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Restoring trunk pinch weld


Shawn Piper

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This was a successful weekend project that I wanted to share. 

 

Since the pinch welds from my car were really dirty and rusty, I decided to try restoring them.  I started out by cleaning them with Simple Green and then soaking them in Evaporust.  Afterwards, I tried gently wiping them down with acetone to remove overspray (note that acetone, paint thinner, or any other solvent will easily melt the pinch weld).  This is the end product:

 

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Its OK, but you can still see some significant staining and discoloration.  The ends were also looking unsightly:

 

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Next, I filed the ends down with a needle file and finished scraping off the remaining overspray with a plastic spudger. 

 

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To deal with the staining, I decided to try a fabric and vinyl paint.  I had a can of White Duplicolor Vinyl and Fabric paint.  I tried a test spray and it was a very bright white, while the original color of the pinch weld is off white.

 

I found this offering from SEM when searching locally for a better matching paint-- literally "off white":
 

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To paint the pieces, I made an "apparatus" out of cardboard and rested it on a jerry can: 
 

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The paint dried very quickly and had a nice, flexible finish.  Here are some before and after shots:

 

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And then I packaged everything up for when I assemble my interior... 

 

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Edited by Shawn Piper

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Your attention to the small details and creativity is really inspiring! Getting back to my 76 :)

Thank you for showing the beautiful work!

Jesse

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