1946 Chevy Fleetmaster 2-door, meet "Betty"...

[te72]

Pictures as promised:

Couple things about the interior:
-Yes, I have the original interior. Yes, it could be restored. Yes, it would be fairly comfortable, however...

-You sit even higher up (I'm not tall, as mentioned), and your head will hit the roof if you're sitting in the rear and the car hits a bump. Also, I would have to drive with my legs bent like that tall guy on that episode of The Simpsons where Nelson makes fun of the tall guy in the little car. Stupid non-adjustable seats... oh, and...

-The LS400 stuff fits quite nicely. I'm thinking even the console might be able to be adapted easily enough, which would be awesome since it has air conditioning ducting inside it for the rear passengers.

-We're most likely keeping the stock dash, since it is metal, and in decent enough shape. However, I like the Lexus gauges, and honestly, I think they can be adapted to the stock dash without *too* much trouble, and would look really cool since they black out when not in use.


Scraped out the anti-rust coating that was on the inside of the rear fenders. Was not fun:

Don't think I took any other pictures, but they cleaned up nicely. Just gotta pound out a few dents , sand, and fix a hole or two and they're ready for primer.

 

[te72]

Latest minor update, just got a box in the mail yesterday, with my flapper discs. Face shield came in last week, so work on cleaning up the worse rust will commence tomorrow I think. Gonna try and get this one out of the way so we can focus on the Supra (the 87 widebody-to-be) in the spring time.

 

[te72]

Well, I think I need some sort of adapter to use the flapper discs, so I just gave it a whirl with the metal brush wheel. Seems to have done the trick, but it takes a while longer, not to mention flings hot pieces of metal through your shirt from time to time (glad I bought that face shield!).

Now that I've given my hands a break, I'm gonna go finish up prepping the other fender for welding, then clean it up I think.

On a related note, I think I may go with a steel/black two tone color scheme. I really like how the dark shiny metal looks when it's stripped bare...

 

[te72]

Update time: Bought a grinder for myself, having a handle at least has been such a blessing, and the guard should hopefully prevent most of the shit from flying off at me. Went through an entire 60 grit flapper disc, that didn't last long at all. Switched out for a 1/4" grinding wheel, and while it doesn't provide as smooth a finish, my brother (who I trust to know what he's talking about with body work) says it should still be fine, since we're going to be filling in any small (and bigger) holes with the welder and smoothing out the pitted areas with a tiny bit of bondo.

Also, the grinding wheel is going to last SIGNIFICANTLY longer. I'll get all the old paint, surface rust, and possibly the original primer off (depending on how quick I want to get this done, if you get rough you get down to bare steel pretty quickly), and decide what I want to do then. Could always go over it with the 120 flapper wheel to clean it up. Once what is on there now is gone, that should do...

Anyway, after talking to my brother, he agrees that the two tone with a steel gray colored roof would look good, just have to find another color that looks good with it. I'm thinking something light, so there is a bit of contrast, as well as making the car appear to be not quite as tall as it is. Probably going to continue the cabin line forward to either the tip of the trim piece on top of the hood, or curve it down and meet it with the Chevy trim piece on the front of the hood. Above said line, probably a steel gray color. Below that line...?

Everybody loves pictures!

I did mention her name was Betty, didn't I?

 

[IJ.]

Be better off getting it blasted with a light media Brad, your "Betty" graffiti is going to show up if you're not careful....

 

[te72]

That's a panel that is pretty much trashed anyway. You can't really see it in the picture, but the metal is so thin that welding on it is out of the question, so we're going to try finding a replacement anyway.

I'll have to try and see if I can find anyone around here able to blast a whole car. If I can, that would save me a bunch of time. Kinda hard to fit the whole car in the cabinets I've seen though.

 

[IJ.]

They have Blast rooms to do it in

 

[Poodles]

Hell, you can do it outside (depends on media).

But yeah, blasting or dipping would be the way to go to get all the rust off.

