Bringin' It Back From The Dead - 70 Catalina Convertible

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

 A Eureka repair moment occurred for me earlier today - I "fixed" my unbroken gas gauge.  I had tried to test ground the brown wire to the new sending unit last week but apparently, I did not use a sharp enough pin to pierce the brown wire's insulation.  I thought I made it through but didn't which made me think the gauge at the dash had failed.  Basically, my gas gauge was on an eighth of a tank and never moved.  I got a good test on the sending unit for 0-90 ohms before installing the tank.

  This morning, I was removing trailer tow wiring that a previous owner installed and found the connector for the sending unit brown wire.  My multimeter showed about 12 volts on that wire with the key on which meant that the sending unit had to be getting power when that connector was paired up.  So I grounded and ungrounded the brown wire and watched the gas gauge needle swing between the limits.   

  So I poured in five gallons of no corn liquor dead dinosaur juice and the gas gauge needle moved to just under a half a tank.  I fixed my gas gauge.

Rick

 

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

   I got a lot accomplished today but I had to reach for the Tool Of Devastating Mass Destruction - my Black & Decker sawzall tool.   I had to use the sawzall to cut off two of the screws holding the tail lamp assembly so that I could see why I had no backup lamps on either side.  No major damage to the tail light from the sawzall.  The lamps were both bad but the passenger side lamp holder will need to be replaced because it is simply too rusty to work.  The license plate lamp also needed a new bulb.

  I also bought the one hundred dollar USD Harbor Freight welded stud dent puller today.  What a nifty tool.  It only took five easy pulls to raise a dent high on the driver's side quarter panel immediately behind the driver's door and I thought the 18 gauge steel would be stiffer.   Only a thin coating of body filler will be needed to finish this repair.

  As I was getting ready yesterday to do this dent pull today, I ran my Rollock sanding disk across an area high and a little further to the rear that I was curious about.  The paint here was a little suspect and sure enough, there's body filler underneath.  I doubt that it is major quarter panel damage but I won't know more until I do some paint stripping and sanding.

  And finally, the rear bumper is off!!  What a MAJOR chore. I only twisted off one easy to replace bolt but several still functional nuts and bolts really need to be replaced due to rust.  The bumper needed to come off for better access to the rear sheet metal for paint stripping and sanding.  I will also now be able to polish the bumper chrome up with better access.    I have laid around on the floor under the front bumper and it looks equally challenging.

Rick 

 

[64 kiwi boni]

5 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

I also bought the one hundred dollar USD Harbor Freight welded stud dent puller today.  What a nifty tool

Rick ! show us this machine ! 

i like tools that make workk easier !!!!!

Edited September 16 by 64 kiwi boni

[B52bombardier1]

Hello Chris,

  Here you go.

https://www.harborfreight.com/stud-welder-dent-repair-kit-61433.html

Rick

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

   It's time for an update - much has happened this week and likely even more this coming week.  It is nearly time for media blast.

  I tried using the aircraft grade of paint stripper and it just wasn't doing enough with that lacquer paint on the trunk / boot lid.  I gave up after three applications of stripper with some plastic shower curtain material laid over it to prevent rapid evaporation. I scraped, added stripper, let it soak in, scraped some more and eventually gave up.  I called the media blast guy the very next day and we are set for this coming Tuesday if he can get the tougher media for this paint - and outdoor weather permitting.

  What I thought was going to be as tough of a job as the rear bumper, was not.  Five easy to reach bolts held the front bumper on and the hardware was not as rusty as the rear bumper.  The front of the vehicle plastic headlight surround fascia also was easily removed once the bumper was out of the way.  Paint stripper on this plastic will be the only way to go because that one hundred PSI propelled media hitting it would shred it into nothingness.  Surprisingly, these plastic fascia pieces are in good condition for something that had to survive so long living up front. 

