Well I bought the $289 Sears Compressor on sale (6hp/33g).
I bought a DA - some 80g PSA discs.
Thought to myself "I can do this!"
Several weeks ago I posted on how to do bodywork. Several replied and it gave me confidence. Let me tell you what I ran into in my first hour:
Because the compressor is small/direct drive, the motor runs fast. This in turn causes heat which causes moisture. Had water dripping out of tools in about a few minutes. Plus with a grinder/DA it is always on.
2. I tackled the LR quarter first. It had cracks, bubbles and was lifting up. I started grinding with a 2" #M coarse roll-lock. I found about 1/2" of filler in places. I found sever rust (through) and 2 coats of paint plus primer! Phew!!!!!
3. I found that when I went to the bare metal over approx 1 foot of surface that the metal had waves and dings and pock marks through it.
4. Dust gets everywhere

I can see now that this project will take
MUCH MUCH MUCH longer than I anticipated.

How long do I have to put epoxy self etching primer on before I have to worry about rust. Like I said this will take me awhile since my job and life occupy 6 or so days a week.

Once I cut out the rust. I will need to patch with steel. Can I buy a cheap 70A arc welder to fix the panels or do I need to step up to a (gasless???) MIG?

How much 80g discs do you guys think I'll need?

Many more questions to follow

Mama, don't let yer babies grow up to be "I'm gonna try and do the body (stripping, patching, bondo, sanding, primer) so I can take it to someone to shoot) Chevelleboys!!
Thanks
Ron

Ron,

You need a inline drier to keep the water out of your air tools. A good regulator wouldn't hurt either. Some good regulators will also keep the moisture to a minimum.
You will need one when you start spraying paint anyway.

A gas mig welder is the best way to go for welding patch panels. They have a cleaner weld than the gasless migs. An arc welder is too hot and will burn thru and/or warp the panel.

I wish I knew how many 80 grit DA discs I went through! For the top few layers of paint and bondo, you may want to use 40. It will be faster.

Good Luck,
Jim Endrud
http://members.home.net/jimmy4/elky2.jpg

Welcome to the wacky world of BODY Work.
Ron only work on one panel at a time.
You started on yor 1/4. finnish it b-4 you move on to the next area. Other wise the Project/job seems to get out of control and ovewhelming. Use 36grit to knock down the area you plan on working on. Grind/weld fill and prime one panel at a time.
For sheet metal use a MIG with gas.
Look in the arcives for welder merits.
rember this is suppose to be FUN.

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Wayne
ACES 1556
TCG 186
So many Mustangs
So Little Time

It is really fun!?
I consider working on the Chevelle as therapeutic. It is MY time alone with ME. (or me and my son. Any time spent with him is great).
Many of us are married right. Most of the time me and the mrs. get along just fine. However, there are those times I'm happy I've got the garage and my shrink (my car) to go to.

I will get a MIG. Since I have not done any welding before I also plan to get some 18g or 22g sheet/stock to practice on. Home Depot/Lowe's sells 'em for cheap. As for the replacement patch panels, I plan on once again visiting my favorite catalogs. I.e.; Year One, OPG, NPD, etc...

Another question: Are the rear inner wheelwells replaceable like the fronts or do they need to be cut out/welded? Does the quarter panel have to come off in order to change them?
Thanks for the responses
Ron

Ron, If I were doing it again (I used a borrowed gas MIG the first time), I would try the body panel adhesive now available. Eastwood has a kit. That may be much less expensive than buying a welder ($500+), gas, etc. Welding sheetmetal, if you're not experienced, can be a big problem. You would also need an angle grinder to grind the welds down.

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von '69 300 Dlx SS TC #15 ACES #1575
My '69 SS (http://sites.netscape.net/von69ss/homepage)

Same here. I just started on my right rear quarter. Thee was some previous body work. Actually, the quarter skin had been replaced at one time. I found that the person who did the quarter skin replacement tacked the panel on every inch or so with a brazing rod and then drilled holes along the seam for the bondo to grip to. Now I'm having to dig off all the old bondo so I can weld the seam solid the way it's supposed to be. At least there's no rust damage to speak of. I have one small spot about the size of a nickel that I'll have to deal with, but the rest of it's in good shape.

OK Ron, here's the thing, if you can do it then do it! Just be prepared for more discouragement along with frustration, mistakes, tedious bone aching work, and a very messy shop!

