68 el Camino Resto-Mod

I did similar on this 69 C-10 door, except I cut the rust out.
Bottom Front Rust.JPG


Door Left metal repair.JPG


This door had already been replaced on the truck when it came to me. So I can only imaging what the original one looked like.

You do great work, the bed on that thing looks fantastic.
 
Repairs are done and got it all cleaned up and ready for epoxy.
Not very pretty, but it is strong and it won't be seen (lower front corner of the door jamb.)
I'm confident that the dimensions for the hinge and door seal are correct and that is what matters.

passenger door ready for paint.jpg


Looks better painted! Now to weld the hinge bracket back in.
For the patch pieces, I used WTP (weld through primer) because there where many small parts and overlapping metal. Just wanted to make sure there was something on the bare metal that wouldn't get epoxy.
For the bracket, I'll shoot everything in epoxy and then just grind the paint where the spot welds go, then touch them up.

passneger door in epoxy.jpg
 
Hey Dean, what did you use to strip the paint off the inside of the door? I want to do the same with a couple fenders with almost as many contours.
 
DanMcG said:
Hey Dean, what did you use to strip the paint off the inside of the door? I want to do the same with a couple fenders with almost as many contours.
Click to expand...
Had the whole car acid dipped when I started this project. That removed all paint, bondo, sealer and rust.

Now I just sand really good with 80 grit before painting.
 
Hey Dean, one of the more experienced guys on here recommended years ago to pour a little bit of epoxy into the inside of the door in the front corner to help protect it from the inside. You can use an air gun at a lower pressure to “push” the epoxy into the inner seams.
 
DavidL said:
Hey Dean, one of the more experienced guys on here recommended years ago to pour a little bit of epoxy into the inside of the door in the front corner to help protect it from the inside. You can use an air gun at a lower pressure to “push” the epoxy into the inner seams.
Click to expand...
It's a great tip and I did do that. And I put seam sealer on the lap welds, just to be sure.
 
I’ve often wondered if thinned epoxy would be a better choice over the cavity wax I’ve always used in tight areas such as original roof joints, door skins, or rockers, etc. Seems like it would creep as well as wax.
 
Got the passenger door repairs done and put the skin on.
Then did a test fit of front sheet metal.
My biggest fear was that the doors and hood would be way off and require a lot of work.
I must be living right because the fit is pretty good!
Work needed, but it looks very manageable.
Everything in black here is reproduction;
Quarter skins, door skins, fenders, hood, hood springs, core support.
Looks like it all came together pretty well.
Now to fine tune it all and work towards paint.

20220415_173541.jpg
 
Time for some SPI Epoxy.
All metal work is done and ready to shoot the shell in epoxy primer.
80 grit on bare metal, 180 grit on previously painted surfaces.
Washed it all down with Dawn soap and rinsed.
Tomorrow will mask, WG wipe down and then shoot it.
Will feel like real progress!

20220516_203038.jpg
 
All ready to shoot epoxy

20220517_180621.jpg


And epoxy on it. Minor craters in a few spots but no problem, and good coverage.

20220517_182828.jpg

20220517_182848.jpg


Kinda cool to have it all one color . . . for the moment.
Looking forward to spreading some filler and getting it smooth and straight.
The TrueBlox set I ordered showed up and I think they are going to be helpful
 
Get a 3' long chunk of plastic plumbing drain pipe to block the tops of the quarter panels.
Round shape fits the inside curve nicely. They are quite straight along the top.
 
I used a piece about 2" and change diameter.
Too big may be hard to hold. Cross hatch sanding, the diameter shouldn't really matter.
Smaller may flex a bit. A coupla sizes might be good to try.
Mine might have been central vac tube.
 
While I am working on "The best sanding blocks ever!" I continue to work on my project.
I've been fussing with the doors for nearly 2 months now. Makes me a little crazy to think about it.
Bottom line is that the doors that came with the car are unusable. They had both been hit and had significant rust and my repairs were not up to par. I just could not get them to align good enough. A lot of time and money invested in them for naught. Live and learn :mad:

So, I sourced some used OEM doors at a local (100 miles away) classic wrecking yard. These are off of a '70 el Camino which is OK. The only difference is that the door lock knobs are about 12" further forward and they have a huge side impact beam, both probably federal law things that were happening in the '70's. I actually like both changes.

These doors were $200 each and advertised as "solid." I guess that is subjective. They both had 1/2' of bondo on them, rust through on the lower front corners and were repainted at some point, with that weird green primer that has been mentioned in another post, It goo's up when you try to sand it.

So, these doors fit perfectly, but needed total rehab.

I pulled the skins off, blasted them with Red Strip coal slag from TSC, treated deep rust pits with Ospho, neutralized the Oshpo, did the metal repair and tonight shot them with 2 coats of black SPI epoxy.

Tomorrow I will flip them over, epoxy the other side, then put the new skins on.

And then, finally, I can get back to getting the car ready to paint. Wish I had "The best sanding blocks every" to use. Working on that.

Door shells repaired, prepped and ready to shoot:

Door shells ready 7-11-22.jpg


New Door skins. EDP coating is good, but I scuffed it with 180 grit and shot 2 coats of SPI epoxy. On the exterior I will strip to bare metal with 80 grit and start with SPI epoxy.

Door skins ready 7-11-22.jpg


Door shells with 2 coats of SPI epoxy. Tomorrow I will flip them over and do the other side.

Door shells epoxy 7-11-22.jpg
 
Doors are good to go now. Finally!
Working on fenders now.
Using OEM fender on passenger side, repo on drivers.
The passenger fender needed a patch in the normal place, behind the wheel.
Here's the funny thing, it had been
patched before!
Whoever did it did a nice job.
Too bad they didn't have SPI epoxy so I wouldn't have to do it again.

20220724_172947.jpg


This was my first visible body patch. Was a little nervous, but went slow, aligned everything and checked it 10 times, on the car, before welding.
Needs some touch up but I'm happy with it. Key thing is I didn't warp it and the body lines line up with the door and sill just right.
20220724_172721.jpg

In the front of the fender there is a brace that the inner fender bolts to.
It was shot.
20220724_161608.jpg


20220724_171446.jpg


I cut it out and fabbed up a new piece.
Probably a walk in the park for experienced guys, but I was pleased to pull this off.

20220724_170229.jpg

20220724_171246.jpg


Back to work. Finish welding and grind it.
 
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