1968 Plymouth GTX

Installed the tachometer.
The plastic lens has some deep scratches on the left side and a couple of small pits. For now I plan to live with it but will keep my eye out for a better quality one. Finding them with the actual 150 mph difficult and/or expensive.
Tach Installed.JPG
 
68, you could try sanding and clearing the plastic. Won't be perfect but it should lessen the scratches quite a bit.
 
Decided to work on my driver's door some while the weather is still on the wet side.
Banged on the lower and front edges to get them straight then started stripping the paint. Wanted to try something different so I put some 40 grit on a long board and started sanding to see what kind of shape the door was in.

The car was covered in gray primer when I got it. So the gray is the top layer thus indicating the lower spots in the surface metal.

Driver's door lower.JPG


These doors on not straight front to back but have a slight concave form to them. So from the front edge of the door to about 30" a straightedge should lay flat when dragged from the bottom edge of the door to the top edge. From that 30" mark to the back of the door should do the same.

Here you can see bare metal showing with valleys of blue paint.
Driver's door top.JPG


I would like to try and work the metal on this car and use only epoxy primer on it. I am assuming some filler will still be necessary but to eliminate the build primer on this car would be a great accomplishment for me.
So my question is, should I spend the time to bump those low areas up now or just strip everything and shoot a couple of coats of epoxy and start from there?
Driver's door center section.JPG
 
I'm probably not the best person to answer this question, but that looks like nearly every restoration I start with. Right or wrong, I usually get the metal relatively straight by blocking as you are to locate highs and lows, then using a stud gun and hammer and dolly. When it as straight as I can get it using those methods, I finish stripping and get epoxy on it to prevent any corrosion. I don't have the skills to metal finish, but I shoot for finishing with 1-2 thin coats of filler, max. I believe I could repair most of my metal work with epoxy only with many rounds of blocking, but getting a customer to pay for the amount of time it would take to do it would be tough. Maybe one day I will try it, and just eat the excess labor, just to see if it would be feasible at least on some panels.
 
Many ways to go about it, personally I would strip it and then if you plan to try and get it close in metal use something like Dykem to help you with the highs and lows. Work the big/worst spots on the panel, apply the dykem like a guide coat (it dries quickly) and sand it with a block to highlight your highs and lows. Get your big spots done then dykem the whole panel, sand it lightly and follow what that tells you. At some point you'll need to assemble everything and work your gaps and panel fit. Get everything gapped, fitted and straight, take it apart and epoxy. That would be my preference. You can rough it out while it's in the present stage but getting it close is easier if it's all metal. Easier to see what you have to do.
Perhaps Will, @W.A.R. could share what he does. I know he metalfinishes from some of the pics he posted here and he uses Dykem as well.
 
Found the thread where Will (W.A.R) shared some of his work.

What's going on at W.A.R.(Will's Auto Restoration)

Just some of the stuff I've done.....past, present and future. Some past work. 1927 Stutz Blackhawk 1917 Franklin 1936 Cadillac V16 Limo 1953 Lincoln Capri 1951 Kaiser Deluxe Golden Dragon 1920 Lone Star More later.
www.spiuserforum.com

Scroll down where he shows pics of the VW Bus Roof. Top notch.
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

Well I have a can of Dykem but doubt seriously that will get me those results. LOL
AIso have a slapper, shrinking discs, stud puller and assorted body hammers and dollies. It's the talent that I am lacking apparently.

Tried bumping a spot up but reaching through a hole in the door panel and trying to hit the right spot by feel when the depressions are so slight is very difficult. Plus I cannot get a dolly on the opposite side because my arms are not long enough.

I have a video by Wray Schelin showing how to use the shrinking discs so I guess the rest is just trial and error.
 
Be careful how you use that shrinking disc. Very easy to get carried away with it and end up with a mess. If you have a torch you wont' really need a shrinking disc except in very rare instances. Peter Tommasini has a new video out that would be perfect for what you want to do. Topics are hot shrinking, panel beating (working out dents, bumping etc) and file finishing. It's available here: It is DVD Series #10 and is approximately $38.00 shipping included.
 
I'm a Chevy fan for all time...first Gen. Camaro's & Chevelles are my loves. But, I've always said if I were ever to get a Mopar (besides my Jeep) it would be the 60's GTX or Roadrunners. I find they have the best looking body styles.
 
Hey 68- I just browsed this entire thread munching lunch. Loved the pics & explanations.
Question- quarter panel skins stayed put?
 
EddieF said:
Hey 68- I just browsed this entire thread munching lunch. Loved the pics & explanations.
Question- quarter panel skins stayed put?
Click to expand...

Yes sir. I try to keep as much of the original metal as possible. The roof skin and floor pans were heavily rusted so replacement panels were ordered.
I will need to do some smaller patches on the lower quarter panels when I get to work on the car again.
Right now just tinkering with the driver's door while I wait for the weather to dry up enough to pull the 2000 Dodge Dakota out of my yard.
 
So I spent a few hours working the metal to remove low spots.

Began with this:
Driver's door top.JPG


Started at the front of the door and worked my way back and things were going pretty good.
D Door metal working.JPG


Was pretty happy until I got to this spot:
D Door bad spot.JPG

Up until here I hadn't used the Dykem and so I thought I would give it a try.
Ended up applying it over an larger area to try and see how to fix this mess.
This was the third application as I kept trying to work those low spots up.
D Door Dykem round 3.JPG


I spent longer on this spot than I did the entire door up until this point.
Sad to say it doesn't measure up to my goal of perfection. Trying to reach up under there through a hole in the interior side of the door was killing my arm so needed to quit for the day.
Not sure if I made it better or worse!
D Door bad spot progress.JPG

D Door bad spot 1.JPG


Order the Tommasini DVD today.
 
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