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So two years ago What started innocently enough as going back to steel fenders and hood turned into a huge 6 month thrash session. I had to replace the body mounts on the fire wall , did frame repairs , new bushings , Did a little engine work , and many many upgrades. Its been 2 years and the car has been performing flawlessly running mid 12's driven to the track and back (120 mile rounds trip) and not missing a beat. I think its now time to re do the body work and finally get the car re painted. I cant really explain with out getting into the history of the car for a bit. I got this car back in the summer 2007 as a graduation gift and as a way for me to expand my skills as i went into the collision repair field straight out of high school. I hung new quarters , fixed the fenders , doors did floor pans and a slew of other cosmetic repairs. Got the car out on the road spring of 2009. I crashed it in 2010 ., did fiberglass fenders and hood since i like going fast lol. Which brings me to where im at. The car bidy wise is beat. My repairs have held up but its got dents , dings , scratches , and its time to finally make it nice again to repeat the cycle lol. My plans are not only cosmetic but mechanical. On the body side. i will be doing a bolt on fiberglass cowl hood , fiberglass deck lid., I will be re skinning a set of donor doors and taking out the heavy impact beams once thats all done it will get painted the same color again. On the mechanical end. I have a fresh 355 i built ready to go along with a built th350 i built . it will get tubular control arms in the front along with new springs. The work will start very soon here.
here a re a few pictures of it over the years. so enjoy the condensed saga. there are many engines and so much more work and stories i could write a book about this car.
2007 before any work.
spring of 2009 before its maiden voyage.
june 2010 rain vs drag radials the rain won
july 2010 one month after the wreck.
spring of 2011 finally painted it. It was enjoyed as it was until spring of 2014
spring of 2014
fall of 2014
and currently
Last edited by coppercutlass; October 3rd, 2016 at 08:42 PM.
It will be copper again. No stripes .maybe on the hood. The original ghost flames where done because i could not get the exact formula i originally used. The black flames where done so that the primered front end would not look so hillbilly . Ironically I did it as a it as means to an end but many people like it. I guess its suits the cars attitude.
Last edited by coppercutlass; October 4th, 2016 at 01:21 PM.
Work will start soon. I have a transmission to put in and try out once i get the deep pan pick up going with a 3400 stall., Then the engine will go in once I fire it up on the stand . Once that's all done. The suspension work will be done. Then on to the bodywork. At least that's my game plan.
Ok so My transmission is now actually done. LOL. Had to take it back apart as i did not like the end play. Disregard the upside down tail housing its just on there to keep dust out.
A few things have happened that need to come into play. Like my garage getting drywalled up. I will need a heater before i start doing anything. The set up i want will run me 400 bucks.
I started to price out my materials and body supplies. For filler , sand paper , primer and reducer will be 358 , The paint its self will be 380 with reducer. The door skins will be 500 and core doors 50 each. I got a fiber glass hood used for 100 and the new deck lid which will be fiberglass will be 375. Thats gonna come in about 1750 but i will call it an even 2k. Im a body man so the work is free.
Obviously this will all be trickled out throught the winter .
The front suspension work will be about 750 with the tubular control arms new springs and shocks.
I go on vacation in less then one week and as soon as i get back its getting torn down.
Your threads are always informative and sometimes exciting Copper. I will be tuning in to this one to see if anything crosses over to my '67. Even if everything you will do has been done before, everyone does things differently and that is the interesting part.
If there is an interest i could do a few videos now that i have the go pro. There will be a little of everything on this car even though the major work has been done. There is some patch work , and the door skins will also be one of those things worth recording. Just to share as useful info.
If there is an interest i could do a few videos now that i have the go pro. There will be a little of everything on this car even though the major work has been done. There is some patch work , and the door skins will also be one of those things worth recording. Just to share as useful info.
AND !!!!! Where offf lol. lasr sunday I took the car out for a test n tune and ran the fastest run to date yet. 12.45 @ 106 mph and today it took it apart. I took all the small stuff apart. Thu all the big panels come off and then the work begins. After finding out my car only weighs 3400 lbs with me in it im not going to re skin the doors to gut the beams out. Im still doing a glass hood and deck lid.
