*!Build of the year candidate!* Strange PNW Build: E30+Volvo

[rzerob]

Off to his new home

As in his temporary new home where the body work and paint will be completed? Not as in change of title and new ownership?

[adam.nonis]

Off to his new home

[gnmzl]

The color choice pleases me greatly.
Very excited to see how it turns out. I think it would be tits, tied with that interior

[adam.nonis]

Are you ready to lay paint already?

Nope, at least not on the whole body. I just needed to decide on a paint color and get it off my plate. I also needed to get some so I can start cutting in the parts that don’t need a bunch of work still.

[rzerob]

Are you ready to lay paint already?

[adam.nonis]

No new car pics really.



Decision made.

[adam.nonis]

Amazing.



Basic bodywork questions -

1. Are you pulling right at the deepest part of the crease?

2. Doesn't the truck just drag the car sideways? (or are your DOT competition tires REALLY sticky...)

There’s actually lots of pulling in different patterns. Disclaimer: I’m not a pro, just have done some body work.

I start in the deepest part, pulling in the direction that the dent pushed in, but don’t try to pull it all the way out from there. Start there, then pull the studs off, place another batch above, below or around the first set and pull some more. Basically massage it back and forth until it’s close. Then hammer and dolly where possible to smooth it out as best I can, then usually a little more pulling. Shrinking with heat on high spots (ridges) to relieve tension (to prevent oil-canning). I also put a piece of 1x3 inside along a ridge that was soft pushed in and used a portapower across from the other quarter panel (braced) to push out a larger area. The studs point load when pulling and I needed to push out a large area at once. I also had to wedge in a hydraulic jaw to push out the area right around the rear door frame. There’s one thing I’ve learned over the years about body work. Don’t try to get it all first shot. Take your time and work the metal. It’s going to be stretched. You don’t wanna stretch it more.

It actually drug the truck when I was pulling at the jamb area. Using the truck is more about putting consistent pressure on a few studs at a time and allow for some hammer work simultaneously as opposed to just yanking one stud at a time. Be smooth.

[LateFan]

Amazing.

Basic bodywork questions -
1. Are you pulling right at the deepest part of the crease?
2. Doesn't the truck just drag the car sideways? (or are your DOT competition tires REALLY sticky...)

[luckybk]

Not bad for another “driveway shop” project.

You really are too good. People rarely even pay for this level of repair.

[Jokester]

Beautiful addition to a solid family, good progress on the car!

[adam.nonis]

So did you decide on a color yet?

Chamonix White

[rzerob]

So did you decide on a color yet?

[adam.nonis]

Mental note, don’t leave the gel coat tip in the primer gun. Good thing this needs to be knocked back a bunch still.



I only had it roughed in with 36g, but the weather this week is spotty, so I needed primer on it today. Pretty much the whole quarter has at least a skim of filler on it, but I didn’t have to “sculpt” anything, so I’m good with it. Still need to mess with the transition between the upper radius and the flat, but I think it was that way before as well. Not bad for another “driveway shop” project.

[adam.nonis]

So much more still to do. Enough for tonight though. I was feeling really overwhelmed by the scope of what I have to do to this thing early today and was a bit discouraged, but I forced myself to go out and start moving metal again. I’m glad I did. At least I made some progress. Tomorrow’s another day.

Nothing cool is easy and nothing easy is cool.

[adam.nonis]

Thanks guys. We just know that our family can offer him a great chance going forward, so we’ll do what we do. Pretty sure I’m gonna grab some beer on my way home from work tomorrow and keep tugging on the metal until it’s not appropriate for me to be making noise anymore. I need to have primer on it by the end of the weekend whether it’s got filler on it or not. Supposed to rain pretty much all of next week.