 

[te72]

Discussed the suggestion with my brother, he says there are people around the area who could, but that it would cost a pretty penny. I'll look into it a bit more, but given this car is a "find a good balance of cheaply done yet still nice to drive" project, I don't know if I could justify it. My time is valuable, but if it would be more than a few hundred (which I imagine it would be), I'll just do it myself.

Quick edit, just found out that I'd want to use either soda or walnut media, and apparently nobody around here does that. Gotta love small towns sometimes. Oh well, makes that decision easy I guess. I'll be out there some more today, I try to only do this a few hours at a time, that grinder is loud as hell, and I'm trying to be a courteous neighbor as much as I can...

 

[te72]

Well, progress is halted for a bit. I need to clean out the rear driver side wheel well, then move the car to the other side of the garage. Light is better if I leave the car backed in, not to mention it keeps me away from the cracked open garage door a bit. Being that winter is setting in, is kinda sucks working with the garage door open. Unfortunately, the other option is to leave it closed, and then none of the dust getting kicked up gets pulled outside, but rather ends up inside the house... I'm guessing that has something to do with air pressure differentials and how things try to balance out, seems to pull some of the crap outside.

Anyway, also waiting on a respirator. I'm about halfway done with the paint removal, but getting sick of breathing this crap in. Probably getting sick in a literal sense, considering I can almost promise you this thing used lead based paint. :nono: Anyway, I may finish that wheel well up tomorrow depending on what time I get home from work, then move the cars around.

Also of note, a guy asked me last night if I was going to to do an electrical motor for this car. I can't type out the "WTF is wrong with you" face I made when my brain fully processed what he had asked. For one, no. For two, I like to be able to go more than 10-20 miles on a charge. For three, if my car sounded like a piece of industrial equipment, it would make me cry. Lastly, electrical energy is actually more polluting to the environment than gasoline emissions, due to how our electricity in this state is almost entirely coal-powered.

 

[BoostMonger]

Wtf are you using on her! A grinder? Your nuts, take Ian's idea that he's said 4 times and hit her with a light media like wood chips or rice. Yes I have heard them blast wood and rice thru a gun. Or silica sand at the most if she's that rusted thin. A flapper is taking off way too much material.

Sent From My HTC One S using Tapatalk 2

 

[Poodles]

Go buy/rent your own media blaster

Also, while I don't know if the paint on the car is lead based, they used lead as a filler back then for seams and other things... So yes, it's bad news.

 

[Chambers]

How about a soda blaster?

http://www.harborfreight.com/15-lb-portable-soda-blaster-66742.html

 

[te72]

Guys, if you realized how thick the steel on this car was, you'd know I wasn't hurting it. I shit you not, I could probably punch this car and not leave a dent. More importantly, I'm really gentle with a grinder, I've gotten to the point where I can remove just the rust, paint, and primer underneath, without taking it down to the metal itself. Having a decent variety of removal tools helps in that respect too.

Now, I'll admit, there are some spots that I got a little overzealous and it exposed some fresh metal, but again, not too worried about it. Not looking to turn this into a show car in the slightest. Just something cool to cruise around in. As is, I have less than $2000 into the whole project, and I honestly think we can get it on the road for less than $3000 total. Maybe $4000 with a decent coat of paint on it.

Have been learning from my brother on how to do this stuff, he's checked up on it a few times and says I'm not hurting anything. Given the bodywork I've seen him do on his Impala, I trust him. That isn't to say I don't trust the advice presented (anything but, I love you guys, no homo), but once I'm done stripping the paint, my brother is the one fixing the body. He says we're good, I figure we're good. I guess the end result will be the judging factor though, right?

The only panel that is thin at all is the trunk, which is probably going to get a new panel made. Everything else is ridiculously thick.

As for blasting at home, I'm not so sure that's a good idea to do inside a garage. I'll admit, I know very little about it...

 

[hvyman]

What color is your supra? Looks purple. Which looks dope.

 

[IJ.]

Guys, if you realized how thick the steel on this car was, you'd know I wasn't hurting it. I shit you not, I could probably punch this car and not leave a dent. More importantly, I'm really gentle with a grinder, I've gotten to the point where I can remove just the rust, paint, and primer underneath, without taking it down to the metal itself. Having a decent variety of removal tools helps in that respect too.

