Mount to dolly for completion of body work and painting
Getting Ready
With the engine rebuilt and the gearbox sent off to the shop for rebuilding, it's time to
start looking at the body work. I spent the first three months of 2007 learning what body
work was all about. I had a rough idea, but I needed to "do the math" for myself to get
comfortable with what I was taking on.
The first thing I needed to do was to understand the scale and scope of the project.
To this end I took an inventory of all the body components which included photographing
each part. Once this inventory was completed, I put together a rough plan of how I would
proceed with the body work, allowing an option for either myself, or a professional, to do
the actual painting.
As I was putting together the plan, I designed and constructed a dolly for the body tub.
At the time, the body tub was still suspended from the rafters of my father in-law's shop.
In order to do any work, I needed to bring it within reach, but in a way where it could
easily be moved around the shop to get it out of the way. What I ended up designing was
a heavy-duty box made from 2x12's, bolted to four corner posts made of 4x4s. The four bottom
corners mated to 10" pneumatic swivel-casters for easy handling over rough surfaces (like
rolling it onto trailers for eventual transport). The four top corners accept the body tub,
mimicking the chassis mounting points themselves.
On March 18th I lowered the body tub onto the dolly and it was a perfect fit, and balanced nicely
to boot. It's not perfect in that it's a little rear-heavy (that trunk bottom adds a lot of weight)
but it doesn't tip or anything. With the body tub secured to the dolly, I am able to roll it
all over the shop and get to every surface, including the bottom.
Preparing
This was, by far, an easy step in the project. Metal Rehab's process harms anything that is not a ferrous metal.
That means aluminum, bronze, etc. is not welcome. So, I set about removing anything from the body components that
was not sheet metal. This included:
All buttons, snaps and assundry fasteners. These were all drilled out.
The five riv-nuts used to secure the hood's back plate to the body tub
All clips used to secure the quarter panels to the body tub
All clips used to secure the rubber and felt seals to the tops of the doors
In addition to removing all things from the sheet metal, I also drilled new holes just behind the seats for the future
installation of shoulder-belt mountings.
The last step was to build the body using a brand-new body mounting kit so I could get a feel for how it would go together.
I was rewarded for this effort because it showed that I had a non-flush weld of the front valance to the left edge of the tub.
I never would have discovered this if I had not test mounted the left-front
quarter panel! So, it pays to do this step.
Planning
Armed with the experience of tearing the body down, removing all things from the sheet metal and test fitting all the
components, I set about finalizing the overall body plan. (To download a copy of the plan, click here).
One of the first things I did was to get a complete list of problems I wanted cured by
a body professional.
This was important to do because as I visit with potential professionals to get estimates and advice, I want them to know exactly what
I've identified so far. This will help them give me a better estimate.
Cleaning & Priming
On January 20th, 2010, I took all the body components to Metal Rehab to have them cleaned and primed. (Metal Rehab uses a PPG epoxy primer. I selected black because black really shows the imperfections to the painter, and is the ideal color to match the BRG I plan on having the car painted.)
On the way I stopped at a body shop candidate to get an estimate for curing all the issues I have identified to that point,
as well as getting everything painted.
Metal Rehab has an optional package where they will photo-document the process at their shop, which I decided to purchase for an
additional $50. I've been very diligent about documenting this restoration, and having those photos will ensure I do not have a
giant gap in the record.
Inspecting the Damage
Once the sheet metal was cleaned at Metal Rehab, they called for me to come pick
everything up. As expected, the cleaning process revealed every little
imperfection there was. Turns out there was a lot of body filler around,
because when it was eaten away, it left a lot of dents & bruises.
Cutting & Welding
After picking up the body from Metal Rehab, I mounted the body tub to the
weighted chassis and mounted the front quarter panels to the body. I
ordered replacement panels for the front lower valance and the battery box.
I took all of this to the body shop, Texas Auto Painting in Arlington, for them
to work on. There, they cut off the old panels and welded the new ones
into place. While they had it, they also did the body work they deemed
safe to do, considering they had a half-built car.
The Final Push
After the body shop completed the cutting & welding phase, I picked the car up
and liberated the body from the chassis, moving it back onto the dolly. I
then proceeded to built out the entire body on the dolly, including doors, rear
quarter panels, bonnet and boot. I then gathered up all the smaller body
parts and took them to the body shop so that the remaining body work could be
undertaken, then everything prepped and painted.
The content of this page in intended only to communicate my own thoughts, actions and opinions while restoring my own automobile.
It is not meant to serve as instruction for others to do maintenance on their vehicles.