It was not easy to remove the door panels for several reasons.  Getting the wire clips off that hold the door latch and window crank handles off was a chore.  And I discovered there is a trick to getting these door panels off - slide them slightly forward and then lift them off. Two hours into the job, I figured this out.  Unfortunately, I did not find another build sheet at either door panel.  I did see something a little worrisome inside the passenger door - small plugs of Bondo body filler are poking through from the outside of the car - probably body damage.  But it can't be very much damage because the metal inside of the door cavity is smooth. Very puzzling here.  These door panel felt / water squeegee strips will also need to be replaced.

The rear side marker lights were also easy to remove and I'm still working on getting the driver's side exterior door handle off.  The driver's rocker panel long piece of trim didn't want to yield but I finally got it off and removed all of the drivers and passenger side mounting clips to give me access to media blast that metal. The driver's side rocker panel trim was hiding some lower back corner rust damage in the front fender.   We shall see how bad the rust is after media blast but already I can tell that it will not be as bad as the metal patch that I previously placed on the driver's rear quarter panel lower front. The waist high body trim and its plastic clips are also now removed.  The white "Catalina" and "400" emblems are all that remain for removal.   Everything else is either gone or can't be removed because I'd need to remove the front fenders - the small top, back edge trim on the fenders will be shielded from the blaster.  The trim at the lower edge of the rear window can't be removed because I can't get access to the four tiny and rusty screws underneath that hold it on - this trim will also be shielded.

I also ordered some door mirrors and backup light sockets from Ames and they all arrived.

I am happy with the progress and I'm really looking forward to the arrival of the media blaster truck.  I will hopefully have time tomorrow to buy a car's worth of catalyzed urethane primer sealant / reducer, a new inexpensive paint gun, lacquer thinner to clean the gun and a NIOSH approved breathing mask.    The cyanide related compounds in these modern paints ARE NASTY and DEADLY!! Once down to bare metal and in a warm, moist environment such as Louisiana, the car will flash rust very quickly.  Even with the anti rust "Holdtight 102" compound in the blaster water, I will only get maybe a 48-72 hour reprieve from the rust and 24 hours of that is simply to allow the blaster water to evaporate.

Rick  

 

[Wrongway]

I hate using aircraft stripper, such a pain. The smell, the application and the cleanup. A trick I learned many years ago working on 60s and 70s F100s was to brush the stripper on, then cover all the stripper with paper towels and apply another coat of stripper and cover with plastic. The paper towel would soak up the stripper and keep the truck "wet" overnight. It allows the striper to work longer removing the more stubborn paint. Also, a quick rough sand with an aggressive sandpaper makes a huge difference allowing the stripper to penetrate better. Congrats on the progress you've made bro!

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

  Its dustless media blast tomorrow morning bright and early.  Depending on how tough this paint is, it will be glass beads for the easy areas and garnet media for the more difficult areas.  Mixed into one hundred PSI water, of course.

Rick

[Alweeja]

I hope the hurricane does not hinder your job.  I am in Augusta, Ga. & 

I know the rain Iis going to impact us.   (Up to 5 inches)
 

I am enjoying following your progress.  U are doing a great job.

 

[Ringo64]

17 minutes ago, Alweeja said:

I hope the hurricane does not hinder your job.  I am in Augusta, Ga. & 

I know the rain Iis going to impact us.   (Up to 5 inches)
 

I am enjoying following your progress.  U are doing a great job.

 

Good luck to you guys! I’m in SWFL, basically just got outer bands, just some rain and tons of wind here with some fun tornado warnings mixed in. So far only 2 in of rain. 

[B52bombardier1]

We are too far west here in Louisiana to be affected by Helene but we got a bit from Francine a few weeks ago.  I am more concerned about heavy rain into Kentucky as Helene moves north.

Rick

[Wrongway]

 

12 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

We are too far west here in Louisiana to be affected by Helene but we got a bit from Francine a few weeks ago.  I am more concerned about heavy rain into Kentucky as Helene moves north.

We did get some heavy rain and wind last night just south of Lexington.

