British (rusty) Steel!



Point of no return:  muratic acid- meet rusty hood.

I had tried evaporust, but it was at or below the 65*F they recommended and didn't work too well
  I will try it on other things when it gets warmer
The yellow streaks are rust being eaten by the acid.  Boy does it smoke.  The fumes will
knock you the __ out, so wear a respirator , goggles, and gloves.
This took several wipes of acid to totally clean it.

Heres the hood sans rust.  If you don't dry off the hood immediately after
rinsing the acid, it will flash rust as you watch.
 

self etching primer thrown on.  Also used as a wet sanding guide coat to find imperfections. 
 

Heres some imperfections.  Where the tarp laid on the hood, pitting.

After the wet sanding with a foam board and hammer and dolly.
A lot of places could be flattened, but these areas needed a skim
of the old pinkish filler material.

the final panels....

Its not like they're completed, its just the last 2 to strip before sanding filling, priming etc...

Heres the "bonnet" in all its beauty.  Dents , dings, and waves galore.

The 3m stripping wheel is getting a workout.  I'm gong to pick up some rust converter for A LOT of pits in the metal. Every dent and part of the newer paint job that dissipated has pits under them.
The hood will get some body hammer work... Note the crater in the center of the hood.  Right under the support.

Here is the trunk lid.  It came out super shiny with nary a dent.  The only surface rust was at the inner bottom under the trunk lock- showing it was leaking.  Again- rust converter to the rescue.
  All of these will get self etching primer,  then after a day or so of drying, guide coat wet sanding, and red scotch brite before shooting high build primer.  

Did I mention I already got a gallon of paint for it?

 



Guess which one

1800cc of envy

So while doing bodywork, I started to realize how "bad" the lump was looking.  I never got into the chromed out engine compartments, I'd rather spend money on things that make a vehicle more reliable.  Chrome don't get you home after all...

The nylon wheel on the drill revealed the rest of the mystery sticker on the valve cover.  Presently the only kenspeed found was Tampa and LA.

Here is the beautiful and meticulously clean valve train. 

After an hour of brushes, screwdrivers, brake cleaner, engine degreaser, and simple green, here's the naked lump. Original markings??

The paint came off way too easily on the valve cover.  I just kept going with a nylon brush and it shined up nice. Then I put a coat of clear sealer over it.

Here's the lump after paint. I also clear coated the block side covers.  Now to get new gaskets for everything removed.

CrAcK oF dOoM fixed!

 So while finishing up the LAST BODY PANEL, yay,  I discovered the  CrAcK oF dOoM on the passenger door. Sure it's small now, but it just gets bigger. Why on the passenger side and not the drivers, I dunno.
So I got a piece of 20ga sheet steel and cut a chunk out.

 I missed the picture of the holes, but I drilled the end of the crack to stop its progress.  Then I went nuts and drilled 7 other holes .
 The patch piece went under this, held by a magnet until the first weld went on.  I pressed the patch to the backside with a screwdriver then welded away.
The bodywork, even on a low welder setting , welded odd by melting unless I let the tacks cool before filling in the plug welds.

Here's what all of this is leading up to... The front "wings" are back on and the seams are straight.

Progress as promised, More bodywork

I finally got some time (about 7 hours over 2 days) to get on with the bodywork.  Even with my humble settings and hand tools, I feel like the B is getting much closer.

I got jiggy with the palm sander and wire wheel on the drill.  Here's the drivers side sanded down. (far side for you RHD purists)
The acrylic repaint was completely gone on spots down to original primer, but the bottom of the door and fender wouldn't sand off!

Guess this car part.....
It's a view from above the rear fender at the taillights.  You can see how the respray cracked and flaked then got chalky .

This is the cowling between the trunk boot and the cab.  When purchased it still had what was left of the top in the upright position with a tarp over the whole thing. It also had a blue cover on it that helped hold in rainwater. Thus- pitting.  Sanded it down and hit it with rust converter.



I have to give credit to my helpers..a rigid hammer drill with a 3M grinder that powers through paint and bondo, a Hitachi drill with a wire wheel for corners, and what's left of a black and Decker 1/4 sheet palm sander.

This is the rear trunk boot valace.  it was muy dented, warped, and wrinkled- but with a hammer and dollie set it's pretty flat now.  The bondo on the lower right is part of a boo boo to the right taillight area.  Minor bondo needed after hammering.

And the worst panel on the car. It seems that somebody backed into the tail light area a little.
It was under the side marker light And towards the taillight about a 1/4" 6mm deep. And whoever knocked out the bodywork use a framing hammer and about 5 pounds of bondo.
Again after hours of grinding off the bondo , hammering and guide coating and more hammering, and more guide coating, and hammering, and ... it's acceptable looking and even looks good at 10 feet.  It will just need a skim coat of filler to make it flat vs 1/4" of bondo.

Getting closer to full primer...