Fill Her Up

The weekend was back to normal and I left home with thunder, lightening and torrential rain to accompany me on the way down to Mustang Maniac. I was about three miles away when the clouds broke and the sun started to shine. As ever there was people in the office buying stuff and picking up some orders. I decided to leave Adam to it went to see my car again. There she was feeling neglected and that soon changed as I got my overalls on ready for some work. Al was on hand to give me some professional training on filler and how to apply it. The sills needed to be bare metalled as well. Al looked over the welds and mixed up a big wad of filler, he spread over the large area and it looked dead easy. I have applied filler in the past but not on such a large area, so I was going to give it a go. I mixed up a wad and applied it, it wasn’t as neat as Al’s effortless application, the more I tried to make it neat the worse it got. The secret is to apply it and leave it, “don’t be afraid to put some on”. In a way if it looks a little rough it’s not to bad but it just means it takes more rubbing down. As long as the filler is over the low spot then it should be OK. That’s the difference when somebody who is good at what they do let’s somebody else try it. It’s a skill that takes time to master but I will get there.

Al’s applications looked neat and applied in about one minute flat.

My attempts were there but not as smooth and took longer. When it starts to look messy and drag its the filler going off, so it’s best to leave it alone at that point, then apply some more fresh filler if you need to.

The sills had to be bare metalled as well to check for any damage due to the dreaded rust. As the sills were galvanised as standard when new they looked remarkably good. The sills only showed a couple of issues right at the ends of the rear wheel arch, and a small pin hole at the leading edge on one side. Usual story – stripper, rub down with some coarse wire wool and repeat as required which gave some good results. These pics of the sills are before I drilled off the sill clips which hold on the chrome sill covers. Once the heads were drilled off I then punched through the rivets in order to make the rubbing down easier.

before removing the sill clips

The pics here are during and after the paint was removed. Those who are eagle-eyed will spot a ring on the sills in black marker pen. This is to mark up areas that will need a little mig welding work to secure. I went round the car marking up any areas ready for the welding before I miss any bits, again.

first stripper

second stripper

leading edge needs a tiny mig weld.

One of the jobs in prep for the welding was the seat belt anchor points that had broken welds. I was unable to get the bolts undone from inside. When I checked the outside with Al he showed me an eye opener. The lunatic who done some work previously on the exhaust had welded some bolts to the end of the anchor bolts. Why? Simple to hang the exhaust from rather than make proper brackets. This seems to have been common bad practice, but not to the extent to weld another bolt on. Amateurs to put it politely. This meant that there was no way they were going to be undone. So it was down to the last resort angle grinder to cut the welded bolts off. Once they were cut, they undone from the inside no problem and the rotten old seat belts were finally removed.

bolts welded to the end of a thread

old seat belts

I was hoping to get the welding started but quite rightly so it was decided to fill the floor pans now while it was easier before the car was the right way up and have to apply filler upside down as it were. Maybe next week for the welding? It really is worth looking at the before and after pictures so far. I have put a quick link at the bottom for the full story or click here.

Sunday I have finished the chassis cross brace which was a little dented and rusty in a few places. The whole thing has come up very well. Last week I rubbed the old paint of, got rid of the small surface rust that looked worse than it actually was. I then applied the filler and this week I rubbed it down, red oxide primer, and mat black top coat. I may apply a coat of silver at the ends the bar for a little detail. But I will think about that, after all nobody will see it – except me!

dented chassis bar

bare metalled

filled

DA sanded

red oxide

satin black

second coat

Quick Links:

Under seal & floor Pans the story so far click here or go to Photo Menu – Under the Car and Chassis – Under seal & Floor Pans

