I am an amateur but I say your methodology is bordering on excellent. And yeh patience is the most rewarding asset. Just got to keep breathing long enough to get the good shit done. Pardon me waxing poetic but two coopers vintage has that effect on me.
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getting my FB ute on the road
EK van on rotisserie
Thanks everyone.! Got some gas and a few hours so finished the rubber channel, tacked piece 2 and 3 together to test fit. Bit more bending to try an get it all fitted with the window lip. Starting to get a bit more difficult to bend as the sections are welded in as you would expect.
Ground the tack welds off so I could spray some copper weld through primer on. (Forgot to do that on the channel). Welded, ground, welded again where the stitch welding left some holes. Ground. Bit more grinding with the dremel in that curved bit and end up with this
Last test fit. Currently hanging up in copper primer waiting for tomorrow.
Do you think you may have worked for GMH in your past life just checking
BILLY BLACKARROW
MY Father always said do the hard part first --because when you are OVER IT you only have the easy part left to do THINGS I HAVE TRIED TO LIVE BY
And done ...... for now.
The bottom lip will be welded up on the car after final plug welding. But before that, need to tackle the patch of rust in front of this.
Not that you haven’t seen it enough times already, but here’s the original (152 grams) and the replacement (275 grams).
Happy with the result. The driver side sill and A-Pillar seem a little less daunting after doing this. And I don’t have to fabricate anything for that.
Getting back into it after a break. Used a power file and carbide burr in a dremel to get most of the rust out of the inner window dogleg.
Only a couple of holes. I’ll fill the bigger divots with weld. Suggestions for a rust prevention paint treatment?
Areas like that you can access and get clean you just need a decent paint system of your choice. Metal prep deoxedine whatever banishes any trace of oxidation. Follow with paint. If you start with Epotec 408 2k epoxy you will seal it up in one go. Then you can decide on 2k urethane or acrylic, so leaves your choices open and no hurry to top coat.
Then if it’s in a cavity or underbody, guards etc you can add further protection with wax. Any box sections you can’t get in and clean, then fish oil or synthetic alternative.
Getting things clean and dry and keeping them that way is the most deciding factor in eliminating future rust. The car will hopefully be shedded and possibly even pampered anyway.
FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie
getting my FB ute on the road
EK van on rotisserie
Hey Clay,
Thanks for the detailed response - your build has been a great source of info. Would love to go down the 2k path but I really don't think its possible where I am, and where the car is (back of a poorly ventilated garage). Pretty much 1.5 meters from the neighbour's windows too. Sucked in to them for building a McMansion you could argue, but I'd like to keep the peace! Should have been clearer in my post about what I can and can't do.
I have deoxidine, but was under the impression that that was more for well prepped bare metal that was mechanically smooth, not the pitted horror show I have. I have done my best to clean it up, but its not perfect, and as it will be hidden anyway, I was thinking what ever I do can be brushed on, rather than getting out the spray gun. Killrust?
Side note, at the moment, until I have that light bulb moment and work out just what I am going to do paint wise, I have started spraying Easyphos on the clean bare metal as I go. It is claimed to prevent rust for up to 6 months, can be sprayed or painted on, and more importantly, painted over. Anyone else tried this?
Really am torn with the whole painting thing - would love to do it myself, or at least as much as I can.
You can mix and brush on 2 part epoxy whilst you do the rest of the car, the unfortunate part about doing a car slowly is it will have surface rust again by the time you get back to painting process, even with primer. Epoxy will seal the metal for at least 12 months.
I used disposable rollers if I knew the panels were going to sit for a while and the epoxy flattened out when drying. Its easy stuff to sand as well for the prep before paint.
Finally finished fabricating that small rust repair.
First couple of folds and test fit.
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Started adding the bend to match the curve at the top of the A-Pillar.
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Bit more hammering to complete the curves and add a lip at the bottom.
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Rebuild the end of the seam folding over a bit of scrap I had lying around. Should have spent more time finding a bigger bit and I could have made this in two pieces
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All 3 pieces welded up.
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Welded in. Still getting rid of a couple pin holes. Drilled a couple 7mm holes in the RHS to plug weld to the A-Pillar too.