You will get conflicting advice and different suggestions from about as many people as you talk to and finally have to do what works best for you. This board as well as www.autobodystore.com (http://www.autobodystore.com) are sources of good info but you will still have to come up with your own plan. Try to find a paint and body supplier that will take the time to work with you on paint and materials, if they're too caught up with commercial accounts that's a bad thing for a hobbyist.

I'll be finishing up my project soon and can relate to your situation quite well and I can tell you it has been a struggle! But now that I can see that shiny cranberry red where rust, dents, holes, and primer used to be I am literally dancing around the shop and grinnin from ear to ear! And its not everyday you'll see my 6'5" 300lb carcass dancin!

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Elcaminos are special!
I'd rather walk around with a Chevrolet hubcap in my hand than drive a Ford


work in progress
Big James Elky(AKA Ol Paint) (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/Big%20James4XL-Ol%20Paint1.jpg)
www.chevelles.com/showroom/workgoeson1.jpg (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/workgoeson1.jpg)

Don't sweat it, I know exactly what your talking about. Sometimes I wonder if I am doing more damage than good, but the more I learn, and get done, the more confidence it gives me. One step at a time, thats how I look at it.

Ron;

As suggested, don't do too much at once. It's supposed to be relaxing so don't stress about it.

You can get a high speed air grinder that uses the flexible disks for probably 30 bucks or less, just be careful not to grind on the metal itself too much. A D/A sander just takes too way too long to strip paint. My D/A has sat through a bunch of body work for years now without being used. I got a long board in-line sander for finishing/filler work and use a wire wheel or high speed sander to strip with.

A mig welder is the best way to weld steel. The steel in these cars is fairly heavy though and you can just barely weld it with flux cored wire and not use gas. It just takes a bit of practice and isn't as neat.

I have used Duponts metal prep/etch. I think it's 2-part 810/815 or something like that (the 8 may be wrong but the 10 and 15 are right). You can put a light coat on to protect the metal from rust and just work through it when welding and filling. Then, use the epoxy primer when finished. Bare metal will begin to lightly surface rust in a matter of days without being covered.

I wish we'd got the chance to convince you to get a bigger compressor. The cast pump/belt driven 60 gallon models just have more capability that the one I think you have.

Oh yeah, have fun.

Peter

I would get the body media blasted if i were you.It would probably be around 500-600 but then you would not have to strip every panel.You would save a ton of time and sandpaper and it makes the job much cleaner.The place we use you dont have to remove glass or trim,unless its on the paint.

I took a paint scraper and scratched a bunch of line and then use a chemical stripper. Or you car use 36 grit to sand in grooves so the stripper has move surface area to attack the paint.

hey, if it were easy women and children would be doin it! Yes it's tough, but the feeling of accomplishment will be great.
As far as the water in the lines, you'll have to get an air/water separator and a desicant drier. A cheaper way to dry you air is to take an old cooler and run copper tubing through it and create a 'trap'. Install Quick disconnects on both ends. Fill it with ice when you're working. The reasoning behind this is that air that is cooled to below 52 degrees (i think) can't carry moisture. You can also buy an in line dryer that plugs into your paint gun when painting. Cheap and for one use, but good. Just some ideas for you. Like Todd says, the only way to fail is to quit!

Just to complicate your mind a little more, 3M makes a panel bonding adhesive that I've found to work great for installing patch panels. It has a corrosion inhibitor, and is much better than welding in most cases. Especially where you can't get to the backside of the welded panel to clean and treat the weld.

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ACES Member#603
Team Chevelle Gold Member #285
67 Malibu Convertible
67 El Camino
67 Malibu Wagon (project)
67 C10 Pickup
70 Malibu Convertible
Peach State Chevelles (http://peachstatechevelles.com)
Dolin's Chevelle & ElCamino Page (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/downs/2849)

Ron70
Therapy huh? Yeah, it feels soooo good when the torture stops http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif
I'm about to go that same path as you are.

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'71 Malibu
'71 SS project
'72 rust bucket
'72 Big block SS basket case

A follow up:

Thank you to all who responded so far.
I have taken the advice from those on this thread and from a few others who emailed me.
I went back to Sears today to return my 6HP, 33g direct drive $289 on sale air compressor.
The one I ordered was a 220V, 7HP, 60gallon oil-lubed, belt driven one. This one specs out alot better with 12.4SCFM at 40psi. This will give me more options when it comes time to buy the paint gun. I was kind of limited to a Sharpe 2015/3013 or a conventional pressure feed. I am leaning towards a HVLP unit since most of my research so far leads me to believe that I will have less overspray and not waste as much material.

