Body

8-21-2007 Today was a fun filled day. We got to work on the El Camino.
 I know it looks crazy now, but I want to do away with the old chrome molding that goes around the bed and tailgate. The idea is to remove the chrome and with the all too famous spray foam and fiberglass... molding it in as if it was a body part without chrome to start with. It will make you think "what is he doing" but just wait till it is done. I even want to create a simple spoiler in it too. [Great Stuff Spray Foam in action again!]

9-13-2007 A little shop time with me and Brendan just like me and Ratt and 1978.

Check out the hood... dusty, but will look great with a nice new paint job.
 

10-21-2007 This weekend Tony and I broke-in the sand blaster... well mostly Tony. I did hook up the air hose and help fill the tank a few times. And once I did bring him a bottle of water. Here are a couple of pictures.





Notice the sand in the air, that is from me running around taking so many pictures of Tony actually working! Just kidding Tony. Thanks for the help... By the way, what are you doing next weekend?

10-25 2007 Megan and I picked up a few more parts. Came home and did a little more sand blasting, then cut out the old back-up lights in the tailgate and welded in the openings. The back-up light are being relocated to the bumper like the 68 Chevelle is. I like that look much better. The new bumper is already made for a red reflector, so with a little modification and a 1968 Chevelle back-up light kit it will work fine.

10-28-2007
Ratt and Mom came by and spent some quality time, Mom with the grandkids and Ratt with the El Camino! ha/ha We did get some more sand blasting done and did a little bondo work on the driver's door. I also worked on the lines of the spoiler a little more as well as finished smoothing over where I removed the back-up lights. I know it started out looking rough, but with enough power tools you can bring down bondo real quick.

11-04-2007
Today Brendan and I decided to play more bondo games. I cut out rust and welded in new metal on the passenger door. I did do it the right way I guess because I can't seem to figure out how to weld the thin stuff. So after cutting out the rust I cut a piece of metal that was bigger than the hole I made and placed it in from the back side. This was easy because the door is still all apart. I held it in place with a big bar and stitch welded it in from the back side. Then I managed to get in a couple stitches from the front without causing too much damage. Brendan got to learn how to use a grinder real well after this little deal. Then a little bondo and who will ever know the difference, besides everyone that reads this.

Thin I decided to see how the tail lights looked and how much work needed to be done to get them to fit just right. On a crazy thought, I went with another one of my off the wall ideas. I didn't like the way they stuck out and I started to just weld and blend them in. But then I decided to take the extra effort and cut out a hole big enough to fit the lights in and weld them in place about half way in. I taped the inside lip of chrome around the lights and intend on saving it, but the outside lip will be blended in and painted the body color. Here's what it looks like so far with only one side done. Never mind the runs in the primer. I just had to give you an idea of what it would look like so I sprayed it quickly with some old green primer.

11-18-2007 Today Brendan and I did some more minor bondo work and rust removal along with lots of sanding! Again!
We worked till dark. We got only part of the car in primer when we ran out. I thought I had more primer. So we had to put a tarp over it to keep from having to uncover the tires and engine in order to drive it back into the shop. Yes, It still runs and drives without the interior.

11-22-2007 If you ever get the idea and think "I think I want to move the side emblems to a different spot, that will be easy"... you may want to rethink it. I had to clean and sand off all the glue then grind a small area around each hole. Then I very carefully welded each hole. Then I had to grind down the welds. Then bondo over each spot. It took a lot longer than I ever thought. That was just the passenger side. I then did the drivers' side, but this time I did it with lead instead. I have never used lead before, so this was just to learn and experiment with it. It went pretty well. The only minor issue was that the metal stretched or shrunk because it made a dent that looked like a golf ball hit it when I heated each hole. It worked out about the same and only needed a small amount more bondo to get it back smooth. I am courious as to how they each hold up in years to come.

11-26-2007 Paint booth set-up day. My first intension was to put the booth up right outside the rollup door outside the el camino. With the weather getting colder I needed to get it inside. It did some rearranging and turned the Opel GT sideways. It fit in the room and will work great. I can heat my shop and paint away. I can't wait to get started with the paint.

12-2-07 Today was a great day. I got blue paint on the El Camino! I stayed up late last night and did some more bodywork then this morning Brendan and I shot a little more primer and blocked it. After blocking the primer we were able to locate any missed low spots and repair them. We wet sanded till our arms were falling off, washed it and blew it dry very well. We then pulled it into the paint booth wiped it down with tack rags and shot with the dark gray seal coat. After that we got out the blue paint and put three coats of that down. I have to say that I just thought my arms were tired after the sanding, but then to paint it right after that... my arms feel as if they were going to fall off. Here are a couple pictures. Next we have to do the strips and then a few coats of clear. I did discover a couple small pin holes and bad places that are very small. They are all under where the silver will be, so I can fix them before painting the silver.

12-5-2007 Look, cool strips huh! I got the clear coat done today. It was a long day, but it's done. It is no perfect paint job but for painting under a tent it's not too bad. With more time I could have done more sanding I guess and it would be better. It will look good from about 10 feet.