Rebirth of a Bianchina

2012-01-20T15:47:00.001-05:00

While waiting for Corvair parts to arrive I had a chance to sand down the repair on my steering wheel. It is ready for the final scuffing and priming with epoxy primer. Be back soon.

2012-01-17T15:54:00.003-05:00

Haven't figured out how to continue writing after adding more pictures so I started a new post. Just remember this goes with the previous pictures. I used my Dremel tool to widen the crack and after cleaning it out I filled it with JB Weld as shown below. Tomorrow when it is cured I will sand it smooth ready for priming.

2012-01-17T15:36:00.008-05:00

While waiting for the next Corvair to come in the shop, I decided to do some little things I've been putting off. The first is repairing a flat tire. I must have pinched the tube when I mounted the new tires. I bought a new tube some time ago but just never got around to fixing it. I got out my trusty small wheel bead breaker that I purchased from Harbor Freight and began to replace the tube. I have to tell you, that's the best $19.00 I've ever spent. It has been used to dismount the five old tires and mount the new ones (one of them twice), removed and replaced the two trailer tires and had no problem breaking any of them loose. After I finished the tire, I decided to work on my steering wheel. You can see a small crack right around the top edge where the horn button goes.

2011-12-31T15:26:00.002-05:00

After repairing the major blowout on my air hose, I managed to finish sanding the drivers side so I could move it to the other bay. Another corvair job is coming in Sunday. Hopefully it won't take too long. Good to see my auto-exposure is working so-o-o well.

2011-12-19T15:29:00.002-05:00

I know it looks about the same but there has been three coats of filler put on this side, two have been sanded off. I hope to sand the last coat tomorrow and move to the other side.
Wow, if you blow up the picture it looks like '57 Chevy fins!

2011-11-27T20:20:00.002-05:00

Yay me! I finally got a chance to work on the little car. I laid out the template, drilled the holes and installed the modified Corvair rocker moldings. The left photo shows the retaining strip screwed in place and the right photo shows the trim strip in place. They were then removed and placed in storage with the rest of the parts. Tomorrow---more filling and sanding, the worst part of the whole restoration.

2011-10-05T18:28:00.002-04:00

As you can see, the trailer is ready to go for inspection and registration. I can't mount the winch until I'm able to get the car on the trailer. The bed is eight feet long and five feet wide, I hope I can get the car forward enough to give me the correct tongue weight. I might have to load it on backwards so the engine weight is in front of the axle. We'll see, if nothing else I have a great utility trailer.

2011-09-13T19:06:00.002-04:00

Apparently I don't have the hang of this yet. Too much time off. I stumbled across a good deal on a tilting, flat bed trailer to haul the Bianchina around on. Bought it, brought it home, took it all apart to clean, fix and paint and forgot all about taking before pictures. I'll post some when it's back together but not completely finished. I want to get it registered and tagged before completely finishing it. I'm planning on having an electric winch mounted on the front to load the car on but I'm afeared that might make it too hard to get a home built title. We'll see.

2011-09-04T15:56:00.004-04:00

We finally finished getting my Dads estate finished, it will be listed tomorrow. I got back in the shop today and just futzed around getting used to it again. As promised, here are the before and after pictures of the cut down Corvair rocker trim. The finished length is 49.75 inches just to give you an idea of the scale. As soon as I can, I'll move the car into the working bay and install the mounting strips, drill all the holes and screw in stainless screws. I will then remove it all and store it and continue with the filling and sanding previously started. It's good to be back.

2011-07-12T11:24:00.002-04:00

Haven't posted for a while but I've been sneaking in a little work on the car as time permits. I took a pair of 1965 Corvair rocker moldings and de- anodized them. I sent them out to be cut, shortened, heliarced, sanded, polished and buffed. When I get them back I'll clear coat them. Obviously they are for the Bianchina since I can't come up with the original trim pieces. I like these better anyway, they're streamlined so the car should go faster. GGGG I forgot to take before pictures but I will post pictures of the finished parts.
Being an executor is taking up wa-a-ay too much of my time.

