DJenkins '68 el Camino

Feels like good progress. Got the inside of the cab shot in SPI Epoxy primer.
I was going to shoot it Sunday, but then my son needed help putting brakes on his daily driver. Good Fathers Day stuff, worth the delay

Here is what I started with in April of 2020 (rust city!) Yes you could step right through the floorboards, and WHT was that fiberglass patch on the trans tunnel . And notice the nice dash mod, gotta love it:





Here it is with new sheet metal on the floor, dash, back of cab and the new trans tunnel for T56, all shot in SPI Epoxy primer:

Got the seam sealing done and shot 2 more coats of SPI Epoxy.
That seam sealer is some messy, sticky stuff. Hard to make it look good! I used tubes and tubes of it, everywhere, and an acid brush to get it into cracks and to try and smooth it out.



Then I shot the Raptor bed liner in the rear wheel wells. I like this stuff! Very easy to work with and I really like the texture and look of it.

It comes in 2 parts, the bed liner material and the hardener. The bed liner container is about 3/4 full and has a line, you add the hardener to the line, shake it up, screw the gun on and shoot it.



Here is the gun to NOT get! I ordered a kit from TCP Global and it included this gun. Sounded great. The gun is a piece of crap! Get the one from U-Pol.
Notice the plastic trigger handle. It wobbles 20-30 degrees and comes off of the needle. Not fun to mess with when you are suited up, gloved up, with a respirator etc. Very frustrating! When I got the trigger in the right position, it shot just fine, but life is too short to work with crappy tools.



End result was very good (despite the crappy gun!)

Here is another tip if you are thinking of using this stuff:
-They recommend a 60-minute flash time between coats.
-The material in the gun will catalyze in less than 60-minutes and clog the gun (ask me how I know this )
-After the first coat, spray some acetone or urethane thinner through the gun, then go smoke your cigar, drink a beer and wait to do the second coat.









BTW, this Raptor stuff has fumes! Of course I was all PPE'd up, but when I was done shooting I took the respirator off and nearly fainted! Strong stuff! Can still smell it while I'm posting this, 4 hours later.

Got the firewall painted, installed the gas tank (much easier with the car on the rotisserie,) plumbed the fuel and brake lines and then and put the body shell on the frame for the last time. Feels like a real milestone!
Having 2 cherry pickers to lift the body and wheel dolly's under the tires made this an easy, one-person job.

I decided a while back to re-skin the doors. The OEM Sheetmetal was just too hammered, especially the drivers door. The place where the door handle sits has a complex indent and lip arrangement and I just don't have the hammer and dolly skills to get that back in shape - it really was whacked. Plus the door skin had rust through on the bottom, which made me want to pull it off and see what was going on with the door frame. Good thing I did, as there was significant rust and damage hidden behind the skin.

After fixing the metal on the door frame (lot's of cutting and butt welding) I was ready to shoot the whole thing in black SPI Epoxy. Big moment!

Here is something that I'm sure all restorers come up against; as much as we want every square inch of metal to be perfect, rust free and solid, there is just no way to get every single nook and cranny to shiny metal before painting. At some point we have to say "I've done my best and we'll see how it goes."
I know the rust is stopped. The whole car was acid dipped and then the specific areas (after grinding off the skins) that still had rust were treated with Oshpo and meticulously neutralized.

Here is the prepped door frame:



And painted in SPI Black Epoxy, 2 coats.




Also shot the inside of the new door skin in epoxy




Some previous owner must have had the door open and backed into something because the mounting area for the door latch was bent all out of shape and the opening for striker to go through had had some "vice grip surgery." It was a mess!
I did my best to get it all back into shape with a hammer and dolly, and Dremel tool - I'm new at this and it was pretty interesting.
I think it is "good enough" for an inside surface and I may be able to skim it with filler and make it better before final paint.



My first attempt at putting new skin on a door. Picky business . . .
But, got it crimped and spot welded on.
First test fit. Tweaking to the panel and door alignment still needed, but overall I'm pleased.