Inner fender, kick panel, door post post

[Lunar-tic]

It is close, but it is a bit different from the original. Check out the large round hole in the lower kick panel, first pic in post #19 compared to the third pic. The design changed in '68 I think and from the looks of it for the better. Most of the difference is the part hidden behind the fender. I would have bought the 66-67 part (first image), but it is made of thinner metal in Taiwan and it comes in two pieces. Overall I am happy with it and how it fits. I am about ~.25 inches off from front to rear, but I think I can fix that easily enough.

Now to figure out what to paint them with. I have a new can of POR15, but the more I read on here the less I want to use it on the new metal. Suggestions?

 

[WheelHorse]

A true two part epoxy primer and a cheap harbor freight touch up HVLP.

 

[Lunar-tic]

Cool, thanks.

 

[Lunar-tic]

Inching forward little by little. Repaired the drivers side of the cowl and got my door sorted hung. Now to take it all apart and paint it before welding it back in.

 

[old 71]

Looking good William, got some nice repair work going on there. Nice fit on the door keep up the good work.

Dale

 

[Lunar-tic]

The door took no less than six attempts to get everything close and I am still not happy with it.

 

[Bonco4Broncos]

I will have to do this same job on my rust bucket some day. I have been pondering on how to line the door post back up. That seems like it would be a PITA to get right.

 

[Lunar-tic]

I measured just about every conceivable angle but I still had to trial and error it a half dozen times. I read a ton of threads on here and that helped a lot too. Sheet metal screws, magic markers, and a beer assistant are required items. I also went ahead a replaced the body bushings while I was at it. That can throw off your original measurements, so be advised.

 

[Lunar-tic]

Made a bit more progress. Got the fenders in, the "best" ones out there. Fitment isn't too bad, but they do have some funky tooling on the lower front portion as seen in the fourth pic. I hammered it out on the drivers side, but I still have some fitment issues there (in pic 6 & 7). I think that is due to some damage from a fender-bender that happened before I owned it. The passenger side fits well. They also have a few dings from shipping (see pic 5), but nothing I can't fix.

 

[Lunar-tic]

Got everything welded in except the rocker. I'm hoping to have that done this week and then get everything primed/coated. Trying to make sure I have it all caulked as well, but I am sure that I missed some spots. Lots of lessons learned that I'll use on the passenger side. Especially with stuff like weld-able primer, welding in general, and fabrication.

 

[Lunar-tic]

"Done" with the driver's side, on to the passenger side. I thought it was in better shape than the drivers side, but it looks to be pretty much the same. Check out the rocker, the PO fiberglassed and bondo'd over that huge rust hole. I am afraid what the rear quarters look like, but it will be another month before I get to those. Oh, and that rocker had about 5 pounds of dirt in it.

 

[Lunar-tic]

Slugging away

 

[Lunar-tic]

Inch by inch, making progress. Learned some lessons on the driver's side. I think the passenger side will look better for that.

 

[Joe473]

Very nice patch! How are you controlling heat and panel warpage?

 

[Lunar-tic]

A lot of very small spot welds while skipping around to different parts of the patch instead of welding in sucession. On this side I also cut out well past the rust so I was dealing with good "thick" metal. I bought a 16ga patch sheet from Lowes, it is working well also. Once I had the patch cut, I used the tire to curve the metal to match the quarter panel. I thought it turned out pretty good for a welding rookie.

 

[mburkhart]

Really fantastic work so far. I'm about to begin my first crack at rust repair. The rust damage so far looks remarkably similar to yours too. Would you mind listing some of your equipment (make + model) so I can start making a list? Some of the things I know I'll need are:

drill bits (for spot welds)
MIG
Helmet/gloves/sleeves/apron/etc
Angle grinder
+cutoff wheels
+wire wheels
+grinding wheels

I also noticed the jack you used to hold up the dash while you made repairs to the inner fender/rockers. Did you need to do anything else to support that huge opening to make sure it all went together right?

 

[Lunar-tic]

Roger:

MIG (I bought Hobart Handler 140, runs on 110v, Tractor Supply is a good retail for all the welding stuff I bought)
75/25 gas (I bought the small bottle, refills run about 25$)
.030 and .024 MIG wire (.024 is a little easier to work with considering my skills and old sheet metal)
Helmet and gloves (auto dimming helmet is great & and buy the really thick gloves)
Welding blanket (keeps you from burning the place down, HF has them)
Spot weld bits (the ones from HF are good, but you'll have to score the center of the weld with a punch to keep it from wondering around)
4.5 angel grinder w/ wire, grinder, cut-off, and 80 grit flapper wheels (the 80 grit flappers are great for smoothing the welds)
Tin snips (get some good ones, not the cheap stuff from Lowes/Home Depot)
Metal working hammers and dollies (I bought a cheap set from Summit)
Good drill w/ cord (cordless won't keep up with all those spot welds)
C-clamps and magnets to hold your work in place while you weld
Sheet or two of 16ga patch panels from Lowes
POR15 or the like to treat what you don't replace
Weld thru primer (Summit has it in small cans that come with an applicator brush)
Body seam caulk (after you weld, clean the seams and caulk it up, both inside and out)
PPE, goes without saying, eye protection, hearing, gloves, mask/air filter (a bristle flew off the wire wheel and stuck in my forehead last weekend!)
And lastly, lots of cold beer!

 

[mburkhart]

Thanks for the comprehensive list. Lots there I hadn't thought of yet. I'm going to try not to be frugal and get some good equipment and gear that I can keep and use for future projects.

I tried to get started yesterday by removing a front quarter panel to see what I was working with, but those bolts are really stuck on there. I have no idea how I'm going to get those screws in the door jamb loose. Did you use air tools or something to get those stubborn bolts/screws off, or just lots liquid wrench and elbow grease?

 

[Lunar-tic]

Most of mine were rusted beyond hope. I did soak all of them for at least a day with WD40 before attempting to remove them. Some of them broke off, but I am replacing pretty much everything so I didn't really care. Vice-grips and an impact driver helps too.

 

[Joe473]

PB blaster rust cutter and then an impact driver. Top two came out bottom ones I drilled carefully.