Straight 57 Nomad

Show off your work! Anything from final results to full start-to-finish project journals.

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PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:15 pm
The Rock wrote:
Yes Tim, you are right, that is just epoxy on the metal. I laid the pictures out in sequence and didn't think it necessary to mention that.



I misspoke, I called the primer "paint", obviously its primer. Still a shame, the metal was gorgeous... you do great work. :goodjob:

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PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:26 pm
How many coats of epoxy might it take to fill all the file and grind marks fred?
Never argue with an idiot, he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.



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PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 9:02 pm
Not many file marks on it and any grinder marks are just from grinding some of the welds. It wasn't a pick and file job.
Here is a couple of 1/2" holes that had plugs welded in to close the holes. No filler rod was used, so no grinding or filing was necessary.


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But the stud gun did leave some marks when pulling out some of the dents and creases and those did need some extra epoxy. And I have a 40 year old worn out straight file that I use just to shine the metal a little so I can see better.


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And the same door after two coats of epoxy and sanding


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Tim, you should go back and read and look at the pictures, I don't want to bore these guys with the same old stuff.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 10:07 am
Prob two coats I imagine should do it then. :clap:
Never argue with an idiot, he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.



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PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 10:07 pm
Why are you doing bodywork with primer,and epoxy at that :shocked: I just don't see the point of using primer as a substitute for a little bodyfiller,you are asking way too much from an epoxy,a sprayable polyester would have been more appropriate.To me that door looks pretty rough,maybe you should have picked and filed.....but hey what do I know :pcorn:



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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:04 am
Just something I want to do.
Yeah, I hated to use the stud welder and make those marks in the metal, but I couldn't get access to those areas good enough to swing the dolly.
To me, pick and file is a hit and miss thing and I have done it before but it leaves the metal thin. When I first tried it (on a Ford of course :shock: ) the metal was filed all the way through at one point.
And at this point in life I'm retired and don't need to make a living at this, and don't need to rush.



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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:43 am
You don't use the file to take off metal only to find your highs and lows,if you have to file it that thin you are doing it wrong.To me its about doing it properly,not making a living........
my 2 cents....



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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 9:31 am
Jay, this thing has been a learning experience for me and I haven't tried to pretend to have much experience at any of this. In retrospect, I should have cut the pull pins off and ground them smooth instead of twisting them off, since they were so soildly on, or I could have fashioned some type of pry bar with a block of wood for leverage and pushed that dent and the two creases out. I find it much better to push rather than pull, to get a smoother finish and easier too. When access allows.

As for pick and file, yes I agree about the proper idea of it, but the reality is usually different. Back in 1974 after reading about an instructor who taught the old ways of doing body work, I put my career on hold and drove my 55 chevy with 327 4 spd from Michigan to California and took one semester in auto body at Santa Monica city college.

It was just a big cloud of bondo dust there just like at all the body shops and nothing like what I had read about, but he did take time to show the class how to use lead --then said forget it--and because I asked, he showed me a little about metal finishing. The instructor was in his sixtys and had obviously been around a long time, so after showing the general idea of pick and file, he filed it smooth, so I practiced that on a 56 Ford that I picked up for my brother and kept filing it smooth. I did what my instructor told me to do, he just didn't have time to check up on me often enough. There were no bulls eye picks back then it was just the pick end of a hammer (hit and miss) mostly miss, and thats why I filed through. If you watch one of Ron Covell's videos he is working on a boat tail body, fabricating, welding in hole plugs, and metal finishing, and its the same thing, he uses a bulls eye pick so there just isn't as many misses. After the semester was over at Santa Monica I went back to my career because he said nobody is going to pay you to do metal work, bondo is just too easy and quick.

Once you start with the pick and file its just too tempting to keep filing a little more to get the pick peaks filed off, because at that point you don't want to start hammering again its just too close to being finished. To Ron's credit I will say that he stops at some point and he will just let the rest of the small low spots go. Ron was a big help with tig welding.

Then I found the (Tin Man) Kent White, he is truly a metal man. He is probably 70 now and he learned from the old timers at Harrahs museum, well known years ago for their great metal work on the classics. I learned from his videos to get rid of the picks and that you can use a hammer and dolly and get those low spots out and I don't need a sharp body file to tell me where they are, so I use a very old worn out straight file to shine the surface.

So I'm sorry you don't approve of my work Jay, life got in the way of doing this kind of work until the last few years and I'm still learning, but your comments are duly noted. I admit that none of us is too old or too experienced or too overloaded with so-called internet knowledge to learn more, and there is always room for improvement on any project, even an amature like me could show you things on your Chevelle that could have been done better. They are just never perfect and there are many different ways of getting to the same end result. You have ways that you consider proper and for good reason, and the restoration world has ways that they consider proper, but I've learned that they vary greatly in the restoration business.

Some of the collision techs say there is no difference and I think it depends on the one doing the work, some if not most of the resto shops do operate the same as collision, but some of the differences I have noticed is epoxy-v-etch, tig or gas-v-mig, more cure time before sanding, and more metal work to name a few.

Jay, its obvious that you have a lot of knowledge and experience and I have a lot of respect for that, your comments are always welcome.
Last edited by chevman on Sun Nov 25, 2012 7:42 am, edited 1 time in total.



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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:27 pm
You can say what ever you want about my chevelle Fred,but keep in mind I built it as a driver to have fun with and enjoy,not a concours restoration.The paint is pretty close to as perfect as you can get out of the gun,thats why I never cut and buffed,panel gaps are perfect and the panels are dead straight.I have had numerous people (amateurs and resto experts) tell me to show it,but I have no interest in that.
I also disagree with you and your analogy of metal finishing,completely different than how I was taught.I think it is fair to say we don't agree on many things so I will leave it at that.
For the record I am super anal about all of my work,if its not done right I won't do it........



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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:05 pm
None are perfect Jay, thats all I was saying. From what I saw I think yours would have to be one of the nicest drivers around. My intention was not to offend you or in any way diminish the work you do.
I wish you well!
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