2011-05-11T21:42:00.000-04:00

I picked up the hood trim piece from a fellow Bianchina owner. When I received it, it had two screw holes drilled into the ends( I knew about them) I had the holes welded up (TIG), ground down, sanded smooth and then buffed out. I'm tickled to death with it. The story goes that they fell off of the car as it left the dealership when sold. Very rare piece.

2011-05-06T14:15:00.001-04:00

I haven't given up, just busy with customer cars and trying to settle Dads estate. I'll be back on it soon.

2011-03-10T14:07:00.002-05:00

I did some sanding and filling today. It looks the same but I wanted to try out my new camera.

2011-02-28T15:56:00.002-05:00

I kind of cheated a little bit. While the customer car is still in the shop, I used a few spare minutes to fill some dings in the engine lid. I don't think I'll sand them until the bay is empty.

2011-02-18T13:14:00.002-05:00

Did some more filling and sanding today, no picture, looks about the same. I moved the car back to the storage area to free up the working stall. Got a paying customer coming in.

2011-02-17T15:36:00.001-05:00

It's been a long three weeks off but I finally got a chance to slip out to the shop and do some filling and sanding as shown above. I didn't know there were so many little dings and dents on there.

R.I.P. Dad, miss you.

2011-02-02T15:52:00.002-05:00

I finally got a break from the hospital and nursing home so I managed to get a few hours on the body filler and sanding. Seems to be coming along okay, just seems slow. I guess I'm too impatient but progress is progress.

2011-01-17T15:27:00.003-05:00

I painted the entire bottom today and touched up a couple of spots that looked thin. I also painted the bottom of both engine splash shields---not pictured. It's been a good couple of days. Now The finish body work begins, I sure was getting tired of cutting, welding and grinding.

2011-01-15T10:08:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was priming day! I have three small pieces I've yet to do and then I can start on the finish body work. If any one is reading this and is interested, it took one and a half quarts of PPG DP50 primer to do the entire car. It is also $80 per quart set (primer and catalyst). I used my TIP Tools HVLP turbine spray unit to do this and you can see there is very minimal overspray any where. I did put plastic sheeting on the floor since I knew I would be spraying downward on the doors, trunk, hood etc. I should also mention this system is very bad for your lungs. I have and used a fresh air supplied hood while spraying. I looked like a bio hazard worker but I can still breath and no worries of the big "C". I also wore surgeon's gloves to avoid skin oil while handling the doors and other small parts. I am happy with the outcome and progress IS being made.

2011-01-12T14:48:00.002-05:00

Still doing little catch up jobs preparatory to painting. Cleaned up the seam sealed seams with a razor knife and lacquer thinner then decided to test fit the carpet and console. Looks pretty good. Next will be masking, de greasing and primer----I think, may have to do something under the dash.

2011-01-10T12:58:00.002-05:00

Been working on a bunch of little things, none worthy of a picture. I started by putting the lift under the car and removing the front half of the rotisserie so I could work on the front panel. I needed to shrink the left side some in order for the bumper to fit without hitting the body. That's when I discovered that there is supposed to be nuts welded to the inside of the brackets. After scratching around for the correct size, I welded them in place. One of the bumperettes needed a slight grinding at the bottom to fit correctly and I figured it's better to do it before they go to the chroming shop. Made a list of all the needed screws and bolts needed to mount the tail light housing and the front and rear bumperettes. Placed the car back on the rotisserie and painted the rear seat(GGGG) area with POR-15, buffed the stainless rain gutter trim and masked it so I could seam seal all the seams on the body with tube type sealer instead of the brush on type. I also went this morning and bought the epoxy primer, I was thinking of getting a gallon just to have on hand but at $167 I settled for a quart and a pint of hardener. I'll have to see how far that goes. I'm intending to prime the entire car, top to bottom, inside and out.