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Grind Down

Weekend arrived and I eventually got down to Mustang Maniac mid morning. Logistical issues that are too boring to go into right now. But I got there that’s the main thing. I had a look at Adams new addition to the fleet a nice ’65 GT350 in white with blue stripes, he started it up and I now know what I want my car to sound like, loud and a deep rumble. I was standing there like a school kid when he opened the door and said get in. OMG, I was giggling like a school girl and I just wanted more. I do believe we lost a little traction in first and second gear going up the road, I suspect the roads were a little slippery that’s all. I have never been so excited in a car in all my life, the ride and noise was everything I hoped it would be and much, much more. What a car, what A car! After I had managed to wipe the silly grin of my face I got down to some work. The poor welding had to be ground down to as smooth finish as I could get it. I have now mastered the angle grinder technique and pleased with my days work. I have a few before and after pictures below. The smoothed out section may need a few more spot welds on it and ground again as a few sections were missed. I managed to forget to take my earplugs down to Mustang Maniac, so I had to improvise. I tore a couple of fingers of the latex gloves, put a small nut inside, wrapped it up so it was soft and stuffed it into my ears. It worked a treat, but I must say I looked a right pillock, or so I’m told 🙂

Sunday arrived and I finished of restoring the battery tray that looked pretty bad. Obviously trying to keep as much original as I can so I decided to strip it down and see what was there earlier in the week. I am pleased to say it was in good condition apart from a little rust that had pitted the very edges. So I rubbed it down, treated it, primed it and two coats of satin black. I think it came out well. There are a few dimples on the tray still, but I think it adds a little character. I also decided to catch the Spanish F1 Grand Prix, I promptly fell asleep it was that interesting! What has happened to Formula 1? So all in all a good Sunday was had by me.

I have been asked what I used to strip the paint and under seal off the car. It’s called Starchem Synstryp, I have done a review of it as well and it’s in the quick links below.

Quick Link:

I have added the full set of pictures for the battery tray here, or click on the Photos – Engine Bay – Battery Tray.

Paint stripper review click here or go to Consumable Menu – Starchem Synstryp Paint Stripper

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Sparks Will Fly

The weekend is here and I have an extra day to work on the car. I arrived at Mustang Maniac and found the guys preparing some cars for collection by their owners. I had a chat with Adam to see what needed to be done on my car first. The last bit of scraping then maybe a change if I managed to get it all done. I cleaned up the front engine bay panel and found some hidden numbers marked on it under the paint. I had a conversation with Adam about them and it turns out these are the original factory markings. This is good on two accounts; The first being that the front panel is original and has not been replaced due to an accident. The second is that the markings match up to the fender, secret numbers and the door plate. I have taken some pictures of the original markings during the cleaning and then I have gone over them in a colour to make them stand out a little better. The top set is actually 5A but it looks like the 6 prefix has rubbed off. These numbers which are the model type the other numbers are options for the car, interior colour – black etc. The third picture is after the clean up. I wasn’t sure if the numbers would still be there after the final cleaning up. No matter what I did to the marks they stayed there. Impressive stuff for forty eight year old grease proof marker.

original markings

marked up 5A 26 8

I cleaned up the rear chassis legs to the point where they will be replaced. Then it was the right side wheel Arch for a clean up. Same procedures again, stripper, scrub, scrape and repeat. What was left is a little surface rust but it’s basically solid. There is a whole that needs to be patched up though, in the chassis leg that has been uncovered as a result of the clean up.

After that it was time for a change, the poor welding on the floor plan is to be ground down to see if there are any holes that are in need of re-welding. Adam was on the case to start the process to see the quality of the welding. The set of pictures here show just how bad this batch of welding is.

The grinding wheel started and the slow process to gently grind down the high spots without damaging the panels. The sparks were flying alright. The initial quick test patch was completed to his satisfaction. I was shown the technique ready for me to take over after putting on my new welding gloves, ear plugs & safety specs. I will post the pictures once I have completed some of the work. It made for a nice change and things look like they are starting to step up a gear.

I can’t wait for more of the same, but when somebody does it so easily and makes it look simple, it’s difficult to follow in those footsteps. I am a fast learner and I will step up my game.

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Getting There!