Guys we made some progress today. Went to the Eastwood store in Alsip il and picked up my materials. Spent about 425 on primer filler, polyester primer , putty , cups and many odds and ends sand paper etc. Got home and kicked some @$$ for about 5 hrs. Both quarters are ready for primer , I fixed the dr. side rocker and made the body lines crisp and i patched up the pass side rocker and fixed a few dings an dents and block a few wavy spots on the quarters. Tommorow i move on to the sail panels and roof.
My old patch finally failed this fall. I was broke and use liquid nails. It worked suprisingly well as it held up for 8 years
Put a little work in tonight. Got the quarters blocked and the sail panels blocked. Its on to the roof and then A pillars and its ready for primer. After that its on to the doors which i think im going to re skin because i dont feel like stripping mine down lol. Moving along pretty good here much faster than i thought or intened to.
Well got about 2 hrs of work in today. i had two spots on the sail panels that needed a little bit of glazing putty as i blocked it just a little bit too much and i dont like to feel paint rings before primer. ( less work in the long run ) . I blocked the drivers side fender which i had done about 2 years ago and found it acquired no damage in the last 2 years. The two dings i had to fill where missed the first time i did them and they where visible in the primer when it was sprayed . But besides those two little dings the fender is good to go and will get it's last coats of primer . The pass side should be the same. Progress is a bit slow moving but i like to work in short spurts and get alot done. Atleast i think i do lol. I swear the fun stuff is yet to come.
Busy week / and weekend. I put in a little time in on friday and sunday. I blocked the roof that got 2 little dings which blocked out with the paint and primer that was already on there ., I also blocked the pass side fender which needed a little more attention than the dr. side. . I got them both in primer ready for their last block and wet sanding. The next step is to sand and straighten the rockers and get the quarters and roof along with the rockers and door jambs in primer. The window pillars will have to wait . They need attention but im trying to take full advantage of the nice weather and would really like all the big panels to sit in primer for atleast 3 to 4 months to let it all shrink. The pillars are small enough to the point where im not overly worried about it. I still dont know what im gonna do about the doors But when that time comes it will come Im not overly worried.
Sorry if the pictures seem repetitive. Doors are off .,The shell is ready for primer with the exception of the A pillars which will be done at a later time. I skimmed and blocked the rocker panels nice and straight now .Once the shell is in primer all that is left is re skinning the doors and the A pillars. Its getting a fiberglass hood and decklid.
In the one picture of the A pillar it shows i guess my lack of funds when i first fixed the body up. I used duct sheet metal with panel bond and it held great even after a front end collision that pushed the firewall back 3 to 4 inches. I recently poked the huge hole in it. I also plan on smoothing up the area i pulled out on the firewall.
The A pillars will get hand made patches as my metal forming skills have gone leaps and bounds and i can shape stuff pretty good with just my body hammers and anvils.
Here is a wheel opening patch i made for my dodge durango.
I dont flange anything anymore this was 2 years ago. I strictly butt weld everything now.
Now back to olds
Last edited by coppercutlass; December 4th, 2016 at 12:57 PM.
Thanks for the compliments guys. Its motivating to get some feedback . Between working 10 - 12 hr days and saturdays its hard to get some work in but its getting there. Im excited to have to car looking nice again. Its also nice to step away from the performance aspect of it from time to time . I am going to be on the hunt for front and rear window trim and other odds and ends that are stacking up on the list of things i need to get.
Cool build Copper! Can you explain a thing or two to me please, as a body man? There are several types of body fillers out there, some with fiberglass reinforcing, some with metal reinforcing, some without, putty, etc. I understand that each product has its place but I'm afraid that on my project I'll just go buy a big bucket of bondo from Autozone because I don't know any better and it won't look very good at the endstate. Would you mind elaborating on your procedure and what you use for different circumstances?
Regular filler ( bondo ) will fill typical dents and should not be used over 1/8th thick.
Within filler there is grades. Gray or pink is usually typical cheap filler which sucks to sand
(gold) fillers are the way to go The will fill great are light weight and will sand and feather much better and will need little to no putty at all.
