My '83 GLX T-Top Coupe Junk Yard Find

[Davedacarpainter]

Thanks guys. Works been busy, so i'm not as far along on the hood as i thought i would be.

I have fixed all of the stretched/warped metal on the right side and center. I mudded the right side and did the initial blocking on it. I mudded the center area as well. It really looks like someone had been using the front part of the hood as a seat. Oh well. I got it pulled up fairly straight. The picture will show a crap load of bondo on it, but it really is a pretty thin layer once it's blocked out.

Youll notice two different colors of mud on the middle section, i ran out of my blue hardener and had a tube of red close by. The pink area doesn't look that smooth, it was 5:30 last friday when i spread that on there and i was in a rush to get to my son's football game. This is where i thank god for air files!

I should be done with the metal and body work by friday, maybe back in primer by then. I've gotten real proficient with tightening up large stretches of metal now.

The first picture shows a quick blocking of the center of the hood just so i could see the warped areas clearly. The picture with the paint stick shows just how warped the hood was. The third one shows how i got the metal pulled back up and tightened up at the same time, the trick is to do a circular spiral pattern starting on the outside of the stretched metal and working your way in, it probably took a hundred or so hits on each of the big areas to pull/tighten them up. The fourth one is after the metal is all nice and tight again. The last is with lots of mud.
BTW, eventually this hood will be replaced with a GT hood and scoop, so i can live with this much damage and then mud for now.

[webestang]

Fastastic work so far!!!

Love the color you picked, I'm shooting my 85 tomorrow Eastwood Royal blue.

[Davedacarpainter]

Is that similar to kona blue?

[webestang]

Here is the pic from Eastwood's site.....




It's soild blue in some light and shows a bit of purple in others.

[Davedacarpainter]

Very nice, I like it.

[Davedacarpainter]

I got the middle of the hood blocked out today, that was fun.

I also tightened up all of the stretched metal, pulled the metal up, shrunk the few outies and mudded it. I want to primer the hood this week. I still have to glaze all of that bondo......

[Davedacarpainter]

Soooo, work picked up and haven't spent the time on the hood that i would like too.

I did finish the primary muddling of it and it feels pretty straight. Though, realistically i'm losing the ability to tell if it is. It's such a large amount of bondo.

Ive decided to go ahead and glaze the panel. I'll try to get that blocked down with some 180 tomorrow, though tomorrow looks a little crazy for me with customer vehicles.

If i get that done, i'll try to slip it in the booth and primer it. Once it's in primer i'll be able to finish the straightening with 220. i seem to be able to make things pretty dang straight using a paint stick with the sandpaper, more so than with any of my blocks. Once it's been blocked with 220, i'll reprimer it one last time with just a couple coats and do my final blocking with 320.

I still have to flip the hood and smooth the areas that i beat the hell out of straightening the top side. Then i'll seam seal the edges.

Then......PAINT! This panel has been VERY time consuming. Once it's done, then i can get the driver's door (the last panel to get off of the car).

A side note, i got a complete set of ford service manuals from ebay. They seem more informative than the ones i have for my '86. Much better details of vacuum lines and engine rebuild data.

My latest picture. This is with a glaze coating unsanded.

[Davedacarpainter]

Soooo, got the hood in primer today. The picture here is with a little mud on the nose. I knew these areas needed more work, but i just couldn't see or feel what i needed to do anymore with all of that open mud. I'll reprimer those spots on Monday and block out everything with 220.

[JTurbo]

Looking good.....

[tiretread]

Defintely great work.

[Davedacarpainter]

Wow this car is coming along great! The work you are doing is amazing and this car should be a looker when you are done. Well done!

I know this reply is a bit late, but thank you.

I've been following your work on you '84 GT. I really dig your car. Good job on your part sir!

[Jerry peachuer]

What primer is that on your hood looks good either way,nice momentum

[Davedacarpainter]

What primer is that on your hood looks good either way,nice momentum

I'm using Sherwin Williams. It's the line we have at work.

it has a semi gloss finish to it when it hardens, which I kind of like. I don't need to use a guide coat with it for blocking. It really is some of the best primer I've used, and I've really been through the gamut of paint systems through the years. It sands very easy and fills wonderfully.

[Jerry peachuer]

I like the sheen to it is why I asked note the overhead light reflection

[JustMe]

Thanks for posting all this. I have an 86 nose I need to fix. Looks great!

