Well, on to the body work. The car had been repainted twice in its life, so Ive got 3 layers of red to go through. Two reasons I took it down to bare metal - 1. I wanted to paint the car white and didnt want to see red if I got a chip. 2. If I got a chip that went through all 4 layers of paint it would be over 1mm deep!
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I got this far and realized it would be in my best interest to put up some kind of tarp to keep all the dust isolated. Fuck it, whats done is done, time to continue onward.
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The dust was so thick I was using a shop vac to get up the majority of it -
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Better, but the walls were permanently pink, even when I moved out.
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Uh oh -
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My first attempt at bodywork (using the extremely crappy bondo brand body filler) -
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At this point its taken a lot longer than the one week I thought it would take, so I started getting worried about rust. I got some mineral spirits and a can of rustoleum and put a light coat on the metal to keep it protected while I did the rest of the bodywork -
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I had now figured out if I put a plastic wall up all the dust stays in one area. Genius!
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This cant be good -
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You can see where the antenna used to be. I welded that up and you'd have no idea it was ever there now. Also these flares I paid $300 fit like shit.
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Well, I had to cut the wheel well out to make room for the tires. Didnt want to sacrifice structural rigidity, so with the help of a 4lb hammer, I beat the inner fender liner into position and welded it back to the body.
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There's where the stock wheel well would have been
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A little bit of trimming and the flares arent nearly as bad -
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Test fitting -
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My first dat ass shot -
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Not sure why this is here but its the flap I use as a door to get from one side of the plastic wall to the other.
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I put some threaded pop rivets into the body and coated it with rhino liner to help absorb some of the road noise
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Dont be fooled - its actually glued to the metal not the black liner. I went and sanded a section for the glue to adhere directly to the body. The glue is a two part epoxy meant specifically for adhering fiberglass to metal. Used commonly when repairing corvettes. The bolts are also held in with loctite and barbed lock washers.
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Short hair fiberglass filler. Allows for a little bit of flex without cracking.
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Had to fill in the gap in the wheel well somehow. Here's my first attempt at laying fiberglass -
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Getting ready to start sanding fiberglass for the first time. Pay specific attention to my footwear -
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Of course now I just wear a respirator, but you can never be too careful your first time.
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Ya, I
might be doing bodywork in the garage
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'Skim' coat of bondo to finish it off. God what was I thinking -
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