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i like the magical fairy god Packard man.

Some work today. First used some metal based filled to patch those pin holes along the bottom of the doors. This stuff is basically epoxy and aluminum. So you can actually drilled and tap it after it hardens. Perfect for filling pin holes. I made the pin holes slightly con-caved to give the filler a larger area to adhere to.

Next I moved on to a little welding. I welded the very button ends of the rear quarters to a support that runs along the bottom of the taillight pillar. Adding this 1/2" of weld added a lot of strength to the area and completely stiffened it reducing the flex that was causing a stress crack where it was flexing as the panel that lower hanging piece didn't have any bracing or support. This stress crack was showing on both sides.

Lastly I broke down the sun visor so I could media blast the sheet metal parts. All of the fasteners had to drilled out or cut off with a die grinder as many years in the Minnesota weather had fused the nuts and bolts together. Once the fasteners were removed, then I have to uncrimp and wrestle the nearly pressed on stainless trim off the front edge. That was the hardest part as the rust underneath was holding onto the stainless with all it's might.

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Kev, glad to see you finally got the elusive sun visor. Your work is inspiring, but just watching your progress is making me tired and envious. Great job

Rust repairs on the bottom rear quarter. Pictures pretty much tell the story. Patch made from 18ga cold rolled steel. Pattern traced on fender and then patch flanged to back up weld area. The bad area was cut out, but there is a brace that supports the fender in this area. This brace also acts as a mud trap and causes the rust out that is seen. So only the top and side of the bad area were cut out, and the bottom area carefully cut so only the outer skin is cut and not the brace underneath. Once the area is cut, an air chisel is used to break the spot welds holding it to the brace. The then area is ground down, and painted. At present time the patch is clamped in place and a couple of self tapping screws are used temporarily to hold the top edge flush as you can't get a clamp in that area. Will try to get it all welded up tomorrow.

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Got the panel completely welded in. Used self tapping machine screws to securely hold the panel in place. Then I used a sanding disc to clean the metal to prep it for welding. The welder is set at F-5 (.023 wire for 18ga steel). Then I a series of tack welds around that perimeter. Then I filled in the gaps spots with more until it as fully welded. The area was then ground down smooth. Any pits or void were then tack welded close, and ground again. Finally the entire area was gone over with sanding disc to blend it into the surrounding metal. And with that....I think all the body work welding is finally complete.

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Looks Great!! Your work is always inspiring BigKev!

i hope i'm as brave as you when its time to do this stuff on my car. great work my friend!

Hank

Looks great as always. Congrats on conquering your rust issues!

"..And with that....I think all the body work welding is finally complete."

Recently seen on craigslist...For Sale, Used Welder, one owner. Running when parked....

Hahahah nice! Well played Sir.

Actually I do have a couple more things to weld, but they are not related to the body work per se. I need to repair the spot welds between the under hood bracing and the hood. It is a bit wonky at the moment. Welder is good to keep for later repairs or if R2-BQ needs a partner in crime later.