A trip to see the guys at Mustang Maniac on Saturday was filled with a little bit of fear. I knew what was coming and last week I hurt when I got home. But, I felt pleased with the progress although it seems slow while you are doing it. This time there was much more of the area to clean and what was to come of was more of the tar, under seal, paint and what ever else they piled on it. The newer paint is a lot harder to strip back due to the advances in the process I guess. The work was hard and painfully slow all day or so it seemed, but when you pack up to go home, look back at the car there is lots that has actually been done. I even had Adam tell me that now I was a “volunteer apprentice” (I’m proud of that title), no using electrical tools as that was cheating! We did get to use them later on though for a few test areas after we saw bare metal. During the day, I had an interesting experience should we say. Although I am working in a very, very well ventilated area, in fact the wall is a massive full sized steel door, when opened the sun floods in and natural light helps with what you are doing, I even had a mask on too. I was using thinners earlier to clean up a section and decided to take a short break. The thinner fumes had obviously impregnated my clothes and the can of Red Bull that I decided to drink, certainly gave me wings should I say. Now I know how Pink Floyd came up with those songs they did should we say. A quick wander around to the other work shops to see what the dogs were up too and take in some fresh air soon brought me down again, I seriously don’t recommend that one! Next time I think it will be just water to drink. Anyway, I came home in the evening and I was hurting again, poor ol’ me, but with a massive smile. The results are amazing I must say on the car and I’m pleased again with the amount of work that got done when I look back at the pictures. Adam joined me later in the day and he did get some tools out to see what was under the rust. We found a couple of issues but nothing to horrendous, some good old filler had been used on a chassis rail so a section of that rear rail will need a new section welded in. The previous welding has a lot to be desired and we will take some of it off and put back in some proper welding. Tip, never give your classic car to a bloke who can’t weld!

top part where the panel was loose

bottom section holes

Adam doing a test patch

old floor supports and pan

Once we had bare metal we needed to protect the metal so a spray of Gibbs Brand was used and she will not rust up again now. In fact she looks almost new underneath now. Apart for the suspect welding that can be seen on the top chassis rail, and the bottom floor pan section. Next week I hope to move to the engine bay and fire wall for a strip down. I am developing a better technique each time I start using the stuff I am pleased to say.

I woke up today with arms that felt like they belonged to an orang-utan. As I was allowed to go and “play cars” all day yesterday I did promise that I would help the wife in the garden today. I had to put up a trellis, but the trellis was on its own to create a patrician. So I had to dig three deep holes for the posts to hold them up. So here I am having trouble holding the mouse let alone typing. The aches will pass for sure and I will be ready to go again next weekend. I even tried the sympathy vote on wife, I got “the look” and carried on digging. The trellis does look good, but right now – I hate it!

Quick Links:

Under seal Removal – Photo Menu – Under The Car & Chassis – Under seal Removal or click here for the hyper link.

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Stripper For A Day

The stripper was of course the chemical sort to get me down to bare metal on the underside of my car. There are so many innuendos I could use for this post, but I wont go down that route. The day was of course at Mustang Maniac where my day of hard work was to begin. The car looks quite menacing when you stand there with just a three-inch scraping knife. I used some stuff called Starchem – Synstrip. This has been given quite a few reviews on how good it is. The old school strippers like Nitromors has had an ingredient change due to new laws or health and safety for what ever reason. The results speak for themselves, they don’t work like they used to. So this stuff is one of the few old school strippers left out there that you can get your hands on. Professional use only with disclaimers all over it on the label. It took notice and used goggles, face mask and gloves. Is the stripper any good? I shall review it fully soon, but it does burn like hell on your hands, that should give you an idea.

Anyway the car was given a good slap of the mixture on the under seal and it was obvious it was attacking not just paint but under seal, tar and any other stuff sprayed on it. It was going to be a long day, the first attempt removed a lot, the second exposed the base paints and we were almost there with the third. Why take it all off? Well, we wanted to see what was under the sealers to see what work need to be done or what filler needed to be removed. So a tip is – don’t buy a car that looks great as it could be covering a multitude of sins. It’s better to see bare metal and you know exactly where you are. I exposed a bit of filler around the welds, nothing to bad as it was just to smooth it all out. There was some real good clean metal by the tunnel gearbox area and a little surface rust on the rear panels by the fuel tank partition. The work was slow, made my arms ache and Adam gave me hand towards the end of the day too. What a difference it has made already. I will start on the other areas next week if I have recovered enough by then. Hopefully there will be a lot more bare metal all round next time. The process is apply the liquid, let it bubble up, scrap it off, add more, rub it in with wire wool, scrap it all off and repeat. The pictures I took after each treatment, you can’t really see a huge difference between the sessions, start and finish there is a difference.

