hursst

Today was just about a perfect day, weather-wise. 78 degrees, sunny, and very low humidity. Perfect day to try applying primer again. I was able to get home from work early and hit all the panels one more time, except the boot lid, which is finished. This time, I got a flawless application down. Nice and smooth, uniform texture, it worked like I thought it should work. I think I was spraying earlier in too much heat, which was giving me a much "drier" spray. I don't know if humidity has much to do with it, I've heard both angles, but it definitely cuts down on the heat. Thanks for the tip, Jeff, but I think it's more user error on my part, not a problem with the products themselves. I think I'll be able to sand all these panels with 400 grit and have no problems from here on out. I'm sure I'll find a few more small flaws, but now it should just be touch up and not re-spraying entire panels. Once the panels are sanded and finished, it will be time to assemble everything again and see where I stand with panel alignment. I should be in pretty good shape as I think I got most of the bugs out last time. My only concern is that the chassis mount holes for the center of the car are about 3/8" off on both sides, as I think the body stretched a little width-wise whilst removing the body, moving the body, and everything else, as I did not put any supports in width-wise, only length-wise, which I should have done, in hindsight. Should be pretty easy to flex back into place, but body will have to be off the chassis to make sure it is a little wide and not just hanging up on something, and to make sure I can get it back to the correct dimensions. No photos, as it's just more of the same with the body panels.

Today I attacked the passenger side door and boot lid. Unfortunately, the door appears to have a lot of areas with air bubbles in the primer, which was the result of when I first learned how to use the sprayer and I was producing silly string and a lot of very dry primer. I had to sand everything down quite a bit, yet again, to try to sand thru the air bubbles. I think I got it sanded down low enough, so I'll have to try again. I guess it's all part of lessons learned during this process. I moved on to the trunk lid, where I had a similar problem, but most of it was towards the top, so it sanded down fairly easily. I think I've been spraying in too much heat, maybe not mixing the primer thin enough (although I followed instructions and added a little more reducer to try to solve the problem), and the primer is drying in the sprayer slowly, and I'm getting a weaker spray as I go along. No huge deal, but will be some extra work and more wasted primer. Anyway, the trunk lid came out great. I sanded it down to 400 grit with no sand-thru to bare metal or filler (Photo 1). I'm going to take it to my bodywork mentor Thursday to get a thorough professional analysis of my work. I think it turned out just about perfectly, but I'm still an amateur, so not sure yet. I think it will get a thumbs up and then it will be ready for paint. Will be switching jobs soon, so taking 9-days off in between, 3-4 of which I'll be able to stay home, so I plan on continuing to sand, spray primer, sand, and hopefully get all of the exterior panels ready for paint.

Thanks for the post. Didn't know aluminum-impregnated compound was a thing. I'll keep it in mind, but I think all the leading for my car is finished.

Today turned out really well. Started out very wet, but mostly dried up and stayed cloudy, so had a nice window mid-day to finish priming the rest of the pieces (Photo 1). Didn't break 80 until noon, then went up to about 92, when the sun came out. Wanted to keep going with this momentum, so ended up sanding all four fenders over the last two days. They all look great, with no major issues, I'm actually a little surprised. They will all need another 3-4 coats of primer as I had to sand thru to bare metal in a couple spots and around many of the edges, in order to get everything very flat. Sanded all fenders out with 220 grit; plan on going to 400 grit as the final sanding. Hoping that one more round will allow me to carefully sand down to 400 grit without breaking thru the primer. Will probably just stay away from the edges at this point and just hit them with some very light sanding so I don't sand thru any more. The panels I sprayed today have already been thru multiple rounds of primer and are already very straight, so I'm hoping to do only a final careful sanding to 400 grit. I should be able to blow thru the body very quickly, as most of it is already ready for paint (areas that can't be seen and don't need perfection). The trunk, front cowl shelf, and front header shelf just need a quick touchup with maybe 180 grit, and they are ready for primer as well. They will definitely need additional rounds of primer, as I know there will be a LOT of gremlins with all the repair work I had to do in these areas. I will start buying some equipment to make a de facto paint booth when I go to Carlisle and Hershey next month. I may be able to start painting before the end of the year, but if I do, it will be a test run, as some of you have suggested, with some panels that won't really be seen. Will probably have to wait until spring before the weather is nice enough to do any real painting. Can't wait for Hershey. after not having it in 2020, it's going to be a big deal for me this year. Will probably break the bank buying junk! Let's hope they don't have to cancel it because of this damn Delta variant. So far so good. Hope to see some of you there. I'll be the guy walking all 25 miles, or whatever it is.

