Rust repair with fiberglass?

[TobyB]

What Mitch said.  I'm a big fan of 'drive it for a while' to see what your aesthetic is.

Fix it up mechanically as you go- even if the engine gets a complete rebuild,

do the rest FIRST, so you have a good ignition and well- tuned carb to break in

the engine with.

 

With the rust under the window, you first have to find out how bad it is.

Which means taking the window and most of its trims out.  Not a huge job,

honestly, and good practice.  I leaded one car, and would not do that again,

simply because the lead can trap small amounts of oxidation or flux or schmutz,

then as it decays, the lead 'pooches out' around the problem area.

 

Sandblasting, primer, filler (Evercoat Rage, from the body shop) and Evercoat glaze,

then some high build primer, more sanding, and primer and top coats.

Huge job.  But you only have to do it once.

 

t

[Fletcher]

On 7/6/2020 at 9:32 AM, MitchaPaLoOza88 said:

If you are in it for the long haul and doing rust repair:

Highly recommend a Hobart Handler 140 MIG for a first timer. 

 

✅  Ordered.  Thanks.

[MitchaPaLoOza88]

20 hours ago, Fletcher said:

 

✅  Ordered.  Thanks.

Ahh that's great you'll love it. I remember the first time I used it going from a HF one, night and day. Went from sputtery chitty bang arc to straight up killer wasp.

 

I dont know how much you know about welding but when you are ready:

- Get a roll of the .023-.024 Carbon Steel Wire

- .023-.024 Tips

- C25 Gas Tank (Hobart comes with the regs)

 

For most sheet metal on the car I run at like 1 power 30-35 feed rate. If your feed rate is too slow youll start blowing through and if its too fast youll get pushback and high welds. Find the happy spot where it looks like a tig weld.

 

Thats the best Mig setup for pretty much the entire car.

[coloincaalpine RIP 2021]

On a side note,  I bought a parts car one time that was from Maine. The rust "repair" was done by, filling the hole with expandable foam,carved to shape then light coat of bondo to smooth it. We were in stitches when we dug into it.

[Fletcher]

59 minutes ago, MitchaPaLoOza88 said:

I dont know how much you know about welding

 

Thanks for the guidance, I'm sure I'll need more.  I took an metal arts class some years ago where we touched briefly on all the welding, cutting, bending, etc and I own one of those crappy harbor freight welders that blew a 20amp fuse every time I used it for more than a few minutes causing me to give up on it more or less by the third attempt.  Hoping the Hobart will be better in that regard, so I can actually gain some skill

[Fletcher]

1 hour ago, MitchaPaLoOza88 said:

I dont know how much you know about welding

additional thought on this: 

 

In addition to working on the body panels, I'm going to need to do some repair to the base of the drivers side front pillar and that's sides rocker panel.   Sight unseen as I don't have photos at the moment to share, any thoughts on how to go about those repairs? 

On the pillar, can I just: use a die grinder to clear the base of rust, cut a chunk of steel to stick in the resulting hole and weld it in/grind it smooth? 

I watched one vid of a rocker panel replacement on a truck, where the guy matched the new one as an overlay, marked out the old one, used a cutting tool cut out where he marked and a drill to take off the tops of the rivets(?), bent & pried it out and then fit and welded the new on in.  Is that generally how that's done? 

Thanks! 

[MitchaPaLoOza88]

1 hour ago, Fletcher said:

additional thought on this: 

 

In addition to working on the body panels, I'm going to need to do some repair to the base of the drivers side front pillar and that's sides rocker panel.   Sight unseen as I don't have photos at the moment to share, any thoughts on how to go about those repairs? 

On the pillar, can I just: use a die grinder to clear the base of rust, cut a chunk of steel to stick in the resulting hole and weld it in/grind it smooth? 

I watched one vid of a rocker panel replacement on a truck, where the guy matched the new one as an overlay, marked out the old one, used a cutting tool cut out where he marked and a drill to take off the tops of the rivets(?), bent & pried it out and then fit and welded the new on in.  Is that generally how that's done? 

Thanks! 

 

Ohhh boy, heading down that full body work path. I am being a hypocrite here but honestly just drive it first.

 

B & C Pillars come under the rockers.

 

To sum up rocker replacement:

Yes you pretty much just find the weld seams and spot welds and surgically grind them down. You will have to cut the lower rear quarter panel (it comes over the rocker). You will also have to grind the spot welds on the rear quarter section that you cut from the inner wheel well where it attaches to the fender lip. Again being a hypocrite but buy the replacement steel before you cut. Unless reusing.

 

I used Resto Design.

http://www.restoration-design.com/store/category/BMW

 

But I am pretty sure they get their stuff from Walloasnechshsshf. Cheaper at the source?

https://www.wallothnesch.com/en/