I'm not a metal man but...

[OldWarHorse300]

...and next right rear quarter..it looks pretty good but I wanted to check it. It was better than expected but still some small rust found there. This time I tested tig welding or should I say tig melting. I did sheet metal patch with butt join and just melted in place and some pin holes needed a little bit silicone bronze, I'm happy with a result!
Now it's ready for sandblasting and paint.
Regards
Mika

 

[OldWarHorse300]

Trunk lid hinges repaired, right side hinge was in wrong angle and that's why trunk lid doesn't fit in place. Hinge support plate need to remove and correct the place and angle. Panel under dutchman was rusty but after sandblasting it wasn't bad at all. Front floors also started...and same time a little side project. Cheap Chinese bead roller now supported, motorized with inverter and it only needs " gas pedal " to operate it.
Regards
Mika

 

[OldWarHorse300]

Time for "acid party "! ( ..oh no, no drugs here..).
Roof finally repaired and now time for phosphoric acid . I want all rust removed from small pinholes and phosphoric acid will do the job. It takes around 3 hours to remove all rust. First I sanded and wire brushed most of rust away and then acid.
It works quite well and after drying, surface sanded with coarse sandpaper.
Then it's time for epoxy primer, now all small pin holes are filled with primer. Now I leave it to dry and when paint work starts ( that will take loooong time..)there is good foundation to work with.
All edges need sandblasting but that is easy part and will be done afterwards.
Regards,
Mika

After acid

And now pour man's "vinyl top " is ready!!

 

[65sporty]

How do you neutralize the acid after it's applied? Water? Doesn't is start to rust again? I have wondered about using acid.

 

[OldWarHorse300]

@65sporty , yes you can with water but you don't have to and now we talking about phosphoric acid. After treatment I wiped the surface with paper towels and left to dry to the next day. Surface is now covered with iron phosphate ( dark gray in colour), now sanding and painting. I even called to paint manufacturer about this and they said it's ok .
Phosphating is used in many fields before painting. Ofcourse the industrial process is different but idea is same .
...BUT ALL OTHER ACIDS ( AT LEAST, CITRIC ACID AND HYDROCHLORIC ACID ) MUST NEUTRALIZE AFTER USING.
Citric is ok to work with but like you said surface start rust again very fast without painting. Hydrochloric acid is poison and "eats" also good metal.
...remember, I'm not a metal man..
nor am I a chemist!
Regards
Mika

 

[65sporty]

@65sporty , yes you can with water but you don't have to and now we talking about phosphoric acid. After treatment I wiped the surface with paper towels and left to dry to the next day. Surface is now covered with iron phosphate ( dark gray in colour), now sanding and painting. I even called to paint manufacturer about this and they said it's ok .
Phosphating is used in many fields before painting. Ofcourse the industrial process is different but idea is same .
...BUT ALL OTHER ACIDS ( AT LEAST, CITRIC ACID AND HYDROCHLORIC ACID ) MUST NEUTRALIZE AFTER USING.
Citric is ok to work with but like you said surface start rust again very fast without painting. Hydrochloric acid is poison and "eats" also good metal.
...remember, I'm not a metal man..
nor am I a chemist!
Regards
Mika

I googled it, I should have done that first. I see that it's used in rust converters, there is food grade also.

 

[OldWarHorse300]

..and then trunk floor..it needs work too.
First I made new pairs of a bead roller dies , specially for this job,because of the shape of these beads. But, but, but it didn't work for me. The shape is somehow too deep and sheet metal just bends, even I pre stretched the panel with English wheel. Sooo.. I made new tool for this.
Pair of square tubes and under them pair of square metal bars and "hammering tool " for air hammer.
Now the panels stays flat and beads are quite similar like factory ones.
To be continued...
Mika

 

[Promiscuitto]

You say you're not a metal man but the quality of your work is spectacular and amazing. Beautiful! Keep up the great work and thank you for sharing.

 

[RGORHAM29]

Be careful....members in this forum will start ordering some repro metal work from you. I will be first in line.

 

[OldWarHorse300]

Now it's just a matter of the size of the dollar stack
....
Mika

 

[1970cat]

looks great. how did you make the rounded ends of the beads ?

 

[OldWarHorse300]

@1970cat
Thanks, there is picture of a tool where the panel is on the anvil. " The tool" is just piece of regular heating pipe, one end is "modified" with a cut, so now that end looks like letter C. Now you can
reshape the bead ends with this tool and hammer.
Another tip from Lazze metal shaping, he is one of those real Metal Men of the internet.
Regards
Mika

 

[67 300]

Beautiful work my friend!

 

[John Reddie]

This is auto body fabrication at its best. Excellent work. Thank you for posting.
John

 

[barnfind]

As always nice work Mika!
Fitzees fabrication is one I check out on you tube. Straight forward work, breaks down complex pieces into parts, done with simple tools.

 

[71Polara383]

Very very nice work!

 

[OldWarHorse300]

Thanks a lot guys!...and thanks for the tip @barnfind , Fitzees fabrications, I will check that out. There is many skillful "Metal Men" and you can really learn from them.

 

[tbm3fan]

As always nice work Mika!
Fitzees fabrication is one I check out on you tube. Straight forward work, breaks down complex pieces into parts, done with simple tools.

I ran across his videos last weekend. He does take a seemingly more complex job/shape and break it down into individual pieces to then make the whole piece. I think he is highly informative.

 

[OldWarHorse300]

Trunk floor done. Again, I used CNC for tooling.
I liked to keep factory look. Also tip of to day: if you're using weld-through primer paint between two panels ,it helps if you remove the primer from spot welds before welding . Weld-throug primer is designed basically for spot welder but if you're using it with MIG welder it's better remove it. Simple tool for this job is "machine file", just use it like drill bit.
Regards
Mika

 

[3175375]

Trunk floor done. Again, I used CNC for tooling.
I liked to keep factory look. Also tip of to day: if you're using weld-through primer paint between two panels ,it helps if you remove the primer from spot welds before welding . Weld-throug primer is designed basically for spot welder but if you're using it with MIG welder it's better remove it. Simple tool for this job is "machine file", just use it like drill bit.
Regards
MikaView attachment 440391View attachment 440392View attachment 440393View attachment 440396View attachment 440397

Fabulous work!