Chandlers 75 build thread

[Attac]

ok we got some more accomplished tonight. Finnaly got the panels fit and clamped/kleco'd in. We are moving again!!!

 

[surfer-b]

ok we got some more accomplished tonight. Finnaly got the panels fit and clamped/kleco'd in. We are moving again!!!

How are the rear Q's and taillight housings working out, are they lining up fairly well, or are you having to do some serious mods to get them to work?

 

[Attac]

How are the rear Q's and taillight housings working out, are they lining up fairly well, or are you having to do some serious mods to get them to work?

The first tail light housing that the PO supplied to me was not even close. I ordered this replacement one But had to "massage" it and the fender to make them fit correctly, but I'm not a body guy so for me to make them fit they must have not been too bad.
Chuck

 

[Attac]

Going Full Blast Again

Ok time to revitalize this thread. As always life happens and we get off projects for a while. We got the wife a new Navigator so Chandler Got her Expedition to drive so the fire was out for a bit for me to get his done. Good thing is I had more time to do it 100% the right way. Bad thing is He is a senior this year and really wants to be able to drive this For his senior year so fire is built again under my feet.
I have got a lot done the last few months and I will add some more pics

 

[Attac]

So picking up where I had left off before:
I got all of the body panels fit and welded along with straightening out the rear floor support where it had been hit.
We built a complete new front clip and fit the new fenders and grill.
I don't know where those pics are right now I will add them later.
We fit new flares from WH and cut the fenders on all corner
I am multitasking during this point so in the second pic you can see the driver door with stripper on it

 

[Attac]

In between other tasks we have been stripping the doors and hood so I could do any body panel repair on them. The Original owner felt it was easier to fill 1/2" of bondo in dents instead of just popping them back out from inside the door. We fixed those and only had to use a little icing to get things completely smooth and blocked. Did I mention I really hate stripping all of the little nook and channels on doors. We are doing a complete color change and we don't have a dipper around here that I know of. We stripped and wire wheeled and a little sand blast work for 3 evenings to get these cleaned up. I take them to painter Monday.
A little side note that I learned from my painter. I had to weld up holes from aftermarket mirrors the PO had put on. When I asked my painter about what type of filler to smooth and block with he told me that you HAVE to sand blast or bead blast welded spots that you are going to put filler over. you cant just sand them. Something about carbon pockets causing body filler or spot putty to bubble. Paint is not a problem he said it will occur with filler because of the moisture in the filler....
Of course we live in coastal florida so by the time we finished sanding the salty environment has flash rust popping up.. My painter will do final sanding.
I had to weld a patch panel in the dash where someone prior had cut it out for a big radio. We are Tuffy boxing this with the radio in it so I did a radio delete.
The person in the pic helping me is Lahi. He was another SGT deployed with my Oldest son for a year with 124th Inf div. He was actually my Sons Battle Buddy. They were both Team leaders. He decided to live here in St Augustine when they returned. He said it was more like home. He is from Guam originally. He did body shop in high school and has been a big help block sanding

 

[Attac]

So we started stripping the hood and found this. Almost 3/4" of bondo in one spot under a support rib that I didn't see from back side. It is not rusted just dented. I knocked the big dent out but decided to get a new hood for this build and fix this for my eldest sons build. It will be next as soon as chandlers is done

 

[Attac]

I got 2 raptor kits in. So we are scuffing the bottom and I am checking welds to prepare for application on bottom. I will have to sand blast some areas and get them etched before I can spray it. As soon as I am sure the exterior budy tub work is done I will scuff and spray the interior.
My painter would rather paint after liner. He is afraid I will get overspray on it

 

[broncoitis]

Great work on the build so far! Keep at it, it is coming along for sure! Will be keeping an eye on this as it come along.

 

[Attac]

Thanks Broncoitis,
We kind of got our second wind and things are progressing nicely now.
My son is getting a little excited because I told him he has to decide on the color this week. He wants a burgundy of some sort. I have showed him Doghows and a few others but he hasn't pulled the trigger yet
Chuck

 

[rydog1130]

looking good chuck! Can't wait to see it/she/he ion the road!

 

[Attac]

looking good chuck! Can't wait to see it/she/he ion the road!

You and me both!

 

[broncoitis]

A burgandy could be pretty killer! Maybe go to a local place that sells automotive paints and take a look in some of the books. Something is bound to jump out at him! Picking a color can be a little difficult for sure! Good Luck with the color hunt! ;D

 

[Attac]

Yep
My view right now
Waiting on some etch primer on the dash and some icing on the tailgate to dry so that I can continue some small bodywork.
My painters 24th aniversary was today so I am dropping off parts tomorrow. It gave me an extra night to get stuff done so I don't have to pay his guy to do it

 

[Attac]

So my painter came to my shop today to look at the parts I had ready for him. Or so I thought. I thought they were really good. He ran his hand across my doors and said " are you happy with these". I said yea. He said "I'm not". So he then proceeded to show me how to skim the entire door and completely block it. He is a buddy of mine and wants it to be perfect. So I have a little more work to do before he gets them and does final touch up. He said he is gonna come a few hours for a few nights to help me get done. Gonna have to wait a couple of weeks before I can do it. I gotta go out of country. Maybe the boys will do it while I am gone lol.

 

[Attac]

Ok so I have really neglected updating this thread but in between hurricanes and small setbacks we have gotten a bunch done. I will make a few posts to catch this up to where we are now.
The last time I posted was about how my painter was making me block the whole body... I wasn't happy but I am now. Here are a few pics of that.

 

[Attac]

I also got a new hood because of the problems I found with the original one. My painter had me reinstall the front grill and fenders to make sure the new hood wouldn't require any tweaking of any parts before paint. I have to say it fit wonderfully

 

[Attac]

I Needed to get my frame out from under the bronco so I decided to build a body jig. I will use it again and it made life much easier I made the body mounts high so I coud get to the underneath areas easier. (Someone on here had done that with extensions on an old frame so I used their knowledge).

 

[Attac]

Well got lots more to post but I need to figure out why my pics are all coming out sideways. Will figure it out and post more tomorrow

 

[fordfan]

I Needed to get my frame out from under the bronco so I decided to build a body jig. I will use it again and it made life much easier I made the body mounts high so I coud get to the underneath areas easier. (Someone on here had done that with extensions on an old frame so I used their knowledge).

Are you talking about this? It works great! It makes life easier for sure! The body bolts to the jig in the original body mount holes and this can be put on a rotisserie and the body rotated.