Fred's Backyard LE Restoration Options

[friethmiller]

Rear Trunk Lid Restoration - Part 6 (8/2/2025)

First order of business on Sunday was to push the car out in the grass and clean the entire car inside and out. It took exactly 1 min for the Texas sun to dry everything out. Next, I mounted the trunk and sanded the paint down a bit to prepare for body work.





Pushing the car back under the shade, I started with the luggage rack hole repairs and then the patch at back of the trunk. Like with the front hood my goal was to flatten the rough spots and leave the major bodywork for another time.



After a few rounds of filler & sanding, I masked the area and shot two quick, light coats of epoxy. This concludes this trunk restoration mini-series. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

[friethmiller]

Targa Top Restoration - Part 1 (8/2/2025)

Along with finishing up on the rear trunk, I also started on the targa top. This work was mainly disassembly, bagging parts, and cleaning up the bottom side. Luckily, the headliner had been long since removed/discarded and the glue was all dried out. Was able to remove this residue in short order. Next up will be restoring a few edges, fixing a small crack, and then repainting top & bottom. Cheers! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[930cabman]

I missed how you 'folded back" the hemmed edge of the trunk lid to allow the release of the stiffeners?

TIA

[friethmiller]

I missed how you 'folded back" the hemmed edge of the trunk lid to allow the release of the stiffeners?

TIA

You didn't. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Even with my homemade door skin removal tool, I was unable to get a hold of that edge. It really is at a very difficult angle. In the end, I decided to grind it right down the fold like I was removing the skin. Pic below shows the "folded back" section removed. I just cleaned it up, painted it, and welded it back on at the end. Probably would have be easier to create a new, special tool that I could hammer along the edge.

[wonkipop]

wow.

i went back to page 1.

i admire your steady forward momentum.
a big transformation from the poor old girl you found sunbaked in the paddock.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bumblebee914.jpg)

[930cabman]

I missed how you 'folded back" the hemmed edge of the trunk lid to allow the release of the stiffeners?

TIA

You didn't. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Even with my homemade door skin removal tool, I was unable to get a hold of that edge. It really is at a very difficult angle. In the end, I decided to grind it right down the fold like I was removing the skin. Pic below shows the "folded back" section removed. I just cleaned it up, painted it, and welded it back on at the end. Probably would have be easier to create a new, special tool that I could hammer along the edge.

Is the folded edge not spot welded?

great workmanship and thanks again for sharing your techinques

[friethmiller]

Is the folded edge not spot welded?

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif) I should have taken better photos of this process!

No, there are no spot welds at all. There is only brazing on each corner. If you look at my close-up, you can see how I managed to get the small section on the left hand side raised-up and out of the way. This was what I was hoping for for the bottom edge but the curvature of the trunk and the support structure prevented access. Like I said, I'm sure you can make a tool that would do the job. Maybe I wasn't thinking clear at the time. I would certainly recommend bending the skin edge back versus what I did (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

Also, next to the tip of the arrow you can see how I just cut the brazing to free the edges of the skin. It's pretty easy to do.

[friethmiller]

wow.

i went back to page 1.

i admire your steady forward momentum.
a big transformation from the poor old girl you found sunbaked in the paddock.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bumblebee914.jpg)

Nice! I can't believe it has been 3 years of restoration. I guess some cars, like this one, require a bit more attention. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif)

BTW, next up is painting the targa top. After that I'm moving on to valances, outer rocker panels, and then to bumpers. Should make for some fun photos. I get to use my new plastic welding gun. Can't wait. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[930cabman]

"maybe I wasn't thinking clear"

gotta love it, Fred totally rocks in my book

I have a "spare" (pretty rough) trunk lid kicking around, I can use it as a mockup

thanks Fred

[Puebloswatcop]

Glad I saw the rear trunk lid rehab Fred. I have 2 extras, 1 thats in pretty bad shape. So I can try all the methods you described. And I will try to figure out a pry tool for the rear edge. If I destroy that lid its no big loss......

Your progress is happening at a rapid pace.

[friethmiller]

Glad I saw the rear trunk lid rehab Fred. I have 2 extras, 1 thats in pretty bad shape. So I can try all the methods you described. And I will try to figure out a pry tool for the rear edge. If I destroy that lid its no big loss......

Your progress is happening at a rapid pace.

Cool. I'm sure something that could get hammered and can travel from right to left underneath the fold would be the way to go. Just need to secure the hood on a table with clamps or the like.

[friethmiller]

Targa Top Restoration - Part 2 (8/7/2025)

Continuing on with the targa top, I went ahead and repaired a crack and another corner that was chipped off. Used the round grinding bit to give the repair a better chance of working. Took 3 applications of fiberglass reinforced filler to do the job. First 4 photos show the crack repair.





Here's the repair the back corner that a been chipped off. Not much was missing here so I was pretty confident that the filler/fiberglass would work here as well. This is after the 2nd round.





Here's the filler I'm using. I found it to worked very well, sanded easy. Here's the small amount used for the 3rd round.



Next up, painting the underside with black satin Rust-Oleum. This was thinned with approximately 15% acetone. Super easy to spay this out. I used my 1.7 tip in my LVLP gun. Only one coat here. Instructions say 1-3 hours to dry but you must wait 24 hours to apply a 2nd coat. Luckily this is only going on the bottom. Top gets primer since it will be painted with the rest of the car - no textured top on the LE. Yes! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)