2011-01-07T14:38:00.002-05:00

This is the area that I have to patch. It is a lot of compound curves so I'm probably going to weld a little, heat with a torch, bend a little, weld a little etc. until it fits and is all welded. The little patch around the screw hole was the toughest. The finished job is shown above, like the other side, it's a little lumpy but body filler will take care of it. The filler won't be any thicker than 1/8 inch anywhere on the body. I also did some work on the front hood to see if I could get the depression out where someone tried to close the hood without releasing the prop. I was about 98% successful but didn't take any pictures. Maybe next time. I think the next step is to go all over the body to see where if any seam sealer is needed. I'm pretty sure I've got it all but now is the time to check. Once it's ready it's time to prime it and then the body smoothing starts. (And I hate sanding!) I also removed the plastic screw anchors that were used to fasten the top of the bumperette to the body. It was then I discovered that there is supposed to be a welded nut on the backside of the tail light opening. After figuring out how to do it, I welded a nut behind each opening. The Bianchina parts book shows a special standoff nut(bolt?) is used there. It's male on one end and female on the other and is used to attach the tail light housing. Have to talk to my favorite machinist tomorrow.

2011-01-04T15:45:00.003-05:00

I tackled the other fender lip today. It came out okay but it has a few depressions that will be filled with filler after epoxy priming. I was going to use body lead but after thinking on it decided on body filler being as it's much lighter than lead. Since the car only has 16 1/2 horsepower every ounce saved helps. You can see in the second picture that I've already cut out the rot on the bottom of the fender, I'll make a patch and weld it in tomorrow. I was able to find, clean out and retap the mounting hole for the rear bumperette. It was held on with a wood screw into a plastic anchor, real classy repair. Some where along the line it was filled with Bondo and instead of finding and using it, the old wood screw trick was used. Getting closer to priming.

2010-12-13T18:15:00.003-05:00

Things went so well with the fender lips, I got crazy and decided to fix the swiss cheese on the bottom of the fender under the bumperette as shown above. The completed repair is shown on the right. After this was done the car was put back in the storage side of the shop and the next PAYING job brought in the working bay. First chance I get I'll do the other fender lip and get it ready for priming.

2010-12-13T18:06:00.002-05:00

Today was fix the fender lip day. I finally got to use the amazing magical shrinker-stretcher machine. The job I've been dreading took about 5 minutes to form the new lip and about 3 hours to cut, install, weld and grind. You can see the shape the fender was in after cutting off the rust and ragged edges left by a previous owner. The second picture shows the completed installation ready for epoxy primer and then a thin coat of body filler. After a second coat of Primer, a coat of sealer, a coat or two of sanding primer and it's ready for finish painting. Sounds a lot simpler than it's going to be but I'm making headway.

2010-12-09T13:34:00.002-05:00

It's a day late but I got the tires mounted. I think one of the used tubes may have developed a leak at the valve stem. I checked them all thoroughly before using them. If you recall only two of the five I removed were the correct size, the others are new. Shoulda bought all new. Oh well send in another order. If any one is interested (assuming any one but me is reading this) the colors used on the wheels are Sunburst Orange metallic (2009 Dodge Caliber) and Creme Brulee (2008 Ford Edge)

2010-12-07T12:34:00.003-05:00

I got the wheels back from the paint shop. They are sitting on the floor of the car for now. I'm hoping to mount the new tires tomorrow, if so I'll get new pictures.

2010-12-02T10:22:00.002-05:00

This is the machine I've been working for. I have the pieces of sheet metal cut to size and bent into angle but haven't yet had the chance to try forming them into wheel well arches.

2010-12-02T09:42:00.002-05:00

This obviously shows the side view of the hinges and the other shows the polished stainless "sex screws" that I used for the hinge pins. Upon final installation, I will use permanent grade Loctite on the threads. They have a T-20 security head on them which looks way cooler than a phillips head.

2010-12-02T09:35:00.002-05:00

I know it's been a while since I've reported anything but I had to finish up a big Corvair job that will help pay for the shrinker-stretcher machine. More later on that. My machinist cousin finished the engine lid hinges and they look (and work) great as can be seen in the installed picture above. The other picture shows the contouring needed to seat on the curvature of the lid. If I remember it is an angle of 105 degrees off of square. See next post for more pictures.

