Finally some progress

[4thgen57]

Finally doing some work. Working on filling in the trim holes in the fenders to go on  my custom. Don't laugh, this is my first attempt at any kind of body work. also stripped the front seat frame. Wife is gonna try to reupholster the front bench and put it back in the car for the first time in 15 years. Any tips/advise on either of these subjects is welcomed. just glad to be back in the garage.

[rmk57]

The welding process can be a little tricky without warping the panel to much. There's always going to be some dips where the weld has sunk a bit. Try an let the weld cool before starting on the next one. Same with grinding the weld down, try and keep the heat to minimal as possible.
Good luck with your project.

Randy

[Ecode70D]

 Like rmk57 stated too much heat can cause the metal to warp.

If you haven't welded much sheet metal, keep the heat down , skip around , and go very slowly.

[4thgen57]

Ive got the heat as low as it will go. Tacked small pieces of sheet metal on the back of the holes and am working on filling them in. One tack at a time

[rmk57]

Another way to do it is to flatten out a piece of copper tubing and use a magnet to hold it in place on the back of your fender.
The copper acts as a heat sink and also will not stick to your base metal.

[Limey57]

Eastwood used to do a heat absorbing putty called "Cold front", used it several years ago and did everything it said it would and minimised distortion on a door skin when I welded in a new lower section.

[Limey57]

This is the stuff, they've changed the name a bit now:

http://www.eastwood.com/coldshield-thermal-paste.html

[gasman826]

Copper backer is good.  Keep an air hose close and use it regularly to cool the area.  Caution with grinding, grinding can create more heat and warping than welding.  After final grinding, coat with AllMetal like product to insure moisture seal.

[4thgen57]

Just trying to be patient and let things cool. How should I remove the rest of paint? sand blaster? Grinder? Going to use POR15 on the back side then a sealer/primer on front before adding filler.

[rmk57]

No to sand blasting!  A variable speed sander/ polisher with 80 grid discs, no more than 1000 rpm to avoid heating the panel. Also a good respirator.

Randy

[gasman826]

should be plenty of media blasters around Dayton Cincinnati area that use glass, plastic, walnut, cob media that is less heat producing.  The last front fender I had glass beaded was $90.  Another method is Eastwood black scotch bright discs on a 7" grinder.  I used these on much of my car with no warping.  Much cheaper and faster than DA!  Doesn't grind the metal.

[4thgen57]

Gasman, are those pads something I can buy at a local store. Not looking to pay close to $100 per fender to have blasted.

[RICH MUISE]

sand blasting can be used on some areas...just not the large expanse of metal. Sandblasting areas around bends, nooks and crannies, etc. won't cause any warpage. but I wouldn't worry too much about sandblasting the inner surface of the headlight surrounds, or the lower fender where the brace is either..places like that are a bugger to reach by mechanical methods.
I sandblasted the inside structure of my doors, but not either side of the outer skin except where the skin was folded over at the edges. Floorboards can be sandblasted, ect.
just use common sense and know that large expanses of sheetmetal will distort if sandblasted. I'm not convinced it's heat though...I've always figured the sandblasting was stress relieving the material.
#6 sand is a good grit size to use. Check with your local contractors supply. That's where I get mine.

[rmk57]

The worst thing about sand blasting is the big mess left over to clean up, unless of coarse you can do it outside.
You will also need a minimum of a 5 hp 60 gallon air compressor to keep up, it gets very tiresome waiting for the
compressor to build air every 5 minutes. I'm sure sand blasting uses more air than any other tool.

Randy

[gasman826]

Gasman, are those pads something I can buy at a local store. Not looking to pay close to $100 per fender to have blasted.

I've only seen them advertised at Eastwood.  At $22 they are expensive but will easily do the outside of a fender.  They won't work well on the inside.  After buying one (with pad) from Eastwood, I found some on eBay.  I bought two cases with a cost of $8 per disc with shipping.  I used less than half a case to do the whole exterior.  I still had the inside and rough surfaces media blasted.  The last car and the next one will go to the media guy.  The last car was delivered to the media guy on a rotisserie and was glass beaded inside and out for 800 bucks.  A lot of money but if you are tearing a car completely down and fixing everything, it will be one of your smaller costs.  After striping a complete car by hand, I think the $800 is well spent.  If you are freshening up and not doing complete tear down, look into soda blasting.  Some services will come to your site and it will not damage chrome, trim, glass, or rubber.  Messy cleanup but cheaper and does not require trim and glass removal.

http://www.eastwood.com/cleaning-disc-7.html