Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Good to see this getting some love mate, thoroughly deserving. And I thought my van had a lot of filler! I'm trying to make the albino look big this summer- white skin and hair, with red eyes cos all the dust has blown in them. Great work taming those icebergs of filler! Looking sharp already. Is that your Ami in the workshop with its face peeking out behind? no, its belongs to a friend (who is on here but i will allow to remain anonymous if he wishes). quite a weldathon its turned out to be, but I'm getting towards the end now. Isn't that why these were branded led sled's because of the amount of led poured over the roof chopped mettle work... Looking forward to the new steel going in Dez I am really surprised non of that filler has lifted... to an extent yes, but if youve worked with lead youll know its actually hard to lay it on that thick. much more than 3/8" and its super difficult to work with. a lot of the filler has cracked, thats why its all coming off. all the stuff in the door bottoms and roof has cracked, and the stuff put on over the original paint can just be scrapered off.
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Last Edit: May 7, 2015 9:30:23 GMT by Dez
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smeden
Part of things
"Full throttle until you see God,then shift to second"
Posts: 356
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Looking forward to the welderton :-)
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Jaguar xj6 S1 swb manual VW Bay Camper Audi A3 1998 1.8 VW Beach Buggy (sold) Ford Mondeo mrk I RS Celebration (written off) Ford Escort Mrk II RS 2000 (rust in peace)
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No Dez never worked with led though it is something I'd like to try, When I finally get round to painting my breadvan I'm gona led the door creases to give it that super smooth effect..
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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speaking of lead, i stripped an area at the back today that has a lot from the factory. its nothing short of a work of art. remember this is stock, on a factory production car. its just now they made things back then, back when workers actually had skills. ive marked out where it all is so i don't accidentally hit it with the DA when its locked off, as its soft and it will rip it right off. under the lead are gas welded panel seams. it would be madness to think of any manufacturer putting car like that together these days. the lead is a little torn up on this corner where the previous welds are, but I'm gunna try to redo it. I'm a bit aprehensive of doing so given the standard of the other lead on the car! thats the back of the door cleaned up too. i reckon i can dress out a lot of those dents. I'm contemplating getting a stud welder for pulling dents on this, again something ive never tried but always wanted to. another bit for the bin- easier door handle ever to remove though, you just slide the big rusty clip across and it pops off! stripped right down to the rear arch, the repairs on this side are far less extensive, but there is some heat distortion. interestingly, i managed to pop some of it out by leaning in hard with the linishing disc to generate heat in the panel, so hopefully the rest will pop out when i redo the repair. the line you can see across the middle here is where the side trim used to sit. you can see faint rust marks all along the car where its been, plus the clip holes that are now welded up. the rear 1/4 cleaned up, no damage at all under all the filler. odd. and heres the whole side, looking shiny!
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Last Edit: May 7, 2015 20:54:25 GMT by Dez
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Wow. I can't wait to see this one evolve.
I've loved this era of custom since "Cobra" in 1986!
"Body filler is the disease, Dez is the cure".....
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,865
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Was so glad to see this pop up in my bookmarks again, looks like its going to be an epic journey judging by the amount of filler you've had to hack out so far! I didn't know that manufacturers would use lead from the factory on cars, I guess that doesn't say a lot for the quality of the panel pressing tools of the time?..
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,082
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Reassuring amount of metal there, and in much better condition than could be expected from all that filler.
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Its like time warp Dez yep a stud-it and slide hammer will make short work of those..
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You'd be surprised at how many cars had lead in them from factory. The Minors even have a bit where the seams for the rear quarters are joined to the main body. I found this out by melting some out by accident!
This would look awesome bare-metalled and then a coat of clear over the top. But all the welding puts paid to that I guess. How different is the tint of the lead compared to the steel out of curiosity? Would it be possible to knock in the welds and lay some lead over the top to hide them, if someone wanted to go down that route?
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crahel
Part of things
Posts: 210
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Great thread, I'm interested in how you going to tackle the roof as I am planning to do the same on my Lancia, My lancia has lead in a lot of places from the factory. I find out the hard way while mig welding, smoke and lead dripping all over the floor. The body was build in early 70's.
C
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1973 Lancia Fulvia s2 coupe (sold) 1998 Audi a4 sedan (sold) 2000 Nissan maxima (sold) 2007 Audi convertible.
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I did a bike mudguard years ago with lead after I had widened it by about an inch, In fact the first one I did was two inches but it's proportions were wrong, so I did the one incher that worked. Seem to remember sticks of lead, possibly a butane flame or some other naked flame, some wood spatulas and then sanding, and filling (with a file) This was the bike retrorides.proboards.com/thread/37800/thunderchild-chopped-800cc-bmwAlso remember not to wear a mask........ (Well, I never did)
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Last Edit: May 8, 2015 5:03:20 GMT by grizz
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I've gotta ask, did your mate end up doing the BMW bike?