2010-10-14T16:17:00.002-04:00

The working bay opened up for one day so I decided to take care of a problem I had previously noticed. The area under the back "seat" had several pinholes in it. Rather than trying to weld all these closed, I decided to use POR-15 and fiberglass cloth. It dries into a hard, rust resistant finish very much like real fiberglass as you can see above. I will move the car back tomorrow to make room for a job that will allow me to purchase a shrinker-stretcher machine so I can get the rear wheel well edges done.Then it is time for primer!

2010-09-15T11:40:00.003-04:00

As stated yesterday(9/13) I removed the cross bracing from the door openings and finished painting the bottom. I moved the car over to its parking area, freeing up the working bay for a paying job, yay!

2010-09-12T16:14:00.002-04:00

Although it didn't go on as easily as the first one, I got the other fender fitted and welded on. It took a lot more coaxing and massaging to get it to fit and I'm still going to have to do a little lead work but I'm okay with it. Some how my cut line on the fender was not straight and I didn't notice it until I cut it which left a gap on the flange that I'll have to fill. No biggie but it irritates me. I think the next step is going to be cutting and removing the temporary braces I welded in before cutting off the old rocker panels. Should be a snap, then it's back to Corvair power train swapping. Oh yeah, I bought a new wiring harness at a good price yesterday. I'm not ready for it yet but couldn't pass it up.

2010-09-11T19:37:00.002-04:00

The wheel well was painted inside and out and I just kept painting until the can was empty. Got a good bit of the bottom done. I also got the inside of the fender painted after adjusting the fit. I'm hoping to get the fender welded on to the car tomorrow.

2010-09-11T19:34:00.002-04:00

This is the hole after all the rot was cut out. It is the bottom rear of the front left wheel well. Clear?
After welding in a patch it was painted with the good old POR-15 as shown in the next post.

2010-09-10T11:26:00.002-04:00

I got the rear fender panel finished today, turned out pretty good. I also started working on the front wheel well preparatory to fitting and installing the front fender.

2010-09-08T20:11:00.001-04:00

This just shows the extant of the POR-15 I did today, don't know why I always get a yellow reflection on POR-15 pictures .It really isn't there.

2010-09-08T20:03:00.003-04:00

Finally got a chance to finish the patch for the rear fender front edge. While I was at it I made and welded in a patch for a rust hole in the fender well. I POR-15'd the back of the patch and set it aside to dry. I used up the rest of the can painting the fender well and as much of the bottom as I could. I will weld in the patch tomorrow and start working on the front fender and fender well.

2010-08-26T15:59:00.002-04:00

I got the rocker panel welded on and metal prepped it today. I also started fabricating the fender patch panel. The little comma shaped things are very strong magnets out of a dead hard drive, very handy for holding things in place.

2010-08-25T16:57:00.002-04:00

I got a chance to weld in the patches on the inner rocker. A coat of POR-15 was next. I also fit the outer rocker skin. This one is also a quarter inch too long necessitating cutting in half, shortening and welding back together. It too got a coat of POR-15 on the back side. I had to quit to babysit my grand daughter. Much more fun.

2010-08-17T19:51:00.002-04:00

Today I started fabricating the patch panel(s) on the rear fender interior section. It (they came out pretty well. I'm getting a little bit smarter, I'm flanging all the joints that I can instead of butt welding. The little bit of extra metal backing is a lot easier to weld without burning holes in it. I think next will be the repair of a few holes in the interior of the rocker panel area and then a good coat of POR-15 before fitting the rocker itself.

2010-08-16T20:27:00.002-04:00

I figured as long as I was cutting, I might as well go all the way so I cut the rusted out section of the rear fender leading edge, you know, the front part of the rear fender. It's going to take some major repair and fabrication to fix but it will be good practice for the fender lip itself. Any tips are always welcome assuming anyone but me reads this.

2010-08-16T20:18:00.002-04:00

Today was cut day, I cut off the old fender bottom, the old rocker bottom and the old rear fender bottom. I also melted off all the brazing that was done by a PO and removed the "patch" panels held on by the brazing. I don't think I mentioned previously that I scraped all the old undercoating off the entire car this week. I found a few surprises but they were not completely unexpected. You can see in the wheel well picture the entire rear bottom has rotted out and will need to be replaced with something more substantial than brazing tissue paper patches on and covering with spray can undercoat. The rocker area also has some areas of rust out but will not be a major problem to fix.