Got up about 0530 this morning and it was wet from the rain last night, hot, and humidity was about 136%, so no way I could even open the garage door, as bare steel would flash rust in about 5 seconds, not to mention everything would be covered in condensation. Waited until about 9am and things were looking much better, although a little hot, and a little too much humidity, but not bad. I was able to spray all four fenders, but had to stop after that, it was getting too hot and the sprayer was drying out too fast and spraying poorly (Photos 1 & 2). Now with more primer on them, I see that overall, they are in really great shape, overall contours are excellent and no major problems. However, there a lot a of minor problems, like pin holes, some deep scratches, some filler on the edges that isn't quite feathered in, some "dusty" primer that got applied a little later when things got too hot, and some big differences in the look of the primer based on whether it was applied to bare metal or filler. I think this will sand out okay, but it may need a few more layers of primer after a round of sanding to really build it up. The pinholes and scratches should easily go away with some glazing putty, and a little more sanding in certain areas should clean up some sloppy areas of filler. Other than that, I'm hoping a few rounds with guide coat and some sanding down to 400 grit should clean everything up nice and smooth. Too hot today to continue. 93 degrees and high humidity, it's just too oppressive to even be out there now. Ended up taking a drive in some of my other cars today.

Looks fantastic, Martin! I know the color may not be some folks' cup of tea, but I really like it, I think it will really set the car off against the chrome trim. Especially appropriate for a hot weather car, too.

Looking for a friend for a 1939 Pontiac front sway bar, or even information on what else would work for it. He's tried 39-40 Chevy and '38 Olds, and those are not the same. -Chris

If you live close enough and/or are planning on attending Hershey this year, you should find most of these things there, as long as you know what you're looking for. I found a lot of '30 Plymouth parts there over the years, but it takes asking, digging, and searching in nooks and crannies. Or, try to get a hold of a program, if you cannot attend, and check out the MOPAR venders in it so you can target them after the show.

Today, got another hour+ in. Mostly finished sanding, filling, and sanding again of the front cowl shelf (Photo 1). Had to make a smooth transition between the leading and the heavily-pitted panel, the leading being a little higher than the panel. The panel needs a little extra "height", plus this panel is quite thin anyway and "oil cans" when you push it in certain places, so a little extra filler should help it out. Most of this will be rectified when it's bolted to the chassis. Turned out pretty nice so far, but still have some details to smooth out. It's also only sanded to 40 or 80 grit, so needs more fine-tuning before it's ready for primer. Here's a photo from 2016, right after I bought it (Photo 2), to show where it started and to show how much junk is on the panel, which gives me a lot of latitude if everything isn't quite perfect. Tomorrow AM, I will try to get most of all the external panels in 3-4 coats of primer, so I can then do a final round of sanding and have them ready for a final test-fit, then paint.

Good to know this info, I wasn't aware that was "allowed," so I think I may end up doing the same, since I'll have an off-white color. How long is the paint good once you open up a can and paint in this piecemeal way? How will temperature and humidity affect the paint color, if you don't do it all at once? Thanks!!! -Chris

Looks for part numbers on the rear axle. Just about anything could be a clue, like data codes, axle ratio codes, etc. Also, the carrier is in the front for the one axle in front ,so you can eliminate some makes. May take some research and sleuthing, but you may be able to figure it out.

Had extra time available today, but go too hot and I started sweating over everything, so only got a little over an hour. Was able to finish sanding down to (mostly) bare metal, clean it all up, and apply filler to both the driver's side and passenger side of the front cowl shelf. Did some sanding in the middle so far, still have more to go (Photos 1 & 2). A little awkward, having to reach in from the sides to do the sanding, but doable. Turning out better than I thought so far, but will require a little touch-up and detailing to make it look really nice. I think I can get going on the primer on the outer panels Saturday morning, should be in the 70's or low 80's if I can get some things done before about 10am, then it does up to about 89.

Jeff, I think spreading this unpleasant work out in small chunks seems to be working. Minimal effort, but consistent progress. Got in another hour today, I think I can consistently get at least some time 4 of 5 weekdays now. Today, I switched over to the other side of the front cowl shelf. This area only had one section with welding and leading, but it was fairly large. In this area, water or condensation pooled at a low spot and severely pitted and rusted out the far corner. The metal is fairly thin in some of this area with the heavy pitting, but I think it will be fine, as much of it rests on the upper chassis and it's very structural. I think if the car would have sat in the barn for an additional 2 years, this panel would have had to have been replaced, or at least a good chunk of it. I cleaned up the area around the leading, sanded the entire left half of this panel further to get more of the green primer cleared out, thoroughly cleaned it, and hit it with more rust inhibitor. I then hit the entire left half with a layer of filler, which should take care of the pitting (Photo 1). I'll do the same to the right side the next day I get, then I'll finish the rust-inhibited areas last, to give them plenty of extra time to dry out. Should sand down fairly easily since it's a flat panel.