Putty or ( glaze ) is mainly used as a fine top coat to hide sand scratches and minot dings , dents or low spots in filler. This will stick to paint on newer finishes.
All metal ( metal reinforced filler ) I really do not like at all but its used for areas where shrinkage can be prone like seams and areas that have had panels spliced in. This filler should not be used for filling holes no filler should ever be used that way. I will touch on shrinkage later.
The fiberglass reinforced filler has the same purpose as the all metal but its water proof . Can be used for heavy fills where its needed. there is long strand which can be used to patch holes in boats and short strand which is what is mainly used on cars. Now there is also a euro version i really like its super sort strand almost like a fiberglass paste filler. Its expensive but is well worth the money. UPOL makes it.
Now to touch on shrinkage you are putting fillers over metal. You have 2 diffrent materials. Metal and filler. The metal and what evr filler you use will expand and contract at a diffrent rate. Add a weld to the mix and you now have 3 diffrent rates. So picking the correct filler is crucial.
At work when i butt weld in quarter panels. I grind the weld down then run a little groove into it. Then i fill with fiberglass sand then top coat with a light weight ( gold ) filler. I have found this hold up and not shrink over time.
It can be confusing but i hope what i said helps.
Last edited by coppercutlass; December 8th, 2016 at 12:14 PM.
Do you plan to separate the body from the frame? Reason I ask is many people do this but they neglect to send the frame out to be straightened prior to rebuilding it. Critical IMO. Can be done with the body on.
Frame has been off already once 2 years ago when that work was done . I checked it with the tram gauges when we did all the work. No issues. IF the frame was tweaked it would have shown up in the 4 wheel alignment i did after i wrecked it. I also recently had it aligned back in june and all is good. I just checked the frame for good measure after we welded it.
Last edited by coppercutlass; December 8th, 2016 at 05:25 PM.
Just an update. I picked up a passenger side door as mine was a bit too patched up from my prior work to re skin. Im also picking up another core support so i can lighten it up. the goal is to shave 200 + lbs from the car as it sits its 3200 lbs 3400 with me in it.
Its been hard to get out in the garage as we had a cold spell and i really dont get motivated in any weather below 32 degrees lol . I guess i freeze up., But the body shop i work for has been swamped to the point we are putting in 10- 12 hr days on a regular basis but im not complaining. winter is still young and we dont get decent driving weather until may so i got time. So who ever is following hang in there there is lots of work yet to be done.
Merry Christmas guys and gals. I had all day to work on the olds as my family celebrates eve into day. Got the body in primer. I still have to patch the pillars in but i had to get the big panels in primer so they can sit and i can let the primer shrink and sit for a few months before i block it. The pillars are but a small task and small area to where that particular procedure would not be as critical as on the big panels.
I coated the inside of the doors today. My girlfriend is picking up my door skins from the parts place tommorow. I plan on doing them at the shop i work at this weekend. Once i get the skins on im going trimming more off of the doors with the plasma cutter. I didnt want to doors too flimsy as i need some sturdyness to fold the edges on the skins.
FWIW i Used agricultural equipment paint brushed on. For prep i just knocked the scale off which was little to none and i wire wheeled the surface rust.
Great work Copper, I was just courious when you say let the primer shrink/ dry a couple of months; is there a rule of thumb for how long to let primer set, based on coats you apply?
Last edited by Troys Toy 70; January 4th, 2017 at 06:10 PM.
The longer the better. You got 2 diffrent surfaces metal and the urethane primer ., 3 if you include filler Those 3 things will expand and contract at different rates. Its best to let it sit and let it go through a few of those cycles so when you block it its all settled in.
Well I got the best girlfriend in the world . She picked up the door skins from the parts place and I did a quick dry fit. The fit pretty good and the quality seems pretty nice. They are bare metal so im going to have to clean and coat the inside. I will post more indept pictures on how im doing the skins once i get to it . I do have a little bit more detail work on the door shells but not much.
One thing i did notice is i am going to have to clamp the skin to the frame as the vertical contour is a bit off but im going to guess shipping flattened them out a bit but thats no big deal.
October 3rd, 2016, 08:33 PM
