Progress Thread The "grátis" 1966 Coupe - final sheet metal repairs

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Key switch is still in place on my junker 64 1/2 so the opening must still be good if you need it
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Key switch is still in place on my junker 64 1/2 so the opening must still be good if you need it
20190218_105419.jpg
Awesome. I think I probably will. It will save me the cost of buying a dash. How about the HVAC controls opening?

Being a body guy, do you think someone with some skill might be able to fix the opening on my car's dash?
 
I'm thinking that a good way to deal with the trunk floor damage would just be to purchase a new driver's trunk floor and use it to patch the damaged area. Even the Dynacorn panels aren't that expensive.

Made a couple of purchases yesterday. I'm trying to get a quote to media blast the car. It'll be a dustless process that will be easy on the metal and will be fine to strip the body panels.
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One cant help but to look at that mangled key switch hole and wonder what in the world someone was thinking. It might be possible to straighten the area around the heater controls. Or you could slice it at the area between the steering column and dash on one end, between the cluster hole and the radio hole, and across the ash tray and graft that whole section in with minimal welding and bodywork.
 
So the local company that did dustless blasting doesn't appear to be in business anymore. Their website is still up, but their facebook page is not and no one is answering their phone or returning my calls. There is a place in Dallas that does it that is mobile, but it would add $1500 to the normal cost for them to drive up here and blast it for me.

I think I'll just get that DA sander I have on my Amazon wish list and get a small sand blaster to go along with it. I'll blast the nooks and crannys myself and use the DA on the body panels.

What a disappointment.
 
@Davedacarpainter @horse sence What grit do you typically use when you strip a panel to bare metal with a DA? Is there any other prep you do before primer?
With a da? I’ll start with 80 grit. Don’t remove all of the paint with that, get to where the e-coat is mostly visible, then finish stripping with 180.

Don’t put your hands on the bare metal, it’s even best to use clean gloves on your hands when you start hitting the metal.

Then epoxy primer or etch primer. Don’t etch then epoxy primer, they don’t work well together. Don’t delay long on coating it with one of those. Bare metal should be treated like a baby.
 
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With a da? I’ll start with 80 grit. Don’t remove all of the paint with that, get to where the e-coat is mostly visible, then finish stripping with 180.

Don’t put your hands on the bare metal, it’s even best to use clean gloves on your hands when you start hitting the metal.

Then epoxy primer or etch primer. Don’t etch then epoxy primer, they don’t work well together. Don’t delay long on coating it with one of those. Bare metal should be treated like a baby.
Thanks. So sand it and primer straight away? Do you wipe it down with anything like mineral spirits or a tack cloth beforehand?
 
Even a DA will cause heat and warp metal if you dig in to hard ,like Dave said ,dont try to remove everything at once . The biggest problem i see with a DA is when these guys sand a car with a lot of paint and they cup the paint by trying to just remove scratches ,it actually creats dug out spots in the paint and looks like dents ,or creates waves in the old paint and when they paint over it looks terriable . Remove all the paint but take your time doing it
 
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It will take me about 1.5 hours to properly strip a hood with a da.

Like horsence mentioned, don't spend a lot of time in one area, you could warp the metal. Take about a 1.5 to two foot square section at a time. Sand the whole area down evenly, don't just dig through the paint. Try to keep your da flat while doing this.
 
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Never ran into any issues with it when I redid my old 87 F-150, but I used furniture stripper to removed the bulk of the paint then sanded. Was planning to do so again on my Mustang. Less dusty at least...