What the hell!

[Not Happy Jan]

Hi Everyone.
Last weekend I had an epihany. There were just too many little things that needed fixing so I decided to pull the whole thing apart and start anew. It has had a previous restoration and I was not sure of the quality of that job so the best thing to do was do it myself. Well most of it I hope. There were too many things covered up that would come back to haunt me
I started pulling it apart this weekend and got a bit of the way through.
My idea at this stage is to get it sandblasted back to bare metal and then take if form there.



This is the car when I bought it last year some time.



Looks good on the outside. Not much rust really.

Day one of the strip down


Took out the headling and was quite clean underneath.



worst bit of rust that I've found so far



old repair job.



More to come. And no doubt plenty of questions!!!!????
Nick

[Mc Bean]

Hi Nick,
Chin up, I am sure a lot of other FC owners have been through the same scenario (I have). Remember they say their is light at the end of the tunnel.

Cheers Andy.

[Paul In Ireland]

And if you can see light at the end of the tunnel you have a rusty floor!

[pedro]

And if you can see light at the end of the tunnel you have a rusty floor!

::) ::) :D :D

G'day Nick, good to see another wagon, she looks almost identical to mine when i started, a lot less rust by the look of it though, hope you don't find any of the surprises i did when i had mine sandblasted.
                             Pedro

[Not Happy Jan]

Thanks Guys
Car is in Port Macquarie  ( moved up three months ago)and I work in Sydney during the week so progress will be a bit slow especially with trying to organise the sandblasting etc.
There is one in town and one in Wauchope. I'm going to give them a ring. The Wauchope mob offers pick up and drop off... Not literally I hope.
In the vast experience that this site has what is the go with transporting the chassis. Ideally wheels off engine out etc. Just the bare frame.
Next purchase item will probably be an engine stand and a rotisserie???
I'll keep the pictures coming. Bit bigger next time.... Bigger pictures generates bigger replies. LOL  :)
Just for interest this is my other child



hmmmm won't go bigger ???

[FC427]

I have moved body shells to the blaster on my 8 x 5 box trailer with just a few 4 x 3 under it and 4 guys to load unload it ....FC427.....

[FATBOY]

I took my ek ute to the blasters on my rotisserie on my car trailer blaster luved it for ease of doing the hard bits
regards fat

[Mc Bean]

Hi Nick

If you are after a rotisserie in the near future send me a pm, we brought a brand new one the other week & fitted the van to it yesterday. All going well should be finished with it in 3 to 4 weeks time-complete with clamps to suite wagon or van.

Cheers Andy.

[FC427]

Hi Nick

If you are after a rotisserie in the near future send me a pm, we brought a brand new one the other week & fitted the van to it yesterday. All going well should be finished with it in 3 to 4 weeks time-complete with clamps to suite wagon or van.

Cheers Andy.

Andy would I be able to hire it from you in a few months after nick for my Ute rebuild live in Sydney can pick up and drop of saves me making one understand if it's not possible ...FC427....

[Mc Bean]

Hi FC427

I just sent Nick a pm and I'll see what he would like to do first, when we work it out I will get in contact with you. Hopefully we can come up with an arrangement to suite us all.

Cheers Andy.

[Not Happy Jan]

Just read all of Pedro's journey... Very Nice too Pedro!
I rang an panel shop in Wauchope today that has a blasting business too and he said that he could fit me in a couple of weeks to strip the paint off. Now I'm not so sure that that is the way to go due to panel warping etc. It is a panel shop so I may have to go and take a look at his operation first. Its just hard organising things on the phone when your in Sydney during the week.
There is a mob in Taree that say they specialise in just doing old cars! Otherwise stripper and gladwrap followed by a plastic remover disc!??? :-\ At least i can keep the costs down. He said about $800 to do the whole car.