For Sale- 1960-61 Chevrolet Corvair 13" accessory wheel trim ring. Will also fit 1962-69 Corvair, but not sure if it was an official option or not. Will also fit any other Chevy with a 13" wheel. Piece is in excellent condition. Paint on black bow ties is perfect. Good chance that this piece was never on a car. Sorry, I only have one of these available. $20 + shipping, Or Best Offer. Can bring to Hershey and may Carlisle to save on shipping. -Chris

Pressing ahead with my 1 hour a day during the week policy. Bought some new primer today. It's unbelievably expensive! Also went out to the garage and continued. This time, went to the front shelf in front of the firewall. This area was severely pitted, but still quite solid. I had to make about 3 medium-sized rust repairs a while ago, which I leaded, as the metal was so thin I could not get a very good repair without a lot of pinholes. Replacing this panel was a no-go for me. Turned out okay at the time. So now, I'm removing the green primer/sealer, as I learned that the body filler does not stick to this very well, so took most of it down to bare metal, although it still needs a little more grinding/sanding to clean it up a little more. About 80% of the panel will require filler to fill in the heavy pitting. I didn't make it that far, but got the two problem areas with the leading cleaned up pretty well, then I applied a heavy couple coats of rust inhibitor, as there was a little surface rust slowly developing because of the welding work (Photo 1). This should stabilize the area enough for me to continue working in this area and get it to a reasonable standard. The good thing is, most of this area, in black now, will will be hidden by the master cylinder and wiper motor, so that's to my advantage since this area will not end up being perfect. I'll continue working at the unfinished areas where I welded/leaded around the car, until I can get a good day to apply the primer to all the exterior panels. It's going to be in the mid-90's most of the week, so maybe this coming weekend, when it cools down a little. Really motivated to move this project along. Making progress, but still so much to do!

Pressing ahead today. Decided to take a break from the main body exterior and moved back into the trunk and spare tire aperture. There are still some areas in the trunk in the corners that were welded up, but were unfinished in terms of grinding and some very small pin holes. I continued to clear these areas up by doing some grinding, a little welding where needed, and applying some filler to smooth everything out. Didn't have too much in the trunk, so I switched to the inside of the spare tire aperture/battery access area and did the same thing; some grinding, some welding, and some filler. Here are the areas almost finished, just needs sanding (Photo 1). Las , I went back to the trunk and cleaned up the bottom of the aperture area. A lot of pinholes here, but welding is solid. I cleaned the bottom are up and applied seam sealer, as I believe the factory did here. Most, if not all the trunk pan has seam sealer, of which some still remains, but I've forgotten each and every area since I've done a lot of reconstruction in the upper area. It won't be seen because of the spare tire cover and I think it needs it (Photo 2). Photo is dark, because the repaired area has black rust inhibitor and black seam sealer.

I am using a Devilbiss kit with two spray guns that I bought from Eastwood.

Got the upper cowl area re-filled and sanded down today (Photo 1). Wasn't too much of a disaster. No problems with cracking or peeling of the filler at this point. The rear looks to be fine, so just a little more work on the very front of the body and I should be back up to where I was before. Going to buy new primer and filler Monday.

Continuing to get out to the garage after work for at least a little time, but had a setback today. I noticed that there was a small crack in the filler towards one of the edges. Upon further exploration, it appears that the filler is not sticking to the green primer I originally laid down, mainly in sections where the primer is still somewhat intact. I noticed this happening before, but I thought it was because I made a bad batch of filler, but it's primarily or completely caused by this incompatibility. That's what happens with an amateur like myself, I guess. The good news is that for the exterior body panels, I sprayed them with the gray primer over the green primer, which are made by the same company and seem very strongly bonded. Any filler was either placed on bare metal or on the gray primer, of which the filler seems to work with very well. So, I don't think I will have to redo any of the removable panels, but I am going to have to strip the filler off the main body in most of the sections. Not a huge deal, but a setback and waste of time and resources none the less. I stripped off most of the filler on the front of the body today and tomorrow I will sand off most of the green primer to get to bare metal so the filler will stick. IF I have time, I'll apply what's left of my filler (I'm almost out). I'll have to assess the rear area, where I took most of the green primer off already, so I may be okay there, but I'll have to inspect it. I guess some good news out of some bad news. I am going to quit my job for various reasons, and due to more various reasons, after I give my notice, I will have a "free" 6 weeks off, so I will be working on the MG almost full time for at least 3 of those weeks. We'll see what kind of progress I can make. Hopefully, I can at least finish the remaining external body work, get the panels back in more primer, have them sanded down, and have proper fitment on the body. I think I'd be happy with that. That would just leave taking the body off the chassis and completing the filler work on the welded and leaded areas, then it should be about ready for paint. No photos today, nothing new or good to see. -Chris

