68 el Camino Resto-Mod

[jlcustomz]

Like the trunklid. Different & functional is always cool. On my widebody camaro nose el camino, I stated designing bedcover hinges to lift the entire bedcover straight up about 3' to allow a small bike to fit under it & strong enough to drive on the highway that way.

When bodyworking the bed floor, the straightness of the angled sides of the ribs is probably even more important than the tops & recesses.

 

[Dean Jenkins]

Been working on getting the bed smooth enough for bedliner.
Tried doing it dent by dent. Bad plan, too many levels, it will never get flat that way.
So, I'm just skimming the whole thing.
With the custom blocks I made, it sands out pretty well.
Trying to spread filler in the valleys and on the ribs was making a mess.
Finally got the idea to modify a spreader. Works great!

 

[Dean Jenkins]

Finally almost ready to shoot bedliner on this thing and finish the bed.
Four rounds of filler to get it to an acceptable state.
Today I taped off the bed to sidewall gap and applied seam sealer.
No matter what it is sticky, messy stuff.
Came out ok though.
I'll let that cure, then a sealer coat of epoxy and then shoot the Raptor bedliner.
It would be more prudent to hold off on the Raptor until after final paint, but I want to see how it looks. Visible progress darn it!
And it will be easy to cover while I'm sanding and painting the body.

 

[MJM]

That dash came out AWESOME !!!......lots of thought, effort, and skill went into that custom fabrication. I'm in awe seeing what you have done. The custom trunk was another "thinking outside of the box" idea. Very well executed. This El Camino is now a 1 of 1 but, I have a feeling your ideas will be used by other El Camino owners.

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading this.
Two thumbs up!

 

[Dean Jenkins]

That dash came out AWESOME !!!......lots of thought, effort, and skill went into that custom fabrication. I'm in awe seeing what you have done. The custom trunk was another "thinking outside of the box" idea. Very well executed. This El Camino is now a 1 of 1 but, I have a feeling your ideas will be used by other El Camino owners.

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading this.
Two thumbs up!

Very kind words. Thanks! Doing my best and learning as I go. I cannot believe the video of the dash project has over 1K view on YouTube. Apparently others are interested. I've been shooting video of the "trunk" project and will edit and post it when it is done. Hopefully helpful to someone. I've picked up some really helpful stuff on YouTube (after filtering through the 'noise') and am happy if I can give something back.

 

[Dean Jenkins]

Going to finally shoot Raptor bedliner tomorrow.
I let the seam sealer cure 5 days, then shot final epoxy and it will have 48 hour cure.
Patience is hard! But probably worth it.
Was trying to figure out how to get optimum spray angles with the Shultz type gun.
Finally came up with this platform to kneel on when shooting the front. Should work.
Wish me luck!

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

I have shot this stuff a few times now. The key is to get your PSI to the gun set correctly and maintain consistent distance from the panel. It calls for 40-60 psi and that range determines heavy texture or lighter texture.

It's actually quite easy to shoot and your confidence will grow as you move along.

I experimented with the brush on technique. If you brush it on and then pat the area with the side of the brush, it removes all the brush marks and lays down just fine.

 

[Dean Jenkins]

I have shot this stuff a few times now. The key is to get your PSI to the gun set correctly and maintain consistent distance from the panel. It calls for 40-60 psi and that range determines heavy texture or lighter texture.

It's actually quite easy to shoot and your confidence will grow as you move along.

I experimented with the brush on technique. If you brush it on and then pat the area with the side of the brush, it removes all the brush marks and lays down just fine.

Oh, I went total OCD on getting the settings for the texture I want.
Shot 48 permutations of tip setting, pressure and distance to dial it in.

 

[Dean Jenkins]

Got the Raptor shot, 2 good coats.
My filler work to get the dents in the bed and fender wells fixed paid off. So did my experimenting with settings for texture.

I think it came out great. Just what I wanted. Only took 5 weeks, for the bed...
Now to let it dry, then install the trunk lid and hinges and this part of the project is DONE.

 

[Evil_Fiz]

Well done, I doubt the pictures do it justice. Five weeks is nothing when the outcome is such.

-----
Emil

 

[Dean Jenkins]

Well done, I doubt the pictures do it justice. Five weeks is nothing when the outcome is such.

-----
Emil

Thanks. I just keep trying to remember what I started with . . . this picture doesn't do justice for how banged up the bed and fender wells were. Ended up skimming the whole thing with filler and then another 3 round of refinement. No wonder it took some time.

 

[DanMcG]

Wow, that came out nice, great job!

 

[El Toro]

Really looks good

 

[RosharonRooster]

Looks great

 

[Dean Jenkins]

The custom trunk project is finished. Pretty happy with how it came out.
Now I can move on to getting the body ready for paint.

Here is a short video showing how it works

 

[Dean Jenkins]

Working on the passenger door now.
This is going to be a good challenge for me, going to push my fabrication and welding to the limit.

Here is the rust perforation on the door skin:

It's like that on both edges, front and back. Wouldn't be a big challenge just to weld in some patches, but the problem is the door frame behind that has rust perforations as well.

So that all has to be replaced.
I removed to door skin to check it out.
And of course, it's never easy.
There is a heavy gauge bracket spot welded right behind this section that the door hinge bolts to.

So, after an hour or so with the spot weld cutter, I got the bracket out, without bending everything out of shape. That is a good thing!

Now to cut out the rusted area and fabricate and weld in new metal.
There are 5 surfaces and 4 major bends.
I know I'll never be able to create a continuous piece that will fit perfectly.
My thought is to do it in sections, basically cut each plane, radius the edge, and then weld them together.

Here is a very crude drawing, the idea is to cut 5 pieces and then weld them together.
I'll cut out each section at a time and then use it as a template and test the new pieces for fit, then tack them in.

Open to any thoughts on that.

 

[DanMcG]

Any chance of finding a used door to cut a patch out of, or aftermarket patch panel?

 

[OJ86]

My immediate thoughts would be to contact this place https://www.dvap.com/salvage/1968-chevrolet-impala-68ch3394d/ and see if they have any clean doors.

I have bought from them a few times when I couldn't find the parts elsewhere.

 

[chevman]

You may just want to repair the doors you have, if not......
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/530377848419750/?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp:d68c4b5a-2b38-49b3-9f69-8bc43549a820

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/418793093345013/?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp:d68c4b5a-2b38-49b3-9f69-8bc43549a820

 

[Dean Jenkins]

Good suggestions about looking for a replacement door.
Spent 2 days looking. Nothing close to me. The ones available are about $700 with shipping.
So, I'll try to fix this one.
Decided to just "plate" the rusted area, weld new metal over it.
Here are the pieces I cut, shaped and spot welded in.
So far so good. Now to finish the welding and clean up with grinding.