Would you recommend I try the rust repairs myself being a novice welder??? I have a CIG tradesman's arc welder! which I think may be too powerful? What are the recommendations /suggestions ???
Andy... haven't had a chance to call but am still definitely interested in the rotisserie!!!! :)

[pedro]

Just tell the sandblaster not to touch the panels Nick, only around the edges, sorry but an arc welder isn't suitable for this kind of work you'll need a mig or oxy set, if you can weld with arc you'll love the mig very easy to work with and no flux just nice smooth welds.
                    Pedro

[EffCee]

Nick,

Get a reputable sandblaster, I had asked around with some of the guys from work as I had done what Pedro suggested above, in order to avoid warped panels. I had stripped all the panels and just asked the blaster to do the edges, quote was $200.00 and I was told that I could pick the car up the following day.

10 days later I got the car back, in the meantime it had sat out in the rain and had become all rusty, I had been out on several occasions to talk to the blaster who assured me that he would fix everyhting and remove all the rust. He took on a mojor job and finished that before he got to mine. As a result I was off work, hoping top get the shell painted and significant work done on the shell while I was off.

When it was returned to me, it was all blasted, no warped panels, the blaster was very apologetic and charged the $200.00 quoted, for a first class job.

The annoyance was with the time taken, however the quality of the job was second to none.

Keith

[FCRB26]

If you can oxy weld a good cheap high frequency tig would also be good i use tig for everything
especially with the price of oxy and acetylene tig uses not much gas at all.


i use one every day which helps good control of size of welds and penetration.

[Not Happy Jan]

Thanks for the input.
Which leads me to another question. How quickly do you need to get a coat of primer on after taking back to bare metal??? I have read that it will oxidise almost immediatley?? and it should be covered as quick as possible. Also primers absorb moisture too so It shouldn't stay on long  without a bit of a top coat
Trying to work out the order in which to do things and the timings ???
I might look around for a Tig welder. Are there major differences between models/ brands etc???
Bunnings had a few in the last time I looked and I don't think that they were too expensive.
I don't have that much rust... may pay to get someone to do that ???? Just like the idea of doing it myself.... but I 'm dead set have to do a good job if I post my progress!!!!!

Pedro.... around the tail gate where the lip is to secure the seal... what did you do to fix up the lip where you cut that section out???

My problem is I think about it too much and by the time I get home I get lost on what I'm trying to do!!!!

I also noted Pedro that you left the steering column in! Was going to pull mine out this weekend

[snuff69]

Hi NIck  I got my whole car sand blasted, it had alot of surface rust! cost about $1000.00. It was a realy good job with no panel damage at all. You need to get primer on the car ASAP after it is blasted. I took mine straight to the fellow who painted my car and he put 2 pak primer on it. He said the 2 pak does'nt absorb moisture like normal primer, and you can put filler over it without going back to metal. Taking out the steering column is pretty easy, just need to make sure you take notes for the wiring.  Dave

[pedro]

I also noted Pedro that you left the steering column in! Was going to pull mine out this weekend

It's a bit hard to take the front end off without moving the steering column Nick ;), if you look back to when mine went to the sandblasters there was nothing on the old girl at all, a mate and I lifted and slid her up on to a wooden floored car trailer, a good sandblaster will strip and prime your wagon and for around $1200.
     Pedro

[Not Happy Jan]

Ok I have decided on a course of action after all you posts my reading and talking to a few panel beater mates.
I am going to use stripper and discs and do it myself. I am going to do bit by bit and fix up all rust in little sections as I go. I'm going to but a tig welder 150 to fix up the rust issues. Once I get a rotisserie that will be a snack.
I'm confident of using acrylic and will do it in that. and do it original colours. India Ivory and Panama red.Great combo!!!!
Keep it original as possible!
My major concern is the welding but worse comes to worse  I can get an retired mate to weld it for me, but i think i can do a good job. Can only try.  Can't wait to geet stuck into it now.. my plan is evolving. Not till easter .. Wish i was in orange though! next nationals!

[FC_fer_me]

Hi Nick, good on you for having a go. With the welding just practice first on some sheetmetal scraps. You'll soon get the hang of it and get to know which settings are the best for different thickness materials. Also have you thought of having the panels soda blasted? It removes all the paint , exposes any rust and leaves the panels very smooth and does not warp them. Look forward to more updates. Cheers. Jack

[Not Happy Jan]

. Also have you thought of having the panels soda blasted?