2010-08-06T15:08:00.003-04:00

Didn't get too much done today but I did get the patch metal prepped and I melted the brazing off of the rear fender lip so I could see what was under there .Not much better. I also rolled the whole rotisserie out of the shop and turned it around to make it easier to work on the drivers side front fender and rocker panel.

2010-08-05T16:00:00.001-04:00

While waiting for the paint to dry, I heated and scraped off about three pounds of undercoating from the wheel well. Also removed and cleaned up the rubber snubber from the spring mount.

2010-08-05T15:53:00.003-04:00

I found two pinholes in the backing metal so I put a heavy coat of POR-15 on and put a strip of fiberglass cloth in place. I then put another coat of POR-15 over that allowing it to completely wet out the cloth. When dry it is as strong as the tissue paper sheet metal the car is made of and it was easier than welding in little patches. I did fabricate a metal patch and welded it in. Didn't turn out too bad, couple low spots but that is what skim coats of body filler are for. I haven't metal prepped it yet, too hot out in the shop. I'll get it tomorrow.

2010-08-04T16:16:00.002-04:00

This is the area I'm going to make a patch for. After cutting out the corroded metal this is what I found. I chiseled off the blobs of bondo and vacuumed out the pile of dirt at the bottom to see what repairs are needed before the patch goes on.

2010-07-27T16:41:00.002-04:00

After a lot of trimming, fitting, trimming some more I finally got the fender welded on. Again I removed the red primer, cleaned and metal prepped the surface to prevent rusting. I think I'm going to attempt to make a patch for the rear fender next. Wish me luck!

2010-07-23T14:45:00.001-04:00

I got all the wheels sand blasted. They are all ready to send off to the paint shop. When they return, I'll mount the new tires on them and they will be all ready to go.

2010-07-20T22:09:00.001-04:00

I got the rocker welded in today. Ground it smooth, stripped off the red primer, metal prepped it and quit. Had friends coming up from Baltimore and Florida to visit.

2010-07-17T13:31:00.001-04:00

The POR-15 is on but I haven't had a chance to weld anything yet, I've been working on a new roof. What else are supposed to do when it's in the high nineties??

2010-07-14T15:42:00.002-04:00

I cut and welded the last pieces into the sub structure behind the rocker panel. The POR-15 is supposed to arrive tomorrow so possibly I can weld the rocker panel in on Friday, maybe even the fender.

2010-07-12T16:20:00.003-04:00

After cutting out the rot, I started making patches and welding them in place in the wheel well. I also welded the rocker panel back together after shortening it to fit. Tomorrow I'll repair the rear part of the rocker area and it will all be ready for the POR-15 when it arrives.

2010-07-09T17:39:00.003-04:00

You can see the mess left after the brass and patches were removed. I cut away all the rotted metal back to good metal ready to weld in new patch material. I started fitting the rocker panel and discovered that it is 1/4" too long. I cut it and removed the extra length, it fit perfect but I didn't weld it together nor install it until the base is repaired. I'll also wait until I get some POR-15 to paint the inside before welding on any exterior skin.

2010-07-09T17:30:00.003-04:00

I marked the cut line for the rocker panel using tape and cut the bottom rotted piece off. Surprise! More rot. I got out the torch and melted all the brazing off, removed the bad patches and started to clean up the area preparatory for new patches.

2010-07-06T14:46:00.002-04:00

This is the first trial at tilting the car. It can be turned with one hand but I will always use two. You can see there is still a lot of work to do on the bottom. this will be so much easier on my back. I can also finish fitting the new fender before moving on to the rocker panel. I am able to roll the whole thing outside and over to the other bay when I need the room for Corvair work. When the body work is all done this rotisserie will be available for sale, rent or scrap. I don't think I'll be doing another one. I will finish my Rampside pickup truck that is occasionally seen in the background, just needs sanding, paint and assembly. This is as far as I got today. It is presently 102 degrees here, it's just too hot to weld anymore. I think its Miller time! Of course, I'll be using Coors light, just doesn't sound as cool.GGGGGG

