Fred's Backyard LE Restoration Options

[friethmiller]

Passenger Side Bodywork - Bonus Photos (9/8 - 9/15)

[Note: my previous post on page 31 shows all the filler work]

Final photos showing the body work and the door to fender gaps. Not perfect yet but getting closer. Now... on to the driver side! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[Dion]

Looking great as usual.

[930cabman]

Looking great as usual.

I'll bet many of us just wish we had Fred's talent

keep rockin Fred

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)

[friethmiller]

Looking great as usual.

Looking great as usual.

I'll bet many of us just wish we had Fred's talent

keep rockin Fred

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)

Thanks guys! It's been in the upper 90s lately so I've been doing most of my filler work in the early pre-dawn hours - using my headlamp. Applying body filler is one of the few "quieter" tasks one can do on a car.

[Lilchopshop]

Looking great as usual.

Looking great as usual.

I'll bet many of us just wish we had Fred's talent

keep rockin Fred

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)

Thanks guys! It's been in the upper 90s lately so I've been doing most of my filler work in the early pre-dawn hours - using my headlamp. Applying body filler is one of the few "quieter" tasks one can do on a car.

Great work Fred! Yours is the thread on this site I most look forward to reading these days.

I do chuckle every time I think of what your neighbors must think. Especially at the thought of you wearing a headlamp spreading bondo before sunrise. Sounds like something I would do! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

[Puebloswatcop]

Awesome work Fred. I'm surprised your neighbors haven't called the police regarding a prowler in your back yard...lol

[friethmiller]

I do chuckle every time I think of what your neighbors must think. Especially at the thought of you wearing a headlamp spreading bondo before sunrise. Sounds like something I would do! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

Awesome work Fred. I'm surprised your neighbors haven't called the police regarding a prowler in your back yard...lol

They might! I'm actually surprised nobody has turned me yet to be honest. The sound-deadening curtains on my fence [sad looking as they are] block a lot of the light/arc-flash and muffle the noise a bit too. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif) I will say, only running tools during the daylight hours certainly helps.

I did get a lot done this morning before breakfast, btw. Going to be sanding for days! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

[Literati914]

Impressive work, I especially appreciate those gaps - that ain't easy!

[friethmiller]

Impressive work, I especially appreciate those gaps - that ain't easy!

Once you start pulling fenders off - the game is "on", Doug. BTW, I've got more gap work coming on that front hood. I think I'm going to have to cut, pull, and weld one edge out and another edge in a mm or two... but we'll see.

[Montreal914]

Quick question: You spray this epoxy outside in this setup? What about overspray and fumes, do they make a mess of your surroundings let alone the fumes and the neighbors?

I have no reference, never done this but I will get there at some point and curious as to what I can and what I cannot do. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

That wooden fence isn't far from the car. I assume, behind it is your neighbor?

Thanks!

Great work, very impressive! You are so rocking this thing. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[Puebloswatcop]

That is alot of sanding alright, you'll look like a ghost when you're done. Your neighbors won't know what to think.

[930cabman]

That is alot of sanding alright, you'll look like a ghost when you're done. Your neighbors won't know what to think.

look into the Eastwood sanding block with vacuum hookup,might save some time/mess

[friethmiller]

Quick question: You spray this epoxy outside in this setup? What about overspray and fumes, do they make a mess of your surroundings let alone the fumes and the neighbors?

Eric, the LVLP gun produces very little overspray which really helps. Another thing I do when I paint or [especially] sandblast, I move the car/part to the middle of my backyard. That way any dust or paint isn't drifting over the street which is on the other side of that fence. Painting outside isn't bad at all actually. Priming the car is no trouble - it's meant to be sanded. Of course, doing a final paint job wouldn't be worth the effort. There's just too much crap that will land back in your wet paint. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[friethmiller]

That is alot of sanding alright, you'll look like a ghost when you're done. Your neighbors won't know what to think.

look into the Eastwood sanding block with vacuum hookup,might save some time/mess

Got the front fender all skim coated this morning (I hadn't done the front section yet). Going to be working this fender for a few days and then gradually make my way down the door -> rear quarter. I'll look at those Eastwood blocks. I've seen them but never considered buying one. I do use a vacuum but the dust has to hit the floor first (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[friethmiller]

Driver Side Bodywork (9/15 - 9/21/2025)

With all the repairs done to this side of the car, I had a feeling this would be more difficult than the other side. It did not disappoint! In fact, I will probably need to revisit the front corner of the front fender and the wheel arch of the rear quarter.

