body work for dumbies?

[Hot_Wheels]

I just picked up the festiva from links56. he graciously towed it up here, unfortunately the car is far from rust free as i was hoping. It has some cancer in both quarters and the rockers running below the doors. Im not sure if i should move on or attempt to do the body work my self, im under a time constant and of course tight budget. My plan is to take my turbo swap and put it into the new festiva, i did not make time or money to do the body work. Im a noob to body work, my buddy can do some decent back yard welding. i think the rockers will be easy to make due to there just curved and there underneath the car so they dont need to be perfect. what gauge and type of metal should i use? I touched the rockers with my fingers and i can feel its soft, im guessing i will have to take a cut off wheel and open it up to see how far back it goes. Now the quarters i dont think there's any way i can make my own with the body line so i think i will have to find a donor. how are the quarter constructed? are they structural where there will be reinforced metal behind them? so once i open it should i spray the inside with etching primer and leave the area where im going to weld clean? anyone have any good tips or good pictures? im hoping this wont be over my head. anyone got any clean quarters?

thanks

[Safety Guy]

In rebuilding Aqua, I had to deal with bad quarters and rocker area ahead of the rear wheels, plus a couple other smaller holes in the floor, etc. Here is my build thread:

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31934

I get into the body work on the first page. It's simply closing up the holes, so don't expect "really nice work." I just wanted a dry, reasonably closed in and quiet car! If that's all you want it shouldn't be too hard.

The next body work I do I may actually try to make it look "nice." But Aqua's a work car and my first big bodywork project, so "beauty is as beauty does" for this one. She's holding up just fine, too.

If you can find some nice, unrusted patches for that area, you should be good to go.

Now if your rust has gotten too close to the rear axle brackets where they mount to the body, then you should reconsider. Unless you get a lot of good metal welded in there it probably won't be safe.

Karl

[Hot_Wheels]

i really like the idea of rolling it on the side to access, did you remove the passenger door window and quarter glass?

[Safety Guy]

I just rolled the passenger window down, and the pads did not contact the rear glass.

Karl

[Hot_Wheels]

well we got the car up on some bricks today, we surveyed what we are getting into. it doesnt look fun! we skinned the roof of my buddies parts Mustang so we could have some sheet metal, we decided to tackle the floor boards first, the passenger was the worse. We cut the bad section on out, it was doubled up, we secured a piece from the top and welded it in. I would like to weld a piece on the bottom but my buddy is advising to just use body caulk on the bottom, any opinions? if anything i would maybe like to run a bead on the bottom the metal. We just used a mig with the flux core wire, it doesnt do to great on a bead, it maybe us or the need for shielding gas, i may look into kits and pick up some shielding gas if it will make our life easier.

[Hot_Wheels]

got some more work done, patched the driver side hole, used a passenger side fender to help mock up the replacement quarter panel. it will fit good but i have a small hole that will need to be filled, where thinking of putting wire mesh behind it and trying to fill it with weld? the metal around the holes is structurally strong so no need to cut out the whole section. does anyone know about rust converters? i was talking to a buddy who said to paint everything inside the quarter with it before we weld the patch panel on top, but can we weld on top of the rust converter?

[91_festy_Gl]

Very nice job bro.

[Safety Guy]

It looks like you're tackling the holiness of you car!

I wouldn't think you should weld over rust convertor, as it is mainly just paint, I think. I used rivets on my work, so maybe where you can't weld, use rivets and lots of undercoating to "glue" together the pieces.

Karl

[lessersivad]

I wouldn't apply rust converter before welding.

If you want to coat the panels before welding get some weld thru primer.

Rust converter AFTER welding would be a lot better option.

Just my 2¢.

Hope this helps.

[Hot_Wheels]

I wouldn't apply rust converter before welding.

If you want to coat the panels before welding get some weld thru primer.

Rust converter AFTER welding would be a lot better option.

Just my 2¢.

Hope this helps.

is that the primer i saw that had galvanized zinc in it? last night i got this idea of make a rotisserie for rolling the body over so we can work on the rear. I was thinking of using the 2 engine stands i have, mount them to some wood base to make a big foot print then bolt the piece that holds the motor to the bumper supports? something like this

[lessersivad]

Yes, the primer is zinc based.

Here's a fairly good posting on the subject;

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/thoughts-weld-through-primer-84496.html

Make sure to follow the "tip of the day", post #11.

[links56]

Glad to see it coming along! It's looking good!! Keep up the good work!

[Hot_Wheels]

well i plan on tomorrow getting some supplies from Terrace welding, and paint im off monday hope to get some more done!

[Hot_Wheels]

today was discouraging! spent 150 bucks on tools, bought a flange and punch tool which is suppose to lower one edge of the body panel so the replacement panel can sit on top and be tack welded on top of the panel. We bought the harbor freight one and it sucks! it says it can do up to 16 gauge but it does not put enough of a lip on the metal for the replacement panel to sit flush. The flux core welder where using is on the lowest setting and is burning right through the metal! I tried brazing some of the holes but the 15% silver just beads up and will not penetrate, i tried plumbers solder and it did a little better for filling some of the holes but it also would just bead up in certain spots. Im lost not sure what to do, maybe i need to start with a clean slate and get a bigger piece of quarter??

[links56]

Are you using Flux when you are brazing? I always use brass when I braze, Ive never used the silver stuff, I'm not sure if that should be used more toward radiator repair and stuff like that. Just my two cents, Ive been brazing my whole life because a mig was always "too much money" growing up.