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Was so glad to see this pop up in my bookmarks again, looks like its going to be an epic journey judging by the amount of filler you've had to hack out so far! I didn't know that manufacturers would use lead from the factory on cars, I guess that doesn't say a lot for the quality of the panel pressing tools of the time?.. the panel pressings are actually really good, given the amount of compound curves going in different directions. the lead is just to hide body seams, as i don't think theyd developed multi piece/multi stage pressing dies back then. Its like time warp Dez yep a stud-it and slide hammer will make short work of those.. my welder actually has a built-in spotweld timer, ive had the thing 10 years and never used it! i think i can get a studwelding attachment to fit it, i need to investigate. You'd be surprised at how many cars had lead in them from factory. The Minors even have a bit where the seams for the rear quarters are joined to the main body. I found this out by melting some out by accident! This would look awesome bare-metalled and then a coat of clear over the top. But all the welding puts paid to that I guess. How different is the tint of the lead compared to the steel out of curiosity? Would it be possible to knock in the welds and lay some lead over the top to hide them, if someone wanted to go down that route? yep, many manufacturers used little bits to cover seams especially vunerable to water ingress, like off the end of gutters and stuff. ive just never seen it to this extent on a factory car, theres a good 10 foot of leaded seams on this! using lead instead of body filler over the welds is exactly what i intend to do, once ive tidied/redone the repairs. the lead is a little darker, especially when oxidised. its bright when filed/sanded but dulls off pretty quickly. Great thread, I'm interested in how you going to tackle the roof as I am planning to do the same on my Lancia, My lancia has lead in a lot of places from the factory. I find out the hard way while mig welding, smoke and lead dripping all over the floor. The body was build in early 70's. C the 70s is pretty late for lead. handbuilt car though i guess? I did a bike mudguard years ago with lead after I had widened it by about an inch, In fact the first one I did was two inches but it's proportions were wrong, so I did the one incher that worked. Seem to remember sticks of lead, possibly a butane flame or some other naked flame, some wood spatulas and then sanding, and filling (with a file) This was the bike retrorides.proboards.com/thread/37800/thunderchild-chopped-800cc-bmwAlso remember not to wear a mask........ (Well, I never did) yep that more or less it, along with some flux (usually bakers fluid) and whats known as a moleskin to drag the lead as well. don't think its really made out of moles though....
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If your after some moles my garden is full of the blighters. You can have them free.
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Like a big heavy bit of leather chamois, in a way? Handles heat well, smooth surface to flat it down with while hot, and supple enough to conform to curves?
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Davenger
Club Retro Rides Member
It's only metal
Posts: 7,272
Club RR Member Number: 140
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Considering how manky it looked sat in the yard, that's looking pretty good without all the filler. Wonder how much all that chod weighed
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Like a big heavy bit of leather chamois, in a way? Handles heat well, smooth surface to flat it down with while hot, and supple enough to conform to curves? yep you've got it. you basically drag the lead to shape as its setting. Considering how manky it looked sat in the yard, that's looking pretty good without all the filler. Wonder how much all that chod weighed aye, made of metal and everyfink. probably not a whole lot tbh, think how big a kilo tub is!
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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only a tiny bit done on fri as i was too busy with other stuff. finished that back corner off and moved round the back though. found more lovely leadwork as i did so- scrapered back the declikd, and started on looking at smoothing that out. just ignore the galloping rot at the mo, I'm trying to... then i did the rear valance. this wasnt even attached to the car when i got it, it had been cut out previously when the boot floor went in the bin. theres quite a lot of damage here, looks like it been rear ended (or more likely reversed into something, as theres some minor damage below the rear light too) in the past. then ALL the fiberglass filler used to patch it up. seriously, i was bashing the valance straight with a ball pein hammer and inch thick lumps of blue fiberglass filler were falling off. the rest ive turned to dust, and although the panel underneath is in a bad way, as least its something to work with, as without it theres quite a large hole! there just enough of the panel left to show how deep it should be and its curvature, and when clamped in place it holes the boot gap steady, so i can work from that. lot of damage- and holes from extra lights- this bit fits good though- overall- as I'm missing the splash apron entirely, plus most of where its meant to mount to, i think the sensible option may actually be to shorten the bumper brackets and french the bumper into the bodywork slightly. its a neat custom touch that will get around trying to fix the rust issues back to looking stock. and it is a kustom after all!
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Last Edit: May 9, 2015 22:37:36 GMT by Dez
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,082
Club RR Member Number: 146
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It is a nice set of curves on the back. Bringing the bumper in should help with the smooth look, I can't imagine the apron making it look other than quite clumsy with the rest of the work you have planned.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
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yeah, the bumper is actually a fair way away from the bodywork as stock, this is the best pic i could find online showing this-
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