I have also begun the arduous task of preparing the wife for a few more purchases: patch panels, more general bodywork tools etc...

I am looking into Eastwood's, 3M's and Duramix's panel bonding adhesive which will not require a MIG welder.

Thank you all
Ron

I should say thanks too. I have been quietly reading this thred and you all have convinced me to try my own body work. Hey, all I can do is screw it up right?

-Nathan

I'm just starting the body work on the Elky that I recently acquired. For paint removal, and there is a lot - it has been repainted four times, I'm using the 3M paint removal discs (the thick coated fiber kind) mounted on a Makita rotory sander. The paint practically flies off, only took me a couple of hours to bring the driver's side front fender to bare metal this afternoon. Be sure to use goggles and a breathing mask.

For now my mission is to remove the paint and note the underlying body condition. After stripping the hood and fender (all that I've done so far), I then spray primer on the body to inhibit rust.

For body work I bought the Sunchaser Friction Disk Heat Shrinking System. My goal is to straighten all body defects and damage without the use of bondo or other fillers.

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"Bomber" '67 El Camino, Beater comes back to life.
Was 350/TH350 14.90 @ 93mph, 360,000+ miles on car
Now 406 roller, 340rwhp, more hp coming, 3.08 gears
Street radials, left in drive, 13.20 e.t.@108.35 mph
*New* added Plum Mist '67 to collection

Yo Bomber:

What's that Sunchaser thing? Never heard of it.

Ron, Hang in there, It can be done.
I remember about a year ago when I started the same thing on my Elky. The firt thing I thought was " Oh my god, what have I gotten into!" I'm like you, I only have @ 1 day a week that I can spend time on it. But it does move along, slowly but surely. You just have to accept the fact that it is going to take some time, and concentrate on how nice it will be when its done. Oh, and as always, having the proper tools for the job make it much more enjoyable.

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Rob F.
TC member 312
68' SS396 6-spd EFI Elky

Walter, the Sunchaser Friction Disk is a fairly innovative item aimed squarely at the home hobbyist auto restorer. It is fairly well known in the street rod crowd, but I don't think I've met anyone into Chevelles who was using it. I think it is a pretty amazing product that allows a person of average abilities to successfully heat shrink bent and stretched body panels.

Here's the drill: you need to first turn any "inward" facing dent into an "outward" facing dent. This may be as simple as pounding out from the inside/underside of the dent. Or in the case of dents with a blind inside/underside using the weld on stick dent puller (like those sold in the Eastwood catolog). Then what you do with the raised/high dent area is to work it a little at a time with the Friction Disk. The Friction Disk itself is a stainless steel compound disk with convoluted edge. You then run the disk against the raised dent (stripped of all paint and old bondo). The disk wont really remove any metal, but it will heat up a small spot to a fairly high temperature. You then "quench" the hot spot with water, which will cause it to shrink back. Continue working around the area until the panel is straight. When you "think" it is pretty straight you then spray the area with machinist's dye, then lightly sand/file the area to reveal high and low spots. repeat the above steps until area is virtually flat or properly curved for that body panel.

I have seen the Sunchaser stuff in action, and I know people in the body resto business who are also familiar with it. Most professional body shops will always tend toward replacing bent sheetmetal with new or good used pieces (better use of expensive body shop time). The real application for the friction disk is for massaging unobtainable sheetmetal or for the hobbyist like me who wants to be able to say that all the sheetmetal on this car is the original.

Bomber
Is there a web site for Sunchaser?

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Doug, Chevl71
Team Chevelle member #625
Gateway Area Chevelle Club member CM028
(OO ss OO)
chevl71 homepage (http://www.chevl71.homestead.com/chevl71homepage.html)

Doug, there is no website for Sunchaser, I think he is afraid that if he gets on the net that it will take up all his time and that he won't be able to get anything done! Here is the contact info:

Ken Sakamoto
Sunchaser Tools
3202 E. Foothill Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91107
Ph# 626-795-1588

Ken is friendly to a fault, he loves auto restoration - you won't be dissappointed with anything you buy from Sunchaser.