Projects garagefind/ survivor 40 coupe build. FIRED IT UP!

Don't those panels look so nice in grey primer? Keep at it Joel!

 

You know they do, Sam. I'm working on a plan.

 

It was a long time getting the jambs sanded, so I shot DP followed with K38. K38 is much easier to re-sand. I’m trying to get to just big flat areas left; it go faster then.



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I think I’m going to finish the lower part that is behind the front fenders to make it easier to mask. That would allow me to reinstall the headers if I need to move the car.


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After some sanding and sealing up some sheet metal gaps ( factory stuff ), I added more K38. Tomorrow, I'll sand the areas where the front fenders mount and add the DP74 as a sealer. Maybe I'll get to the color tomorrow.

The black is seam sealer.

Next was 3 coats of K38

I'm painting the rocker panels now also. I think it will save some masking time going forward. We'll see. So far , it seems I spend as much or more time masking as I do sanding.

 

Nice work Joel! Don and I have been trying our hand at carpentry lately. I am sending you a PM So I don't mess up your thread.

 

Just finished spraying the 2 areas I've been working on.

I put a light on this side so you can see the blue. The other side has no extra light so it looks black.

Now I rip all the masking off, cover up the painted parts, and back to priming.

 

Here is a picture of something I've known about and avoided for decades. At first I said " screw it; Ford put it there and it's staying", but now I'm near the finish and It bothers me to leave it alone. Incase you don't recognize it, this it the front end of the drip rail and it was caused by an employee with a stick welder attempting to attach the end to the cowl.

I'm thinking about using some 1/16 tig rod to somewhat fill the gap and stick it fast with the mig welder. Thoughts?
BTW, that little connection at the bottom has broken loose.

 

My idea


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Joel, I am having trouble figuring out exactly where that is. Can you take a picture a little farther away so I can see the location better. your filler rod idea should work though.

 

Sure, Sam. The bolt hole is for the upper door hinge.


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Thanks Joel! Now it makes sense. It is not in a place that readily be seen but still something I would fix. Hope you show us the finished repair.

 

I'm with The 39 guy, fix it and make it nice.

 

Ok, I just got done with the repair and it’s the best I can do. The pictures are in order and you can see that I had to go over the welds several times. The die grinder caught and broke the welds to the body twice. It broke the factory spot weld next to the work the second time. I’ll have to add seam sealer along the inside.


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Turned out to be difficult repair Joel.... Did you consider cutting out the bad metal and welding in a small steel patch piece?

 

I did consider buying a section of drip rail and using about 1 1/2 to 2 in. to replace the bottom piece. It meant tig welding the joint between old and new ; which would require sand blasting a small area to get it cleaned enough to tig. Actually, that was my back up if I couldn't make the weld and grind work.
I'll take another picture after priming and sanding.
If rust was involved, I would have welded a new piece in.

 

I finally got enough sanding done to put the fresh coat of DP40 on. The car is up on blocks and I have to stand on a folding aluminum platform to sand the top. I just sanded to the trim line and tomorrow or Sat. I'll apply some K
38 over the fresh DP. Then I'll do the prep for the lower parts and DP them. After I get K38 on everywhere, I'll take the car down so I can block the top easier. I hope to have it ready for color by August 1st.

 

Progress! wish I could loan you my rotisserie Joel.

 

I rented one for a part of the work, Sam, but I decided early on to paint the body on the frame. I don’t know if it was the best way. As I go through the last of the body prep, I am seeing the end.


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It's a long road for sure but worth it in the end.

 

Thank you for taking us along with your build . A great job.

 

Thanks for following. The best part is coming up....I hope.

 

Finally put the fresh coat of DP and added a thin coat of filler in a couple of spots on each side
After the first coat of surface, I sanded everything above the drip rails.

The pot life of K38 is 45 min. at 70 deg, and the temp in the garage was 77 with the a/c on. I could only get one coat on before it started to kick. Plus ,I had to turn the car around to keep from hitting my head on the garage door track. I'm masking from the drip rails down and spraying the top surfaces. Then I'm masking the top and doing the quarters. It's cooler today and tomorrow, so the garage should be cooler, which will help with pot life.

 

brings back memories of when I did my '39 coupe- long time ago- 1980-

 

Good memories ,I hope. I should have done this in the 80's; it would have been easier and faster.

 

I was sanding the cowl vent area in preparation for spraying K38 on the top surfaces.

Post 499 and 513 show when I started on filling the pits in the cowl seal channel. Now for the rest of the story.... Apparently, the room was too cool for the DP to cure or I applied it too thick and as I sanded the seal channel I found cracks in the bottom surface. When I pushed with my finger, it broke through and I had to dig out all the primer.
Cleaned and sanded
2 coats of DP re-applied
2 coats of K38 with more than 24 hours of curing time in between. The down side is I screwed up the first time; the way up side is that I stumbled onto the mess now... before the paint.

 

Persistence !! Well done!!


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Well not all steps are forward as we do the painting dance. Glad you caught it now. Don and I just took the hood of his Mercury out of the trailer after 3 months storage and found a crack in the primer/bondo at the base of the hood scoop modification. He is sanding down to the base as I write this.Should set us back a ways but it is much better to have it happen now versus 3 months after the paint job is finished.

 

Exactly right, Sam! I was/ am really relieved and I am being very careful as I do it again.
I’m sorry to hear that you have to go through the work again, but I know you’ll fix it.


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Well I finally got two good coats of K38 on the top of the body. Tomorrow I’ll work on the sides.


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