Kevin Weller's Journal

I've finished the sill patch on my passenger side and while it's far from pretty it's really not bad. I think my next one is going to ten times better and take me way less time to do. The metal is not perfect of course and while I think it's close enough to just bondo over the imperfections I am going to try metal finishing it with a shrinking disk and hammer/dolly. I'm using Wray Schein's tools and techniques. I'm sure this will go badly at first like everything else but I want to see how close I can get things and minimize using filler but I'm sure I'll still need some. I sanded the patch area and covered the area with sharpie which acts as a lubricant and method to show the low spots. This should be educational LOL.

I went back and practiced my welding and touched up my welding settings and was able to really improve my outcome. Here's that patch, just focused on getting the top horizontal welding and grinding done. Very happy with the results so far.

I've been working up to this for a couple years now as I didn't have any of the skills to even attempt this. I have a few rusty spots on the right rocker and rear panel that need to be addressed. Some PO just bondo'd over some rust and of course it's bubbling through. I actually purchased a rocker to replace the entire piece but decided to try to patch first and see how that goes. I have been very intimidated to even try this. After doing my floor pans I decided I would give it a go and try to bend metal over a pipe to get the shape but I never could get it right. I finally decided to purchase an English wheel for this and another project and after a little practice was able to make a perfectly shaped patch panel. I'm using a method called "Cut and Butt" that a metal worker in Canada came up with, Fitzie's Fabrications, check it out. My biggest issue is my welding setting still aren't quite right and my welder is not consistent so I'm taking a step back to see if I can improve it more (I've done this already multiple times) and I may end up purchasing a better welder. Anyway I'm still happy with this progress and it's not a total disaster, I really think I can finish this repair well. Here is the work so far.

I finished stripping the driver side pans, the footwell was pitted but not bad enough to replace. I prepped and coated with por15 which is now my go to coating for anything like this, it's so tough when it cures! I learned however that you can't put a second coat down outside of the drying window, it' just pools on top but one thick coated for me seems very sufficient. I will move on to seam sealing, priming and painting soon.

I've been busy with other projects, motorcycles mainly, but I'm still trying to make progress. I've been working out some electrical issues and I prepped and primed the passenger side pans I made myself above and below. I used a combination on things to see what I liked, POR15 on the underside looks like it's the best way to go, very tough coating. I also started stripping the driver side pans that have a bit of pitting but not enough to replace, I will just POR15 them after stripping and cleaning. After that I can complete the pan finishing and be able to work on the interior some. I still have to weld patched on the front an rear quarter panels so I'm gearing up for that soon. I will try to use the "cut and but" technique that Fitsy's Fabrication on youtube employs.

I finished up the front floorpan that required a couple smaller patches. I will paint and seal soon and then I'll work on the sill patches.