i got kinda bored today and decided to work on my shoeboxs hood i have put 51 upper grille bars on it so obviously since mines a 50 i have the half moon to fill and when i bought the car i could see obvious evidence of previous patch work on its edge and when i removed the hood emblem i could see the pretty pink bondo around its mounting holes .....yay so i started with a wirebrush on my drill right under where the emblem was the brush dug into the mud to almost a 1/4 inch until it found metal ... after determining where the out line of the mud was with my drill and realising the frutility of using the wire brush (on the pass side of the hood) i fired up the air compressor and the grinder much faster upon removing enough bondo for a couple of cars and then finding brazed in patches and some old lead work and wrinkled metal any who im not a big fan of typing (puncuation and all that crap) i took pics as i went soo ill let them do the talking the alternate title to this thread should be ( how not to do bodywork )
ok all i know im no pro bodyman .....and im no certified welder im basically teaching myself as i go .....i have a lot to learn ...but, im trying id really appreciate your thoughts on how it looks ... but please dont harp on my bubblegum "welds" .... lol
The 50 hood may need to be straightened on the outer ends as it dips down. The 51 hood is straight across the bottom edge at the grille bars. Probably should have used a 51 hood with the 51 upper grille bars, but you are doing a good job of making the one you have work. Did you use the 51 hood latch panel as it is different than 50 as well. Pat
Looks like it is coming along nicely. Bubble gum welds or not, the important issue is making sure you got good penetration into both panels your joining. The bubble gum gets ground off anyway.
It's a custom right? make it look like you want it to. Work looks good for your first time...keep it up!
It looks like a pre 1980 fix with the brass welding before mig welders hit the mass market. I think i smell White Lightning to, lol. No, not moonshine. Good hoods can be a hard find. Yours can always be fixed again but maybe look for a nicer one. I wound up with a 51 hood on my 50. Can't seem to find a real nice 50 hood. 51's might be a harder find. I'd really like a 50 hood so i could go back to original 50 grille or better yet a 49 which is prettiest of them all.
yes i used the 51 latch panel i think my car had been hammered hard on the driverside front at some point couldnt get that fender lined up anybetter i got my 51 grille bars off ebay seller didnt tell me and i didnt figure it out until i got them mounted that htye had been cut off where they go under the marking light housings
Looks like you are making progress despite the big surprise.... As others have said, the bubble gum gets ground off just make sure you have good penetration.. And I would add, don't leave any pinholes 'cause that's where the next round of rust will start. -Bondo and/or paint/primer will not easily find its way into pin holes left over from the welding process. And leftover MiG pinholes will encapsulate small amounts of flux, in that flux is not only the oxidizing cleansing agents but also remnants of rust/dirt/oil/grinding disc particules etc as the flux's job is to float the impurities to the surface so Inside the pinhole, or rather on the hidden surfaces inside the holes will be all manner of things from acids to unburnt particles that will attach and attack the base metal. If you don't go back with the MiG (set nice and hot) to spot burn them out then those oxides etc will get trapped under your paint. If you stop and think about what oxides are or what happens when metal oxidizes you'll quickly figure out that oxidizing something means turning it back into it's base elements which in steels case is more or less rust. Other than that, keep up the good work... moe .,
shiney side up could you please explain ? what curve? actually the slope on the front edge of the hood happened on accident it wasnt planned but i do kinda like it
It runs from a curve to an abrupt snowplow?? Take a flexible twig or whatever and spring it from where the emblem sits and the endpoint at the grill in a "fair" curve. Fair is a line that pleases the eye.
Looks good 51 hoods are getting really really hard to find worth a crap.A little trick on the hood makes a nice little deal is using 50 51 chevy front fender chrome to replace the original comes down to a nice point in the front just have to cut it about 3 inches off the back end and fits the hood perfect
get that filler out and lead the thing. my whole fucking car is held together by bondo..... and every time I move to a different body panel I feel like punching someone.
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