Thanks! Yes, I am aware of the compound curve. I'm using a moderately flexible long board for sanding in this area, I think 2 feet long, so the curvature should remain clean throughout. Had to factor this in for the thin areas next to the trunk as well, since it's not just a straight drop. Thanks for looking out for me! -Chris

Great weekend for me. First, I have never driven nor driven in an MG of any kind, just never happened, yet I've now owned one for 5 years and been in a the local MG club for 4 years. Saturday, I was finally able to be the passenger in a '58 MGA, driven by a woman from England, none the less. Fantastic experience, plus learned a lot of how things fit, where they go, etc. Between the rest of Sat and Sunday, was able to get a lot of work in. Spent many, many hours sanding, applying filler, sanding, more filler, more sanding, and some hammering for good measure. I am now generally finished with the external body work, at least in terms of it being ready for 4 good coats of high-build primer. The very front was pretty much finished already, so I worked on the front cowl area (Photo 1). This area was sunken in as well, but to be expected, as the windscreen goes across here, so that weight plus 55 years will probably make it sag a little. I did some light hammering with a rubber mallet in the places that didn't have bracketry underneath, and that helped a little, but there is not much I can do about it. Since there are so many pieces in this area (windscreen, defroster vents, wiper arms, etc., I decided to sand in more of a width manner, rather than a length manner. I found that when I sanded from front to back, I would get the high spots at the very front and rear of the panel, leaving a canyon in between where my block sanding would not reach about half of the filler. Since it doesn't matter if this dimension is perfect, I then starting sanding with emphasis across the panel, from driver's side to passenger side (sanding at 45 degree angles, alternating from time to time). This method worked well, but I had to make a few minor filler re-applications. So, the panel will still be a little low towards the middle, but it should appear nice and smooth, as the low areas will be covered by the windscreen and defroster vents, so I think I'm in good shape. The back header panel was finished last week, so just a quick photo (Photo 2). The tail panel area was a mess. It had numerous dents, dings, and had been lightly hit or just tweaked at the passenger side rear. I had to do some hammering where there is a large amount of filler to try to get the whole panel somewhat straight. I made a few new dents in doing so, but the overall shape ended up much better, so I had to fill in a few shallow dents that I made in hammering it back to shape at the very bottom. Worth it to get the overall contour better (Photo 3). I also ended up hammering lose one of the spot welds on the outside, right around the corner on the passenger side. Should be an easy fix wit ha quick spot weld on the same area, then some cleanup afterwards. From the looks of the whole mess, it looks like the license plate frame was pushed back into the body, hence the two dents that are now filled in in the center of the panel. It also looks like the bumper support bracket may have been pushed into the body, as there is a light crease to the driver's side, which really only cam out after I filled and sanded the area, so it's fairly shallow. Overall, I'm pleased with it, considering a tree branch landed on the upper part, and it's been hit in some fashion multiple times all over this panel. I guess, pretty big milestone, all the major body work is finished (I hope!). I think at this point the thing I look forward to the most is finishing the sanding, so I can thoroughly clean the garage and everything in it. It's now covered in sanding dust everywhere; very dirty and annoying. Next step will be to buy some more primer and filler this week so I can continue priming the other outside panels and hopefully, sand them down to 400 grit with minimal or no filler or re-priming (yeah, right). After that, I will attach all the panels again and do another round of fitting to see if the adjustments I made will allow everything to fit together correctly. Once that's done, I'll have my friends over and take the body off again, so I can access and finalize the remaining bodywork I have to do to the inside areas, mostly where I welded in patches and did the lead work. -Chris

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174483600615 If this is correct, it's part of an accessory ashtray package for a convertible. The ad is not sure of the year and neither am I.

What type of 1955 car; you don't mention that.

Do you still need these? I might have a source at a junkyard I'm visiting on Aug 23rd.

Been getting out to the garage most days this week, but can only get 30-40 minutes in before the 100 degree heat starts me sweating uncontrollably, then I start sweating on the car, no matter how hard I try to avoid it, then I have to stop as sweat and bodywork don't mix. Here's the further progress as of today. Added a lot more filler to the passenger side and am now sanding it down (Photo 1). This is about 80% finished, still more sanding to do to get the big blob of filler on the right where it should be. Having some trouble in the upper left portion, where a tree or something fell on it. Can't quite get this area smooth enough. I will probably sand this area out deeper, do some more hammering and try to make it more even, then re-apply (hopefully) lighter filler to get things a little more even. I also filled and sanded in the heavily pitted lower trunk lip, where water had collected. Luckily, no holes, just pits, but they were pretty easily filled in. Seems to be moving along. Good to be making this constant progress, but still so much more to do; also very tough to make good progress in this heat.