Front Fender Fun

1st photo the starting point. This fender has had a life already. Going to resurrect it for another. 2nd photo shows the lack of body line around the turn signal area (1), the troubled area that I rebuilt with the pick-end of my body hammer (2), and the leading edge that had to be welded closed. The other pictures show the application of filler, guide-coating, marking and sanding.







Pre-dawn Work

Included these two photos to show my early morning hours spent throughout the week. Typically I'm utilizing the cooler temps to have more working time with the filler.



Next set show more morning work to the panels/gaps.





Back to the Nose

This is still a work in progress. I need to hammer down that high spot to help the curve around the light and then rebuild the edge to be straight. It's coming but certainly not done. Going to leave it for now and revisit later.



Down the Door

More pics of work as it progresses down the door to the rear quarter panel. 3rd photo shows the damaged wheel arch. This, like the nose damage, will need a little more attention later. In the last picture of this set, you can see I've abandoned the notion of hanging on to the door to rear quarter edge and have just filled it over completely. Makes things so much easier.





Sunday -> Blocking and Painting

Mid 90s today so I had to pace myself on the blocking. Did do some filler work but used the extended time filler (made by Evercoat). While not pressing down hard on the block, you still get tired doing this for hours. 3rd photo shows the new guide coat and how much better/darker it is. This stuff is serious. Last photo shows the work to reestablish the functionality of the door. Had to sand all the filler out of both side once I was able to open it.







Painting Time

Losing light quickly but felt I had enough time to mask and coat this side of the car with a light coat of epoxy. It wasn't pretty but I was able to get it done and call it a day. Went a little later than I normally do but it was necessary to get all the exposed metal edges covered. It's not perfect and I have a few more things to do but it is so nice to get this done. Cheers! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[friethmiller]

Driver Side Bodywork - Bonus Photos (9/22/2025):

Pulled the cover and took a few more photos this morning. It's a little dusty from the cover but I got a few shots of the front fender and door gaps. This is all in 100-grit so we've got a ways to go yet. Enjoy!

[friethmiller]

Retexturing the Targa Top (9/21 -9/23/2025):

Attempted to just orange peel the paint with Rust-oleum's satin black + PPG clear coat. It didn't work, of course! There wasn't enough texture and it wasn't even across the panel. The clear coat was awesome but it was just too shinny and no sooner did I finish laying down a wet coat, several flying insects in my backyard decided it smelled too good to resist.





As they say, it's just paint! Decided to sand it back down to 120-grit - using an orbital and a small block. Once done, I then used some real bed-liner polyurethane coating from Custom Shop. Sprayed it on using my trusty under-coat gun. Everything worked very well and I was very happy with the results. I used about 2/3rds of this 32oz container (24oz + 8oz hardener). The rest went into the trash (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) but there was no need to use any more.





After 3+ hours of dry time, I cleaned the top again and shot a single coat of semi-gloss paint (per @JeffBowlsby 's recommendation). I went with Rust-oleum oil-based enamel [again]. I really like this paint, btw. Could have just gone with the black texture but this enamel provided just a bit more gloss. I think it'll be perfect! Going to let it bake in the TX sun and revisit things after work. Enjoy!

[Montreal914]

Amazing work. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

Love the way you made the side one piece to get the perfect transitions body-door-body.

[friethmiller]

Amazing work. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

Love the way you made the side one piece to get the perfect transitions body-door-body.

Thanks Eric! There's a better way to do this with tape but to be honest it wasn't that bad of a job to saw through the filler at the end. I know some shops do this to secure the doors in a few spots and then lay the filler down. To me this makes sense. You don't want any movement with the doors.

[JeffBowlsby]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumb3d.gif) Fred. Looks great! Maybe consider offer a Targa Top restoration service...