Painting the firewall and stripping the frame!

Painting the firewall and stripping the frame

Before I did any painting I stripped the firewall and frame down to bare metal with an angle grinder equipped with a wire cup wheel. This is a pretty good way to get the old paint off in a small area. Then I cleaned the firewall with grease and wax remover, and put down a base coat of primer. After the primer I put new body putty in the joint where the top and bottom pans of the body joined.

This is the frame after a couple of minutes with the wire wheel. You can even see the serial number!!

Complex shapes like this are to tight for the big angle grinder, so I used smaller wheels on my drill, and sandpaper to clean up the corners. I put down about 3 coats of different color primers and then start sanding with 150 grit sandpaper on a air driven DA sander. This makes quick work of the high spots and shows where more filler is required. I had lots of complex brackets to work around, so I did most of the later sanding by hand. I added 2 more coats of primer after filling, and sanded with 220 grit wet and dry. Things are looking better now!! I will sand this layer down with 400 grit wet and dry sandpaper, and then shoot color. Front Suspension

Home Author: Bill McKenna email bill@mckennasgarage.com