Just got my first prime on and I thought I'd show you guys how freakin tired I am of this one side of the engine bay... I've learned alot (especially welding).. anyway... Just thought it turned out pretty cool... This definately will be my last smoothing out of an engine bay... alot of time involved... Been welding for about a year and beleive me , these engine bays are a Bi*&h... anyway.. thanks for looking ....

Thanks
Marc

 

looks good man you did a great job. there really is nothing to priming when you have all the materials that you need. ive learned about that a few times. but it looks great. what color are you spraying on her.

 

Black... It's going to be a KITT ... Thanks.. Those strut towers are a bitty... I thought it would be cool to smooth it out... just alot of time involved and rage gold is my best friend...(bondo)... oh man , the smell , got to go............

 

Good job. Do you have any in progress shots Marc???

J.

 

Yey, don't laugh, alot of patience and weld, grind, all metal, rage gold... I thought , (oh my god) (what have I done) ... The bondo is not as thick as it looks... I just sanded after all metal and a little fiberglass, down till I hit metal... If your back is giving you a problem, don't do it... I was bent over for about a month and a half... That's why I'm definately taking a break... anyway... I made a pan to fit over battery tray....You have to put brackets on the bottom of the tray and weld those in place where the holes are on the battery tray. then, through the bottom of the battery tray weld those brackets to the battery pan from the bottom Pic1



Then I did some welding on the strut tower... Pic 2



Then I grinded all of it away , then used all metal to fill in little gabs in welds Pic3



The battery tray is a little higher than the frame(might need to use a straight edge or block (like used in bodywork) , That's where I used a little fiberglass to build up the seam of the frame... didn't have to use much though... Then comes the fun stuff.... rage gold(bondo) ....you might as well fill all of it , like a hood or trunk lid, then sand till you hit metal...don't want alot of bondo,90-95% is sanded off ...pic 4




The only reason, I'm telling this in detail, is because nobody , shows you how to do this stuff...especially on just these cars... I know there is probably a million better ways to do this, but in my experiences with bodywork so far, this has been the easiest and fastest way for me... Thanks again for asking..
here is my last picture...in 1st prime.... thanks again for looking

Marc

 

I appreciate the extra pics and descriptions! You did a fantasic job with that... Very slick looking. I dont think my back would hand all that bending over...however my motor will be out soon... So Im thinking a stool sitting in the middle of the engine bay might be better for the old back.

Might just look into this.... Gotta see what my time frame looks like after the motor is out.

Thanks again!

J.

 

your welcome... i work from5-1:30 or basically 40 hrs a week... then come home and work on this thing... the smoothin out took about a month and a half ... still have not done middle or driver side yet... so , I would say to do this, for me working regular job, will end up taking me about 3-4 months total.. I work on it about 4 hrs a day.... but not everyday... so if you have the time ... probably can get it done sooner.. thanks for the replies... I hope this helps answer some questions...thanks again

Marc

 

tell me about it....i work at a bondo shop all freakin day long..

 

Very Nice work. Deff. gonna be nice when done.

What other mods are you doing to the rest of the car? shaving/smoothing anything else? Should be nice.

 

yey, going to do all seems , like in the door jams, trunk area where metals are overlapped.. stuff like that... stuff that GM can't get by with now... 80's bodies were dog rough... they didn't give 2-cents how $hit looked...slap it together and ship it... todays standards are alot higher, definately made by imports (BMW,ETC) GM has to do stuff nice now in order to sell cars... anyway... thanks for looking..

Marc

 

Looks good I did the same thing. It takes a very long time especially if you smooth the firewall. Check out my cardomain site page 2 has all the pics. Do you have any pics of the firewall? Did you do anything with the firewall?

 

I love it, looks great