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

  Media blast is complete and I must say I'm surprised at the amount of body filler - even some brass brazing filler rod.  However, the Bondo is not at all thick or applied with a shovel.  My working theory here given the number of small and large area filler locations is that this was a previous minor restoration by a proud owner.   No major body damage was revealed and relatively minor rust.  The black squarish areas at waist height along the body is heavy tape to keep the blast media from going inside the doors. I'm still in shock the blaster didn't instantly shred that tape.

The remaining body filler is still in a good enough condition that we decided to leave most of it on the car and I will skim coat over the top of what we left behind.  But somebody knowledgeable in old school filler and new school filler is gonna have to tell me if old body filler and new body filler are compatible with each other.

  I have left the Cat out in the sun to dry out and my oldest son and I will drag the car back into the shop later today.   The car will still need small areas sanded with an 80 grit disk but this went so much faster and thoroughly than whole car sanding or stripping.  The downside is that I will likely fill up my shop vac cleaning blast media out of the car.

All in all, this took about 5.5 hours.

Rick

[64 kiwi boni]

Nice job Rick 👍

isn’t nice having space to do this kind of work 🍻

And you picked a good day for it !

[Wrongway]

3 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

All in all, this took about 5.5 hours.

Wow! Thats awesome bro!!!

3 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

But somebody knowledgeable in old school filler and new school filler is gonna have to tell me if old body filler and new body filler are compatible with each other.

I have personally never had any issues using new body filler over old body filler or feathering and blending new filler onto or into old body filler. I've personally used Bondo and white star on my old fords and Evercoat products for the last couple of years. Thier "Body Shop" filler {reinforced} and Lite Weight are both on my Grand Prix and other cars and bikes Iv painted over the last couple of years. Justa be sure to scuff up the old before adding new to it.

[64 kiwi boni]

I remove the lot 

I can’t tell the quality of what’s been done in the past , so I sand it all off and see what my panel looks like , and see if I can get it flatter before new bog 

years ago I smashed my 56 and I had to bog the whole front fender , I just couldn’t get it straight again , back then I had no money for a new fender ! 
and nothing wrong with putting bog on good clean metal 😜

Edited September 28 by 64 kiwi boni

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

  The last three days were a lot of work.   Sanding of the places that the blaster missed took most of Saturday and half of Sunday. Taping and papering up the vehicle also took a while.  I got started on spraying two coats of catalyzed epoxy primer about 5:30 PM and got done about 8 PM last night.

  It is not going to rust anymore but the blaster did reveal where the tin worm has dined - the lower rear corners of the front fenders.  New metal will go in and these will be easy patches to create in 18 gauge cold rolled steel.

Rick

   

[Wrongway]

Lookin good bro!

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

  Today was paint stripping day for those things either too delicate for a media blast treatment or the blast simply didn't work. The items I'm working on are the plastic headlight bucket fascia, the two rubber pieces between the front bumper and the fender and the rear marker light metal plates.

I started off using one of the citrus stripping products and I was very happy with its initial results.  It really bubbled up some paint.  But alas, this was only the more recent, top levels of paint.  The deeper, older lacquer paints are lots tougher and are coming off much more slowly.  Even with using a small wire brush to loosen this deepest layer, it is still slow going. Hitting it with a 3000 PSI pressure washer helps but its not the final answer.

  I'm now switching to some Aircraft Stripper that I previously used on this car and didn't like its results.  We shall see tomorrow morning how this goes. I will also likely start cutting out the small front fender rusty areas tomorrow that the blaster revealed.  I have to get these metal repair and paint stripper things done so that they can go with the car in November to paint jail. 

Rick

[B52bombardier1]

Hello Again,

   Another productive day.  Everything that needed paint stripping got finished and the parts cleaned up nicely. I was worried that the plastic in the headlight fascia would be brittle and delicate but it turned out to still be quite rugged. 

  I also got the small areas of rusty metal cut out of the lower rear corners of each front fender and nearly replaced. The driver's side repair is nearly complete and the passenger side welds still need to be ground down.

Rick