I had a chance to do some more cleaning and metal prep. Both fenders on the drivers side and the rest of the roof are done. All that's left is a little of the interior and the drivers door then the real work begins; fender and front panel transplants and rear fender reconstruction. Of course I don't know yet how I'm going to accomplish the reconstructions but as they say, "don't sweat the small stuff".

Here are some better pictures of the crappy repair and rust damage on the rear fenders. Metal-prep sure knocks the glare off and allows better pictures. Too bad the subject is so ugly.

While cleaning the top of the front fender, I suddenly realized what a stupid fish I am, you know, a dum bass. I've been dreading having to cut out each spot weld to remove the fender when I had an epiphany; I don't have to remove the whole fender--DUH!!
I'm going to cut right along the crease of the fender and just R&R the bottom half. The same holds true for the front panel. It's hard to see but the cut line will be straight through the three bumper mounting holes and again just removing the bottom half. This will allow me to replace the rusted/damaged sections and also to re align the front corners that have been pushed in by running into something. It will mean expensive patch panels but the time saved will be more than worth it to me. Maybe someone might need the top halves in the future, who knows. If not, they will go into storage in the attic.
Needless to say, they've been metal-prepped,washed and dried but no pics. Just looks duller.

I cleaned off the rear fender so I could see how much fabrication and repair is needed. You can see
the lousy beating and brazing that was done. I'll have to melt the brass off to get the oil can dent out of the lower section of the fender which shows as a dark spot on the lower left, then I can start fabbing the new fender lip or wheel well arch if you prefer. The other pic is the rust repair that will have to be done on the lower leading edge of the fender. So much fun I can't stand it.

Here is todays progress, the right side of the top, across the front and rear windows and the top of the rear fender. Cleaned, metal prepped, washed and dried. I'll lift the car up and do the side of the rear fender next. I'm not doing the front or the front fenders since they will be replaced. I'll probably do part of the interior before I turn the car around to do the other side. I also will need a different kind of wheel to do the channels around the engine compartment.

This is the door after the metal-prep procedure. It has a nice dull coat of phosphate? I think that's what it is. It's good for several weeks without rusting. The dark spot on the right is a gouge in the metal that was just filled up with plastic and painted over. I will hammer and dolly out as much as I can before using any filler.

I finished stripping the door and also did the interior where it shows). the next step is to clean any remaining debris off using a scothbrite pad on my die grinder. The door has the left side done, all bright and shiny. The tool and pad I'm using is shown in the next photo. When done I will go over it with metal-prep, wash with water and dry. It will be rust resistant until I get some epoxy primer on it.

Yay! I got the roof done today. Move on to the door next, you can see it already set up on its stand by looking through the windshield (hole)

Whoops, I forgot. I also still have to do the door.

Well, the holidays and a bunch of broken Corvairs put a serious crimp in my Bianchina time, but I finally got to it today. I got the right rear fender and the right door opening stripped. You can see on the first picture the "good ole boy "jackleg body repair. So much heat was used in brazing, the body buckled. You can see what is called an "oil can" dent right above all the brass. That's the kind of dent you get when you squeeze one of the old metal oil cans. I'll have to melt all the brass out to release the tension on the dent before trying to straighten it with a hammer and dolly. The other picture shows what was under the slab of body filler on the front of the wheel opening. There was no attempt to repair the rust, just smear some Bondo on it. The rocker panel was repaired the same way. It will be cut out and a new rocker panel welded in. Unfortunately, there are no panels available for the rear fenders, so I'm going to have to get creative when I start on them. All that's left to strip is the roof and some of the inside that will show. Get on it soon as I can.