What it looked like:

After the first session:

After the second session:

After the third session and the end of the day, we rubbed the chemicals down with thinners to see the bare metals. The surface rust will be attacked again with a little aggression where I can. Anything that looks bad – we will replace and patch properly.

Well that was all day Saturday taken care off, Sunday I was rubbing down my driver’s side fresh air vent. It was a real mess and needed rubbing down, primer, and a couple of top coats. I have added the full process under my Photo Menu – Inside The Car – Drivers Air Vent Refurbishment, or click here for the quick link. Here are a few pictures of the before, during and after. My arms are killing me and I am pleased with the results. for both days. On the assembled pictures for the air vent the finger prints were my oily fingers, it wiped of clean. Unfortunately there is too much exciting stuff to look at here apart from different angles of course. I was well chuffed with the results, even if I do say so myself.

original state

stripped down

rust treated

self etc primer

first coat of under hood satin

the end results assembled

assembled

cable attached

Quick Links:

Photo Menu – Inside The Car – Drivers Side Air Vent or click here

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Roll Over Mustang

The weekend was exciting and an eye opener at the same time. The normal weekend now I visit Adam and the guys at Mustang Maniac to work on my car. The week was filled with long days and long nights until Saturday Morning. I was up with the sun and spring in the step itching to get on my way. I even packed my tools the night before to save time for the morning. After what seemed like a long journey I arrived at the office and found Adam on the phone who was making arrangements to pick up the rotisserie from the other yard. All was agreed I hoped in the big F350 truck and of we went to get it. Mandatory tea breaks over we arrived back in good time, the sections were taken off the back of the truck and taken to the panel shop where my car is. The rotisserie is in three sections, the two ends and a large centre bar to keep the ends from moving apart.

We started at the back and checked the brackets lined up with the rear bumper holes, the bolts were passed through the holes and tightened up hard to the frame.

initial line up

bolted in place

We then moved to the front and lined up again where the bumper irons are attached. Here we had a problem. One of the bolts was sheered into the nut on the chassis rail so it couldn’t be bolted in correctly. I looks like that there were previous attempts to remove it as well which didn’t go well should we say! Eventually the guys managed to get the bracket in place and found that there needed to be a longer steel bar made as the bracket was catching the front rail. A thick piece of steel was cut into lengths and drilled out to match the holes and was welded to the brackets on the front of the unit.

new plate

bracket on the unit.

plate bolted to the frame

With the car still on axle stands the hard work was then to line up the car and balance it close to the centre point in order to make it easier to roll. With so many adjustments on the rotisserie it takes some serious working out. You have to make sure it’s high enough that when it rolls over the chassis does not hit the rails and the roof is also clear. Once the adjustments were close enough the whole thing was bolted up tight and the centre rail double checked. The pneumatic pumps at the end of the units lifted the car into the air and off the axle stands. Slowly she was turned over and the underside was exposed for the world to see. It’s one thing to look underneath on a ramp, but on its side it reveals a whole lot more, the parts I thought would be OK need looking at again now they are in the broad light of day, well under heavy strip lights anyway.

front

back

With the car rotated and exposed, every little hole or rust spot was picked up. Discussions were made about what will be replaced in what order once all the bare metal was exposed.

What was Adam’s parting shot to me before I left on Saturday evening? “Now the hard work begins.” I honestly thought it already had.

Sunday.

Today is Mothers Day in the UK so it was pretty much a right off as far as getting to grips with some dirty cleaning and polishing in the man cave. But hey, I was treated out for a nice meal so I shouldn’t complain. I will just have to make up for lost time over the Easter weekend now, that’s all there is to it.