Brutal Body Work

[goleafsgo_12]

After taking a closer look at my beloved automobile.. I noticed that the hack before me did some seriously brutal body work.. What are your opinions on what to do with it? From the exterior it's smooth (possibly leaded) and looks acceptable but on the back side where I can see what's been done has me concerned. The whole car (lower doors, lower quarters, etc etc) has had new patch panels put in so from the exterior they look ok, but you can see in the pictures that they were pop riveted/ spot welded/ overlapped + Rosette welded into place.

Should I leave these panels and finish weld them? Or strip them out completely? I don't want to get the thing painted only to see a "pop rivet" come away from the body and leave a hole through a panel on a fresh coat of colour.

The worst part is that all those expensive patch panels are brand new, gahhh!

[fordcragar]

You'll have to decide what you would be comfortable with, as far as the repairs go. I would start over before I wasted any money on paint.

YMMV

[Kevin in NJ]

10 years ago I would have been scared to touch it.

After taking time to learn about metal working I would clean out any fillers and take out any body work that is not right (all of what I see) and start over.

The welding up through the bead at the top would have to be one of the first areas to correct. It has shrunk that area causing all sorts of problems. All the welds have caused shrinkage. You need to unlock all the shrinkage, get the panel to fit properly on the body, and then repair the problems correcting for weld shrinkage as you go.

If you go to my website you will find hints and websites and videos to rent that will help you understand your problems.

Once you get the hang of proper metal working techniques the metal work is kind of fun to do. You will quickly surprise yourself with some pretty complex repairs.

[goleafsgo_12]

Its gut wrenching to rip all new patch panels out, hopefully I can save some of them but there is even worse stuff then what you see in these pictures. The inner door latch is welded to a galvanized junction box plate (household electrical wiring) and then screwed to the inner door panel with self tappers. After being blasted, the car showed a lot of flaws that were unseen before hand. Will blasting take out lead body filler?

[HARLEYJOE]

If it is solid and not much plastic I would leave it alone and just seal area from moisture on inside as was stated earlier.

Having worked with lead yrs ago todays plastic fillers are really great
to use today as long as you are not over filling and just skim glazing
for minor imperfections.

I would not hesitate using plastic for at times lead can come back with acid
and cause paint problems at times

But know way is perfect but your car and only you can make the decision
on what you feel you can live with.

No matter what you do, keep what you have or replace with full panel it still is a fix and not original.

Good luck in your repairs and keep in touch with what you decided and show some pictures..

[Doug in NJ]

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It would be hazardous to try to blast away lead!
But if the repair is otherwise acceptable, is it worth melting out the lead just to have a look at what is underneath?

Doug

Originally Posted by Ed

Lead is soft enough that sandblasting it off will be difficult. You will probably do more damage to the panel with warpage that you want if you try to blast the lead out.

A little heat will melt the lead out. I believe this is the easiest way to remove it. When you use a grinder / sander to clean the leaded area be sure to wear a mask or respirator. You don't want to breathe that stuff in.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

If it looks bad now, it will look REALLY BAD once you get it cleaned down to bare metal. If you can handle body work then go ahead but I would second the advice to replace with full panels. They will require some fitting but will be less frustrating than trying to fix somebody else's hack job.

[goleafsgo_12]

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to sand away some of the primer and have a look at whats under neath it. I'm almost positive it's lead, and I'll probably do something about it, I don't want to just pack it in behind more filler.. A littel extra effort now could save a new paint job down the road, plus aligning panels that have been tucked and welded and leaded and twisted may be a headache.

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by goleafsgo_12

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to sand away some of the primer and have a look at whats under neath it. I'm almost positive it's lead, and I'll probably do something about it, I don't want to just pack it in behind more filler.. A littel extra effort now could save a new paint job down the road, plus aligning panels that have been tucked and welded and leaded and twisted may be a headache.

Easy with the sanding, remember that lead is real soft!