2010-07-06T14:29:00.002-04:00

This shows the attachment under the front of the car. It's over built but ya gotta use what ya have. It bolts right on to the front spring mount. The other shot shows the car suspended on the rotisserie. I don't think I need the struts in the door but for $4.00 why chance it? They are easily removed when the body panel replacements are done. Cut them off, grind them smooth, prime and paint. The windlace goes over top and will hide any imperfections (if any) GGGG

2010-07-06T14:23:00.003-04:00

I finally got the metal, the strength and the stamina to finish the rotisserie. The pictures show the way the car is attached at the rear, which was relatively easy, and the front which was a little bit more complicated. In the following posts you can see more detail on the under side of the front mount.

2010-06-12T20:05:00.004-04:00

Progress made so far, left picture shows the head that was cut and rewelded to provide a level pivot. This was done on each of the motor stands. The welded on axles were cut off and discarded along with the little metal wheels, the welds were the ground smooth so as to provide an easy insertion into the extension tubes. I drilled a hole in the top side of each tube and welded a nut over the hole providing a means to lock the tube in place and also allowing dis assembly when I'm finished with it. I then welded the new larger casters on the outer ends and installed them on the stands. I fabbed extensions for the front swivel casters and installed them also. they wont have much to do with the finished product but they do make it easier to move each stand around until I get the whole assembly connected. I took both of the handles used to turn the engine and welded them end to end giving me more leverage to turn the whole car. Each stand was placed in its approximate position and clamped together using a piece of angle iron just to see how it would roll. The next step is to start fabricating the attachment points for each end of the car. The rear will be a snap, the front will take a little longer.
I'd like to welcome Sean Harvey to the followers list.
I also would like to anounce that I heard from my neurosurgeon Friday, that he sees no sense in operating since the nerve block is working so well. He did set me up with physical therapy for three weeks. Looks like I'm almost out of the woods.

2010-06-08T22:34:00.003-04:00

Well, Oxycodone and Morphine may be a magic potion but is sure is a bitch getting off of them. I had a nerve block shot scheduled for last Thursday morning and in my drug induced stupor I figured how will I know if the shot worked if I'm still on pain killers? So dum bass that I am, I quit taking them. Dry heaves, weakness, diarrhea, heavy breathing, couldn't talk without crying, irritability, loss of appetite, loss of motor function, super sensitivity to smell, distorted sense of taste all followed. My wife called the doctor and he said I'm experiencing with- drawal and put me back on them but in a decreasing dosage everyday until today, I'm officially off them and of sound mind again. The good news is the shot seems to be working so far, I have an appointment with the neurosurgeon Thursday morning to check my progress and determine my need (or lack of) for surgery. While floating around in la-la land, I had several ideas concerning the car. The trim strips on the rocker panels are not to be had anywhere. I had the bright idea to use 1965 Corvair rocker trim instead. I can remove the anodizing, cut them down to 49 3/4 inches, weld them back together, smooth and buff to a high gloss, clear coat and they are ready for installation. Not original but better than nothing. They look great and it's my car, so there. The other idea I had is to fabricate a rotisserie out of engine stands which just happened to be on sale at Harbor Freight, less than 1/2 mile from me. I bought two of them and started the project two days ago, working a little at a time. I'm amazed at how much muscle tone I have lost over this month. Also twenty one pounds. Don't miss the weight but I sure tire easily now. Anyway, I moved the car to the working bay since there was no Corvair work in house that needed that much space. I also brought over the lift and raised the car to a comfortable working height and started modifying the stands to fit. The first thing I had to do was take my plasma cutter and cut a slim wedge out of the neck and reweld it so the pivoting pieces were level. I bought new casters with bigger wheels so I could wheel the whole thing back into the other side of the shop when needed. Then the big job started, I am going to use the front spring mount as the front attachment point so all the suspension and brake parts had to be removed. I needed the" blue" wrench to get the nuts off the spring mounts. I ran a die over the threads to clean them up and bead blasted the nuts clean. The rear end was next, removing the suspension, brake lines, heater duct and decided to remove all the control cables also. I now have a very light, stripped down body all ready to mount on the rotisserie as soon as I fab the mounting pieces. I removed the rear cross piece that holds the motor mount and am planning on using the holes for the rear mount. All of this is for the easier installation and welding of the fenders and rocker panels. Also cleaning and repairing the rustouts in the wheel wells will be easier if I can tilt the car to a comfortable working position. Pictures will be coming soon. Stay tuned.

