? - this problem is all over the country - have seen big name shops caught with their magnets down and buy bad bondo cars - happens with online buys and when buyers do not go to look - but, even seeing in person is no guarantee - sometimes we don't really want to admit that there is a big problem because we are so smitten with the body style, etc
That all looks very repairable. I would much rather find bondo over rust holes than bondo over poorly done patches...its amazing how much irrepairable damage can be done with a welder/ grinder in the wrong hands. My advice would be to fix and prime one panel at a time instead of stripping the whole car at once and getting overwhelmed. This happens all the time at my day job, customer brings a car in with 1 or 2 minor paint/body issues, which snowballs into stripping the whole car and finding major problems, then the customer either pulls the plug, or decides they dont want a metalfinished car that badly and I get stuck trying to make chicken soup out of chicken poop on a shoestring budget.
As someone who has bought a few cars that should have been left behind-please don’t feel like I’m being hard on you. But now is the time to give the car a real thorough going over like you should have before you purchased it. Go over every inch - I mean every inch of the underneath- with a flashlight - every seam ,all the floor ,the trunk both sides, firewall etc etc. Pick and dig at it with a ice pick looking really hard at how bad or good the old girl really is? Then go over the body with a magnet - figure all that out. Then and only then after you get a sense of what you really got (or don’t got) you can go ahead and start repairs. I’m all for getting one part patched up and then moving on to the next part but it’s best to get solid grasp of what’s all involved.
Tommy, the section of South Carolina that Charleston is in is called “the low country” , I figure because it is low lying, coastal land. The section up around where Hotrod Primer lives is high country, because it’s in the mountain foothills. It wasn’t a swing at Southerners, it’s just a statewide description of the land topography. I heard it called that during the years I trucked in that area, so it’s nothing new. 62Rebel, maybe it’s time to look for a parts car? Even pieces cut off a 4 door would work as patches.
I remember my first customer project, a chopped 40 Ford pu that had been built in the 50's and had the same owner all those years. Fast forward to 1985 when I picked it up in pieces, first thing I noticed was the back of the cab metal was gone and all that was filling this gaping lack of metal was a thick coat of good old Black Magic, a 50's body filler. Had to put a whole new back in the cab.
Oh no,,,,my apologies then. I didn’t know about the low country lingo there. Lol,,,,you learn something new everyday I guess! Rebel,,,I apologize for the comments. I convicted you of something,,when I didn’t know the evidence,,,,Sorry. See what can be accomplished with some dialogue! Thank you Bama for the information! Tommy
When I was living in Pa , one of the State Inspection laws was no holes in the body to allow exhaust fumes to enter. You became very adept in the use of porch screen and bondo for fill holes. We didn't have the money for replacement panels and most didn't have the access to oxy outfits or electric welders.
Patching rust holes is what started my welding shop. I made a pretty good living doing it. I don't know anyone that is now a master metal man that started with all the knowledge and experience, every single one of them started out by making rough patches. I find it interesting that some choose to cry about "butchered metal work" because of an inexperienced welder, when they really have no idea what it looked like before the amateur welder started. At least they were able to buy the car enough time for it to get into your metal master hands to repair it properly. You should be happy someone has provided you with some job security, and you get to show off all your skills by fixing the mess properly. If you were smart, you took before and after pictures so you can continue to show off your work. Gene
Its takes all kinds to make a world. for some everything has to be perfect. For others good enuf is Ok.
Almost always a car that has “rust out” like the one that is the topic of this thread usually also has serious problems underneath that quickly becomes obvious when it goes up on the hoist. All the Bondo Bobs in this world seem to have almost magical talents at hiding rust when you are standing on the curb looking at the shiny sides of your favourite car. But their talents never seem to translate that well to the underneath of the car . This is usually because they are lazy and just don’t care - they rely on some poor sucker to fall in love with the shiny top and sides of the car and look no further. With that said I have also seen some pretty scary faked up floors but they are usually pretty obvious.
Thank you BONDO,for many cool cars would not of made it this far,if they had not looked good enough too save tell now ! Now get out an fix it right ,that is what ever way you can,too save them some more !
When I took the quarter panel (they unbolt) off of the Studebaker in the avatar it didn't want to release. I checked to make sure I'd removed all of the fasteners, I had. I gave it a yank and there was a bigger than fist size hole that had been stuffed with newspaper and then bondo'd over No matter the seller had included decent quarters to replace them). I learned that when you buy an old Studebaker you'd better plan on replacing the floor/rockers inner quarters, trailing edge on the front fenders and trunk corners/floor and fix the front frame mounts. Then hope the frame isn't trashed. I didn't know any of that going in. A valuable (expensive) proposition. At least I knew I had purchased a "project". A fellow Studebaker aficionado sent me pictures of his shiny Stude that under the bondo was the same mess I encountered. So much for buying the best car you can afford.
