While the fenders are off, I tackled the wheels wells to freshen them up a bit. Bunch of overspray in the wheel wells and fender frames from when the car was painted previously, along with years of dirt and grime.
Took an abrasive nylon brush wheel and gutted what was falling apart already. Purple power degreaser made quick work of the grime.
I SHOULD HAVE LEFT WELL ENOUGH ALONE! After button up the wheel wells, I realized how out of place the suspension was, that along with a shot LCA boot and a squeaky UCA made me order suspension parts to swap out. Oh well, that will have to be done later.
Another “While I’m At It” popped up when I decided to address some of the surface rust in the floor pans. Since everything was in decent enough conditions, I decided to to take the whole interior down to metal.
I spent an entire day degreasing the interior, wire wheeling then dousing any rust in acid etch, gutting any loose/flakey seam sealer and surface and scuffing up all of the old paint. I decided to go with Eastwood’s Rust Encapsulator to protect the interior from and further rust issues. Used a foam roller, brush, and my spray gun to achieve coverage inside.
Overall pretty happy with the encapsulator, its pretty resilient and sticks to almost anything it seems.
coming together, keep up the good work!
A NEW MILESTONE THIS WEEKEND! I was able to lay the first surfacing coat of filler primer on the shell and start my first pass in shaping!
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLUNtuAMPxvMeJSv6m0ca3A9JHQ-Cf4FSizBlCnFFturrTLtmpiWWdK1ZQUCyi173yJy4nuUiPM_4Ju9cGBL9Bh8xRBbcbjA1X_uvdKTcDMe89hJUz-caGWaI1e63_j3mVFzWMvu7h21N5s0rqcBOR8xiA=w1684-h1263-no?authuser=0
Since the epoxy underneath the primer is black, I had to steer away from the traditional black guide coat and go red. I used some Dupli color sandable primer as the guide coat and it works out really well. I use 220 grit for this pass which is just as abrasive as I like to get on the surfacing pass.
Once I get this all blocked, i’ll hit it with another session of filler primer and block that to make sure it laser straight before paint.
Two years since my last post, but boy have I put in a lot of work that wasn’t documented. I’ve found that the posts and pictures on this forum have done wonders on helping me revive my cougar, so I’ll start slowly adding the progress I’ve made over the years and finally get to where I am at now.
Sanding, sanding, primer, more sanding and then some more primer
Prepping for and applying seam sealer
Panels were primed and prepped separately
Outdoor blow up booth for painting the panels that I could remove from the vehicle
First look of that Magnetic Grey Metallic under the hood and trunk lid
Being a vinyl top car, and my first time painting a full car, I decided to tackle the body in segments. Taped of everything but the jambs, roof and cowl and got to work. The vinyl top covers the tape lines between the roof and the quarter panels and made this a smooth process for me.
Well, that was back in November of 2022. Taking a trip down memory lane myself. I will continue to post in the upcoming days until I get up to my recent progress in 2024!
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