[Davedacarpainter]

I've reprimered my hood and blocked it with 220 and primered it for the final time.

Tomorrow i'll flip the hood and smooth out the couple thousand hammer strikes and reseam seal it.

Next week i'll block the hood for the final time with 320 and finally get it shot.

I tried to post a picture of how nice the hood looks now, literally better than new, i remember the new hoods back in the eighties. They were never this straight.

I get an error message saying i've exceeded my quota by 67.1kb and it won't load. I'm not sure i understand, so if anyone would explain to me what i'm doing wrong, i would appreciate it.

[84StangSVT]

I get an error message saying i've exceeded my quota by 67.1kb and it won't load. I'm not sure i understand, so if anyone would explain to me what i'm doing wrong, i would appreciate it.

If you use the file upload feature for your pictures, then that means you have used all of your allotted space for uploading photos. Either you need to make a $20 or more donation to the site to become a Supporter, which gives you a much larger allotment of storage or you will need to upload photos via a remote picture sharing service like Imigur or Photobucket.

Here is the link for the donation, if you choose to go that route. It is not an instant approval for the upgrade to Supporter, the site owner has to manually do that portion and sometimes it takes a bit.
http://vb.foureyedpride.com/vbdonate.php?do=donate

[Davedacarpainter]

If you use the file upload feature for your pictures, then that means you have used all of your allotted space for uploading photos. Either you need to make a $20 or more donation to the site to become a Supporter, which gives you a much larger allotment of storage or you will need to upload photos via a remote picture sharing service like Imigur or Photobucket.

Here is the link for the donation, if you choose to go that route. It is not an instant approval for the upgrade to Supporter, the site owner has to manually do that portion and sometimes it takes a bit.
http://vb.foureyedpride.com/vbdonate.php?do=donate

Thank you, I'll be donating then. Whenever it all gets approved, I'll show more of the work I've done. I appreciate the information.

[ukravit]

Any updates?

[Davedacarpainter]

Any updates?

I've done quite a bit of stuff, i'll update everything in a day or two. Life has been busy.

[Davedacarpainter]

Well, I donated so I'm a contributor now. As soon as it's approved I'll post a bunch of pictures of the progress I've made.

I have finished the hood, it looks wonderful to me. I painted the middle the same grey as the bumper, ala GT. I did something else that I don't think is too heretical. I'll post pictures when I'm ok'd.

ive been going after the interior now. I'm changing over to black, I'm very pleased with the results I've been able to obtain. I'm getting ready to shoot the quarter window louvers next, I've already stripped them and primered them. That'll probably be Monday.

i need to get back out to the yard to get more of the interior to repair and paint it black. Next week I'll be getting the center console, I'll remove the nasty old dash pad and pull the trim around the windshield, take the passenger seat (the adjustment mechanism is broken), get the outer windshield and rear window trim, and the cowel panel cover.

So, pictures when I can.

[brianj]

How will filler in the front edge of the hood hold out? I ask because the center of my hood is also dented from someone pounding on it to open the hood. I have not put the black stripe back on my car, largely because the black will make the dents stand out even worse. I was hesitant to put more than a skim of filler on it. White, it looks decent, but gloss black---

[Davedacarpainter]

How will filler in the front edge of the hood hold out? I ask because the center of my hood is also dented from someone pounding on it to open the hood. I have not put the black stripe back on my car, largely because the black will make the dents stand out even worse. I was hesitant to put more than a skim of filler on it. White, it looks decent, but gloss black---

It really should be fine, do you have access to body work tools? I'm assuming you'll try to level out the metal as best as you can before spreading the mud.

Post a picture of the dent and i can tell you how i might go about fixing it.

[brianj]

I'll snap a pic tomorrow. The damage is behind the support braces right where the hood bends down to meet the grille- typical stuck Chapman alarm hood lock damage. Beat the hood to jiggle the lock rod loose--.

[Davedacarpainter]

I'll snap a pic tomorrow. The damage is behind the support braces right where the hood bends down to meet the grille- typical stuck Chapman alarm hood lock damage. Beat the hood to jiggle the lock rod loose--.

Do you have access to a dent puller like i used on my hood? Or maybe a spitznagel gun that welds studs onto the panel?

If not, drill a few holes and try to get a slide hammer puller that you can hook into the holes and try to pop it out a bit before hand. You'll have to weld the holes back up afterwards, no real big deal though.

Anything you can do to limit the amount of filler will be a good thing.