Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana Rust-Oleum Restoration

I filled some serious rust pits in the top, sanded off some shelf rust and gave that a fresh coat of primer. I used a heat gun to help make the primer flash.

I had used a different darker primer on the reset side, and went over that to make it all uniform. I noticed a few small dents in the wet primer that I didn't like. I decided to fix them as it will be a quick easy fix with some mud and the D/A.

I got the dents taken care of on the reset side. That's primed and done. Let's take a look at these upper valances. The one on the right is perfect. Just gotta get some shelf rust off. The one on the left has a huge dent. I got to work with a hammer and had it on the run. I got just so far, and then the bracket was just too in the way. I drilled out the spot welds and got the bracket out of the way. The dent came right out after that.

I drilled all the way through the spotwelds. Once the dent was out, I used bolts to hold the bracket in place, then tacked the bracket to the back in the exact spot where it came from.

Weld it up, grind it down, smear filler all around

After some filler work, the valances looked great. I tapped out the little metal brackets that the screws thread into to hold on the retainers. I put them on, and the fit looks good.

The last of the bodywork is the lower door that was hit. I have spent almost five hours on it so far, and seems to be only making it worse. I had to give that a break. I worked on the small parts yesterday. I tried citrus orange for the first time. Seems to work ok. I painted and reassembled the sight glass assemblies.

Thanks for sharing this as you go. It is interesting to see you find issues and then work through them. Good luck the rest of the way!

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement so far. The last door was really bad. The pump had been hit by a car and squished down the edge of the door to almost 3/4 of an inch. I beat it back into rough shape with a rubber mallet. This put a ton of stress into the metal, and that put a ton of stress into me. I have more time into this one door than the rest of the work combined thus far. I talked to a friend that is an actual body worker, and he gave me a few pointers. I hammered on it more tonight, and used a sheet metal bender to bring the inner edge of the door back up into shape. This took much of the stress out. The door is still a touch bent, but not bad and doesn't fight being latched to the pump. I ground down some highs and prepared for tomorrow when I fill with special ridgid filler that will help keep it in shape.

Michigan is expecting a heat wave. It got up to 45 degrees today. I thought I would seize the opportunity and paint the frame outside in the sun. I quickly knocked apart the pump. The boss is checking out the base in the first picture. I got all the frame parts painted outside in the sun.

With most of the major bodywork done, I think it's time for the mid project clean up, wouldn't you?

MIke, I am a fan of the mid project clean-up. I am intrigued by your use of old ironing boards as work supports, GREAT idea. Thanks for a great thread. Keep 'em coming.

Thanks Randy, I pick up used ironing boards at the scrapyard for a buck each. I always get the ones with expanded metal tops as excess paint just falls right through. They are perfect for painting small lightweight parts. When they get too loaded up with over spray I just take them back to the scrapyard and get another.

Final reassembly of the painted frame. Gloss black for the base, semi for the frame.

Here's the paint. Not auto paint, not base-clear, not single stage. Just good'ol Rust-Oleum. Even this stuff is expensive in this day and age. The quart was $17, and the rattler was $10. There are limited colors in Rust-Oleum, so oil co. brand choice was a bit limited. I noticed that the color code on the quart matched the rattler, so the plan is to cut-in the spots on the parts that will be tough to get to with a roller. I could use a brush, but this is faster and easier.