I can completely empathize with the mess handed to you with buying a "decent" car. My friend bought a nice 61 Buick that was mint with low miles from the local GM dealer in '68. The salesman told him that is was solid and well maintained by the previous owner. My friends car started in months to shed a couple thick bondo over newspaper patches. The dealer had its own body shop and we were certain that it was their handy work. He took it back to see what the dealer would do about it and they said too bad so sad. It was a a pretty dirty way of selling cars. The garage owner was known to squeeze a Cdn nickel tight enough until the beaver sh#t. Along with using the magnet. Check along the edges of window rubber & chrome trim, inside wheel wells etc for signs of a repaint. Question then is it a refresh, hiding rust or has it been in an accident. I never bought a used with signs of paint work.
One of the first cars I had was a 68 road runner. Beautiful new Sherwood green metallic. Couldn't wax it... paint hadn't cured. Started noticing odd things, pieces coming loose... used car dealer had used bathroom caulk to smooth over rust holes and had the car done at Earl Scheib (yes, they were still in operation here)... car was only 14 years old and eaten up with rust
There is no substitute for a thorough inspection of a car before buying. I've made the mistake of buying sight unseen and will never go down that road again. Make sure to look at the car in good lighting, take a magnet, put it up on a lift or get under it the best way you can. Thick layers of undercoating on the frame or floors is almost always hiding bad stuff. Never take the seller's word for how "solid" it is. Ask the seller for "before" pictures if it was recently painted. I'm selling my '64 Falcon 2 dr hardtop and it was just painted. I will be able to put the buyers mind at ease about condition because I have lots of photos of the car stripped to bare metal. I know most old cars have had some sort of body repair along the way. If it was done correctly, fine but if it was a scab job I want to know before any cash changes hands.
Coming from dry climates, Eastern WA, NM, now in Texas. I never would buy a classic car from a area where there is snow and salt /deicer used on the roadways. I once watched videos in another forum, a collage kid in upper NY repairing the rust on a ot ford ranger. The truck imho was junk, but was happy to see his enthusiasm and how well he was diligent going after fixing the rust on the frame on his $50 truck. I think he got about $500 worth of wire and metal in it before he gave up and never finished it. Today on local facebook market place, is a elcamino with a bonus for $400. If I wanted to buy a classic, I would look in dry climates and pay the travel to look at it or have it shipped. Not saying you want a elcamino, just saying where I would look. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2373508839433888/
Not all Bondo Bobs are lazy. I've seen sections of a frame carefully sculpted in bondo, then covered with undercoating. Must have looked great on the hoist or my buddy who does know what he's doing, wouldn't have bought the car(59/60 elcamino). We noticed something was wrong when he put it on OUR hoist. Doors wouldn't open. But since he was a big boy, and wore big boy pants, he just cussed out the drive on hoist he used to check out the car, then we (which actually meant me) went about fixing it. Old cars require fixing. You can either bitch and whine about it, or you can fix it.
i worked with a guy who was the Marglass Magician , he would say get some tiger hair / fiberglass mat , and marglass , trowel it in let it cure sand it paint it and good as new lol
Wow! Look at that...Lloyd I think!! Kick out the trunk dents, tell Bubba you think he's too weak to straighten the roof with his bare hands (Gronk!! Creak! Pop! Done!) And you're ready For Hershey (Class 34, Foreign Whatthehellizzit less than 10 feet long.) A classique beyond comment!
vespa 400 Kind of a cool looking car, and fits in the back of a el-camino. I feel ashamed I am not attracted to the chevy for $400, sure you could part it out and make $100. That lil car is different, is late 50's Anyone think a big block mopar will fit?
I seem to remember a pic years ago of one of those as a drag car and if I remember it said No Big Thing oh the sides. lol Larry
Maybe they have a good point though. I mean, my welds are still substandard and my patch panels need a good coat of filler to make them look proper. I guess I should just call the scrapyard tomorrow. Though I remember taking a metal work class where the instructor told us all how he had started out with booger welds and the like-I think his name was Wene Ginfield or something like that.
Oh boy, is this thread timely! I spent Wednesday pulling a 'repair' off the passenger floorboard. I needed to cut out a strip of metal to line up the new trans tunnel I'm installing, as the grinder went into the metal I noticed that the metal I was cutting through wasn't steel so I peeled back more of the silver insulation and found the answer. The previous owner- I'm going to call him Goober in honor of his metal-working prowess- had stolen a damn highway sign and screwed it over a huge hole in the floor then sealed the seams and painted it black. Some cheap bubble insulation over that and it was invisible. Those signs are aluminum so I have to replace the whole passenger side floor before I can start welding in the new trans tunnel. I found a couple of smaller patches on the drivers side too, still had the orange reflective paint visible in places on them.
Rebel I'm sorry you got stuck. Unfortunately that's the name of the game. This 55 in my avatar was sandblasted completely warped, rust holes covered with shelving riveted over the holes, and then the entire car completely bondoed. I think the guy was spackler. I replaced every panel of the car and the floor just about everything. Anyway today I love my Chevy. I love going for ride and enjoying it and all the hard work and money is forgotten in the past. When you have TV shows showing people how to skim coat a 32 Ford what can you expect? The states of North have had these rust hole laws for inspection for years so you can expect a lot of bondo up here.Body shops for the last 30 years in North Jersey do not do rust work. Anyway one step at a time. What else do you have to do with your time anyway?
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