Now, I'll admit, there are some spots that I got a little overzealous and it exposed some fresh metal, but again, not too worried about it. Not looking to turn this into a show car in the slightest. Just something cool to cruise around in. As is, I have less than $2000 into the whole project, and I honestly think we can get it on the road for less than $3000 total. Maybe $4000 with a decent coat of paint on it.

Have been learning from my brother on how to do this stuff, he's checked up on it a few times and says I'm not hurting anything. Given the bodywork I've seen him do on his Impala, I trust him. That isn't to say I don't trust the advice presented (anything but, I love you guys, no homo), but once I'm done stripping the paint, my brother is the one fixing the body. He says we're good, I figure we're good. I guess the end result will be the judging factor though, right?

The only panel that is thin at all is the trunk, which is probably going to get a new panel made. Everything else is ridiculously thick.

As for blasting at home, I'm not so sure that's a good idea to do inside a garage. I'll admit, I know very little about it...

It may be thick but it's plain mild steel not HiTensile stuff modern cars are made from so the warning still applies

 

[Poodles]

I dunno where you live, but you could media blast outside

 

[te72]

What color is your supra? Looks purple. Which looks dope.

I believe it was a Dupont color called Black Sapphire metallic. In certain angles of sunlight, it looks VERY blue, lot of flake in it. If at night, looks mostly black. However, indirect sunlight/bulb light, or if the car is dirty, it tends to look purple. I like it thought, the body is kinda meh, but the color and the overall look works. More pictures if you're interested:

http://s379.photobucket.com/albums/oo232/spoogie357/My Cars/

It may be thick but it's plain mild steel not HiTensile stuff modern cars are made from so the warning still applies

I have no reason to doubt you there sir. Mind my asking where the harm is? I am pretty good about cleaning stuff up and tearing things apart. Making them look pretty has never really been my specialty though... Will a couple coats of primer and a few coats of paint not be enough to cover any imperfections I have caused?

Also, the pictures make it look pretty bad, I'll admit. However, the "touch" test is telling me the metal is pretty smooth still. The only areas that are still pretty rough are where either rust pitted the steel, or where I can only assume the body panels were welded together. That diagonal line between the side window and where the trunk/rear fender area meet is pretty bad, I must admit.

I dunno where you live, but you could media blast outside

The guy who is going to stuff the LS400 into this told me we could always have taken it out in the desert for a couple hours with a GOOD chemical stripper, and come back wearing full hazmat gear... scrape off the goo and be done with it. Pretty sure that would be frowned upon by the sheriff though...

I kinda live in a semi-densely populated neighborhood, I feel bad enough when I'm washing cars in my garage, since my neighbor keeps his vehicles clean, and the overspray almost always blows his way...

Need to just open a proper body shop around here. Only stipulation, the cars have to be cool. Need to hit the lottery first though...


EDIT: I should probably mention that I've since switched to the wire wheel. Best combination I've found of control, speed, and end result. Cleans things up really nicely, allows you to feather things lightly and remove just what you want without taking off what you want to leave. Seriously, it's like watching the nasty stuff "melt" away haha. I thought I liked the flappers (the 120 grit worked well enough), so I ordered a few more, but I don't think I'll use them for this. Ended up ordering a couple other wire wheels. One to replace the one I have nearly worn out, and one that's a 'cup' style that seems to work well for this sort of thing.

 

[IJ.]

Just have to be a little careful Brad, big bulgey panels with not a lot of structral shape to them are easy to over heat in places then you end up with KG's of filler trying to get rid of the waves... you might save a little time now but add hours to the end ..

On the Stripper thing if you check the Z car pics you'll see one where the shell is on a trailer :evil:

I applied a LOT of stripper then took it to the Local Service station that had a pressure washer at the end of the building, blew it all off (all over the place) and beat a hasty retreat before anyone noticed what I was doing >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> meep meep roadrunner style!

 

[Poodles]

There ARE environmentally friendly strippers out there...

But if you want to do it with a grinder, there's stuff like this: http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3642457&cagpspn=pla