2010-05-21T12:15:00.002-04:00

I started laying out the fender removal process by establishing a reference line that all measurements will be taken from. This is the top tape in the left photo. I then measured down and established the cut line, the bottom tape, allowing plenty of room for adjustment. With cut-off tool in hand, I cut along the line and roughly cut around the rest of the fender lip. I had previously drilled out the spot welds on the inside edge of the door opening, around the headlight ring and the few down the front under the ring. I also had to melt out the body lead and cut the brazed seam under the headlight. The rough edges need to be trimmed off and cleaned up then the new fender can be cut and fitted. I can only work for about 1/2 hour at a time so it might take a while.

2010-05-20T12:03:00.002-04:00

Here are the photos of the new fenders and rocker panels. Obviously the fender is just hung on top for picture purposes and the rocker is laying just below where it goes. I have to figure out cut lines on the fenders and start removing the old one. I think I'm going to cut 2 inches below the crease on the old and 1 1/2 inches on the new to allow for "wiggle room". My plan is to flange the old fender edge and make a lap joint to weld. Might also add some stiffness. Oh, by the way, morphine and oxycodone is a magic potion! GGGG

2010-05-14T11:36:00.002-04:00

Been a while since I've posted but I've had to deal with two deaths in the family, I had to have my dog put to sleep after 14 years of companionship, had a squamus cell cancer removed from my back, and to top it all off my back is out big time. I may be looking at surgery. We'll see. In a spurt of mis-guided optimism, I had ordered new front fenders and new rocker panels for the car. They have arrived and are in the shop. As soon as I am able I can get some pics but I don't know when I can work on them. Stay tuned.

2010-04-09T12:02:00.003-04:00

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I had to spend my fender and rocker panel money on a new (to me) truck. So while rebuilding the fun money account and having a gap in Corvair work, I started knocking out some of the dents in the doors as seen above. The one on the left was a pain due to double wall construction in that area but it came out pretty good. The other door only had a small section of double wall so most of the crease was straightforward hammer and dolly work. I also worked on the hood. I wasn't happy with the cleaning and metal-prep so I did it again and allowed the metal-prep solution to remain on it longer before washing it off and drying it. Much better phosphate coating now. I removed some dents in it also. I'll probably start on body dent removal next, there are some small ones in the roof and the tops off the fenders above my proposed cut line. The above pictures are "before", haven't taken any after yet.

2010-03-14T16:27:00.001-04:00

Just thought I'd post this to make me feel better about spending my money and time on this little car.

2010-03-03T18:15:00.002-05:00

I decided to revisit the engine lid repair. I was never happy with it so I decided this was the time to change it. We're getting ready to make the hinges so I want the engine lid to fit as well as it can. The pic up there is how it was left-minus the cuts. I cut out all the crinkled metal that was caused by trying to close the lid with out releasing the hood prop .The underneath repair is satisfactory so I just replaced the top skin. As you can see it's not perfect and will require a skim coat of filler. I mounted the hold down latches on the lid and placed it in position using rubber shims to simulate the correct rubber blocks. After latching it in place, the measurements were taken for the new hinges and given to cousin George( the machinist, remember?)

2010-03-02T15:11:00.002-05:00

Today was a hard lesson on how to weld Kleenex. That is some light weight metal in this little car. I ended up using .023 wire on the lowest heat and speed and backed up the seam with copper to help avoid burn through. Finally got it done,cleaned, metal prepped and seamed sealed on the inside of the trunk. Any one with suggestions on MIG welding this light stuff jump right on in here and enlighten me---- Please! I am not looking forward to the fenders.

