quarter panels

The panels as well as the rest of sheet metal came from R&N Auto and Truck in Lexington Tn., really nice folks!,and a real hot rodder/drag racer too.The quarters are not full panels they don't extend into the sail panel area, but do go over the top edge of the quarter.We will trim these panels to fit and try to have them come out on a edge,so we are not welding on a large open flat area that can have more effect on warp age from the heat of welding.The welding will be done in spot weld form every couple of inches and then we will come back and weld small amounts at a time allowing the metal to cool in each area before continuing.We use clecos to hold the panels for fitting and panel clamps as we weld the butt joint it in .These clamps give the proper space to weld up and keep the panel joints flat to each other.As we cut out the old quarters it became apparent that outer wheel houses were needed too, what a pain !Alignment is very critical so they meet the wheel well opening , so we used clecos from Eastwood to hold it all together an proceeded to spot weld the wheel house in.After all the welding POR-15 was painted to the metal to prevent future rusting and all welds and seams were seam sealed. Its so pretty, its a shame to cover it with a fender!

Fixin the Flintstone mobile

The 69 had a little problem ,your feet would drag on the ground! This problem had been fixed by the previous owners , they had applied bathroom caulk and galvanized metal patches to cover up the rusted out holes ! Well at least they used galvanized stuff ! Were gonna approach it with a bit more stable materials!The process will be the same as the trunk repairs making sure all the braces are welded up good and they are painted with the Por-15 because you cant get to them later.We are going to do one side at a time so there is less chance of any body sagging or shifting, i'd hate to weld it all in and the doors not fit any more !!I just hope that poor ole chevy 427 will have enough power to make the Nova get up and go , cause welding up them holes will keep Mike's feet from helping with the go power!!If not maybe Miss Sindy Mike's gal, will have to just push it!!!.....Oh yeah thats happening!!

Trunk Resto'

this Lil' pictorial Will give ya a bit of whats involved with Mikes Nova, there was a lot of rust in the trunk so welding in a complete trunk was the best fix.






We used Goodmark brand sheet metal through out the whole project they fit well and are like the factory panels.After the old trunk floor was cut out with the trusty plasma cutter and ground smooth to fit the new panel in , it was then MiG welded in and ground down a bit to smooth it up.The brushable seam sealer was next, but it turned out to look rough and a bit globby, is that a real word? I fixed that by squirting a little lacquer thinner to thin and soften the sealer and smoothed it with a small brush.
The "Por-15" was applied to all the welds and previously to all the braces and finally the Valspar to coat it all this will give us a nice surface to add the sound deadening material to before the carpet is installed !





If i could just get Albert to help a little more we might finish!!!!

Thanks to the Amazing Emo

As bloggers go i'm rank amature and need all the help i can get ! Lucky for me JOCK or his alias EMO has been a wealth of knowledge in this new process for me . So hats off to him for all his help! Please check out his "Kwel" site JOCK MUSIC

DA" Women

Lets face it, behind every successful man is a smart good looking woman, that's what my girl friend always tells me !!! The truth be known shes right , and Albert and I are blessed to have two fine women that allow us the space and time to get all this rusty junk looking good ! So thanks to Jill and Shirley,p.s. Jill sez her 66 mustang convertible is next in line !!

ALBERT IN ACTION

This is the man himself, big ALBERT,full time industrial heating and air man,part time welder, body man and all round Genius!We have a bunch of fun together, and get a lot of work done too!,Well at least Albert does!

rust bucket,lives

We have to repair a bunch of rust damage in the trunk and floors,we"ll start in the trunk by taking the trusty plasma cutter and removing the bad area taking into consideration the size of the new trunk patch panel.Then drill out the spot welds to all the braces, all these areas will be sand blasted then coated with Por-15.The new trunk will be marked to indicate where the braces are and drilled so we can weld them ,(plug weld) .I like to weld the trunk and floors up solid but many people just stitch weld or spot it in; which is fine but i take the extra time and feel it is worth it. These panels are lapped over each other not "butt welded" .Underneath the car i"ll weld the seam every few inches to insure a tight gap,and seam seal or use fiberglass bondo to cover this after it is coated with Por-15 ,later the entire bottom and sub frame will be painted . The welds will be lightly ground smooth, coated with brush able seam sealer, and then a couple of coats of Valspar rust preventive primer is brushed to the trunk,floor and all interior metal. The seam sealer looks a little rough but we will be installing insulation and sound deading material to all these surfaces so not to worry!The very same proceedures will be followed for the floors, making sure all fitment issues to braces etc. are noted! Now if i could just get a little work out of Albert this car might might roll again ! Just kiddin big boy!

Hey All!

hey all ! well we're going to start a new project and thought it would be cool to blogg it up a bit !

This 69 Nova belongs to a good friend , he's owned it for a few years , but has done nothing with it.It will require quite a bit of work to restore it,there is a lot of rust and bad earlier bodywork. The plan for this job includes many new panels, trunk, quarter panels,floors, outer rear fender wells ,fenders,and inner fender wells,man I'm tired already thinking about it.
My good friend Albert will be invaluable in helping with this undertaking ,because he is a stinking genius!,man this dude can do it all !
We will be sand blasting the under side of the nova and adding competition engineering sub frame connectors,then Por-15 and chassis black will be sprayed to seal her all up and make it real durable.Since we're putting a big block in this pig, a firewall set back is also in order to clear the electonic ignition.The heater box will also be removed to slick up the firewall as we will add a Hot Rod air system