taped off the area to be cut away on the front of the fender, then made some patches to weld in.

Then used the plasma cutter to cut out the bad metal.

I formed the patch by beating it out on a shot bag... This is WAY early in the process and it still has a really bad case of the 'panel pox'...

Welded in and smoothed down. It'll require just some minimal filler before priming/painting.

 

[Andgott]

Now to cut away the damage on the back of the fender... The Plasma cutter will do the trick nicely...

That was easy. I love that thing- But I need a LOT more practice with it

The patch I made before fits!!

Next I cut off the rusted out metal behind the patch... I didn't use the plasma cutter for this for obvious reasons, since there was a stiffener behind it I didn't want to cut through.

After cutting, a little media blasting to clean it up-

And, Cut out the damaged areas-

I was able to use the Plasma cutter for this... MUCH faster.

Then I made some patch pieces up, using my shrinker and stretcher to get the curves and bends right...

Then welded it all in place. Obviously it doesn't need to look as purdy, since it's never going to be seen.

The patch tacked in place....

And welded...

 

[Andgott]

Grinding started...

And, DONE. Turned out decent, Although I am still going to need a BIT of filler... Shhhhh!

I'll be working a late one tonight- I'm 'transitioning' from day to night shift (I work a DuPont rotation), so I need to stay up until about 3-4 am...

 

[Andgott]

A bit more progress... I've started priming some panels.

And, The hood/trunk lid-

Drivers side doors ALMOST ready for primer-

After I finish up any required body work over the grey epoxy, I'll be using House Of Kolor KD3000 RED primer over it.

I've decided on a color, too. Body will be red, top white. I am going to use a red that's a little darker than the factory red, and a slightly off white color for the top.

 

[Andgott]

Some red primer on now-

 

[Valiant63]

I wish I had your metal skills. I could use the same kind of eork to the bottoms of my front gender dog legs.

 

[Andgott]

Started stripping the body... She's almost naked!

The original plan was to just scuff the paint, prime, and repaint. But, I decided that I might as well just bring it down to bare metal. It really doesn't take all that much longer using the stripping pads that I use, they make really quick work of it.

I did the engine bay with the sandblaster, after covering up the engine and anything else that could be damaged. It saved a LOT of hand sanding.

 

[Steves65]

Looks great, but I am getting flashbacks looking at it...lol

 

[Andgott]

It's been a while since I've posted... I've done a LOT of work since then.

First, I got the rest of the paint off-

Then, a coat of Epoxy sealer/primer-

After the final body work was done over the sealer, I primed the top WHITE-

And, The bottom RED. I used House of Kolor KD3000 epoxy. A little pricey, but nice stuff-

 

[Andgott]

Then, Some paint.

Candy apple red.

White roof-

A little orange peel here and there- But I'm pretty happy. I've painted a lot of boats, but this is the first car I've painted.

Now, to put it all back together-

I've still got lots to do, but I've got the next week off. Hopefully, I'll be back on the road soon!

 

[Steves65]

Looks great, keep up the good work!

 

[Valiant63]

Nice looking. I do like the choice of colors and especially the white top. I want to do a white top on my wagon when I get it painted but I'm sure what to do as far as the rest of the body. It was mostly a drab yellow from the factory. I just cant go all of that bodywork and painting myself. Yours looks gorgeous.

 

[Andgott]

More progress... It's coming along.

The trunk seal is installed-

And, New windlace on all the doors-

'Cat Whiskers' on the windows-

New tires are ordered, so tomorrow I'll remove and blast the wheels to paint them. I'm so close to being able to drive I can TASTE it