After another several hours of block, prime, block, etc, I am reminding myself that we are saving quite a bit of money by going DIY.
The previous issue with the glaze showing through the primer was just simply too much reducer. Problem easily solved with the most recent coat of primer/surfacer.
Passenger side is almost ready for a top coat, but the driver's side needs a little more attention. I did get around to mechanically stripping most of the white today. Some of the places I stripped on the door had over 1/4" of Bondo 3M Putty! I guess someone years ago had decided the best way to fill the mounting holes for mirrors on either door was to simply hammer the metal down and fill the dent they made.
The plan next is to simply get some primer on this unprotected metal, remove all of the glass and door guts, and strip those edges without getting too much in the interior.
The stripping was done with a couple of these...
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-12-in...eel-60571.html
and a few of these 80 grit...
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-in-80...-pc-69983.html
inexpensive tools to strip so much paint, no warp to the panels, and no sand all over the place - although there was quite a bit of dust. Most of the layers underneath of the crow's feet white paint were just fine, but there were places where pitted rust shown up. For those places I did spot blast with sand to get it all out, but things seem very solid and pretty straight.
Once we get going on these doors, it will be time to attempt an installation of 55-57 Thunderbird door handles. I read about the mild custom modification on another site somewhere and it seems pretty simple to do. (well, when I look at it anyway)
The irony in the mod is that they are actually cheaper brand new than the passenger car door handles. Go figure.
the only thing I am missing is the video footage of the people that drove by the house and slowed down as they watched me work on this thing half the day
. One guy with a 66 Fairlane showed up though - had a 427 cammer installed and that thing had every appearance of an original restoration car (minus the keystones and nice tires) ... of course when you heard the thing coming down the street you lost any inkling that it was stock!