Just me but I would check out other peoples work and experience most have a Project car in the project section not all advise is good advise even mine!

If it were mine I would use 80 grit On DA or a large 3M Stripper pad on a grinder & clean off bad filler area one at a time to clean bare metal and get a good look at what your up against first.

No need to strip whole car or all the paint off at this time. take one repair at a time.
May have to order patch panels and or make some patches and do some welding, my point being dont go crazy till you know what your up against, take care of the rust first.
Finding parts for an old Gutless Cutless gonna be hard enough. no need to have a stripped out and half sanded out car sitting in garage or drive way forever for impossible to find parts or lack of funds.

Once you start into the real body work of the car your likely to find more accident damage. Just me but I would avoid Stripper at all costs, I made a Thread up a while back about the 3M stripper pads they work really good and take paint and filler off rite now and don't damage the metal.

PS I always wanted a old 442 myself

Good advice here guys...

I finally bit the bullet and cleaned off the rear lower front fenders and also the rear quarters, looks like I will be doing some patch panels. The drivers quarter is by far the worst, I bet the passenger quarter looks ugly on the inside just not rusted through yet so might as well do both. Good news is there are aftermarket front fender lower patch panels and also rear quarter skins about $500 for the set. I am going to tackle the front fenders first as I think they will be easier, then for the rear quarters I think I am going to replace the lips and maybe the lower 4-6 inches on both sides. I think this will be a better fix as I can then leave majority of the original panel intact and not run into as many fitment issues with the trunk, doors, etc... Good news is they aren't as bad as I had been having nightmares about and the rockers appear to be ok also so what do you think?

Just Block the existing materials on the car fix dents and what have you, as you break into the metal at random spots look at the edge of the material and the metal where they meet, if you see little circles in the material, it maybe all over the car and the new paint could be problems sooner then later. but if good then continue. Grind down rust looking spots to metal, if repair is needed then fix as you see fit. 2k the car and re-sand, then seal and paint. Its not the right way, but you can get many years from the paint job. ( I do this for flips and jobs that are around 3k)

I am planning to go to bare metal for the whole car, I have so much time, effort and cash already into this project that I just want to do it right. I also enjoy working on it so it it takes me a few months to get it to the point that it is ready for color that is just fine as it will keep me busy. I ordered a bunch of stuff from Eastwood including a Epoxy primer, etc and also ordered the front fender patch panels and new quarters from Rockauto as they were the best price.

I have seen people that go bare metal on the entire car
then give it a layer of primer, then do any filler work and then do the regular primer, block sand , primer, block sand, etc...
OR
I could do the filler work on the bare metal and then do the regular primer, block sand , primer, block sand, etc...

Is there any advantage to primer before or after filler work?

It's a matter of preference, really. I like to do filler work on the metal because that was the way I was taught and epoxy primers, like those available now, didn't exist back then. But, if it's a long term project and there is any risk of rust then epoxy before primer has the advantage of protecting the surface in the intervening period. Also it allows easier use of guide coat

Got one of the front fenders done, went pretty smooth, learned lots so I think the 2nd fender will be easier. Originally cut the whole bottom half off but the "patch panel" didn't quite have the same gaps for the door so I decided to re-attach the original edge on that side...This will be good practice for the quarters.

Well had a productive weekend, got both of the front fender's repaired and moved onto the dreaded drivers quarter panel, this is the one that was an ugly rusty bondo mix that the previous owner attempted to patch. Looks the the outer wheelhousing lip is also rusted through so I'll be needing to replace that also. Overall the existing quarter is in good shape with only the lip and the rear lower having rust issues.

Looking for advice on what direction to go with this, I ordered a full quarter skin but I found this similar repair where they went the route of just replacing the lip and lower rear instead of the full quarter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgLBSte7Y8M

Nobody has any advice?

bainer1290 wrote:Got one of the front fenders done, went pretty smooth, learned lots so I think the 2nd fender will be easier. Originally cut the whole bottom half off but the "patch panel" didn't quite have the same gaps for the door so I decided to re-attach the original edge on that side...This will be good practice for the quarters.

IMG_20150102_160600.jpg

IMG_20150102_163219.jpg

IMG_20150102_174321.jpg

Fender should be removed for patch repair.
Patch fitted to door before final welding. Buttwelded patch should look like this one I did above the bodyline.

That fender does look a little more pretty than mine, thanks for that info but a little late for my fenders.

What about the quarter panel lip replacement vs whole quarter skin?