2010-03-01T19:37:00.005-05:00

Today was busy with a lot of small stuff that really doesn't show up much. I POR-15'd the bottom of the inside trunk and the bottom inside of the new panel before welding them together, I seam sealed all the joints that I had cleaned off the other day and beat, hammered and otherwise adjusted the passenger side seat rails so the seat would adjust, It's amazing how far off they are from fitting correctly. Maybe the press they use to make them is worn out. Or maybe Luigi just doesn't care if it fits, it's going to America. With any kind of luck, tomorrow I'll start welding the panel on. Oh, and I removed two rusted in place broken bolts that are supposed to hold the bottom of the bumperettes on.

2010-02-25T17:47:00.002-05:00

This is the top part of the panel that I didn't use. If anyone needs this part, it can be had cheap.

2010-02-25T17:42:00.002-05:00

This is the hole underneath the battery that I have to repair before replacing the front panel bottom. The next shot is the repair all welded in and seam sealed. I decided to seam seal it because since it was like trying to weld tissue paper. I'm sure there are some pinholes in the weld. I hope the front panel is easier.

2010-02-24T16:08:00.003-05:00

The 30" of snow finally melted enough that I could lower the car, push it outside and turn it around and lift it up again to make it easier to work on the front panel. You can see the rotted out part under the battery box on the right side of the car. You can also see the tape marking the cut line I'm going to use. After cutting the bottom of the panel off, you can see that it was also rotted out on the inner panel. The good side of the removed part of the panel supplied a great patch panel, correct curve and all. I cut out the rotted part and fitted the patch but did not weld it in yet, that will probably be tomorrow depending on how much snow we get on tomorrows' storm. Might have to get out the snow blower again. The real test will be to see if I have enough guts to cut my NOS front panel in half to use to repair the above hole across the front of the car. If anyone reading this has a use for the top 2/3rds of the NOS front panel, it's up for sale, cheap.
did I mention it is an NOS panel? gggggg

2010-02-03T09:20:00.001-05:00

I finished the cleaning and metal prepping of the car; the door and the rest of the interior. Now the fun starts, the body repair. Didn't take any pics, looks the same as the rest.

2010-01-31T19:34:00.003-05:00

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".

2010-01-18T13:32:00.003-05:00

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.

2010-01-17T18:18:00.005-05:00

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.

2010-01-17T18:10:00.004-05:00

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.

2010-01-16T17:01:00.003-05:00

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.

2010-01-15T16:14:00.002-05:00

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.

2010-01-15T16:09:00.003-05:00

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.

2010-01-07T20:43:00.001-05:00

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)

2010-01-04T09:14:00.001-05:00

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

2010-01-03T17:15:00.002-05:00

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.

2009-12-05T18:59:00.004-05:00

Well, I delivered another restored Corvair and I am just about done with the remodeling of the rec room so I was able to get back to paint stripping. I'm working on the right front fender and I am just amazed at the shitty workmanship and lousy repair practices this poor little car has undergone. The pictures show different views of the same area trying to capture the hack job done on the fender lip. The procedure, apparently, is to beat the inner and outer fender edges together, punch a series of holes with a chisel, wrap a strip of fiberglas around the exposed edge and then slather on about a pound of filler. Grind, file, sand or even maybe whittle until it resembles the original fender, spray on a fast coat of paint and get it out the door before the rust pops through again. Needless to say it appears I am going to have to replace the front fenders with new ones. I have already obtained an NOS front panel to replace the battery acid eaten one that is on the car. If I have to also replace the rocker panels, does anyone think the car will fold in half when the bad parts are removed? I'll have to start with the front panel, go to the fender and then the rocker panel. The process will be reversed to install the new parts and of course I will only do one side at a time. Hmmmm.

2009-11-07T22:57:00.002-05:00

Didn't get any pictures but I finished stripping the whole left side including both sides of the door. I also removed the window and did a little maintenance on it. It had gotten rust in the edge guides and swelled up so as to make it very difficult to remove from the door. Once out, I scraped as much rust out of the grooves as I could and carefully squeezed the sides back together so it would fit through the opening in the door. I then painted all the metal part with POR-15. When dry, I wrapped the glass in foam rubber and put it in the attic until re-assembly. I let the car down off of the lift, pushed it outside, turned it around, pushed it back inside and lifted it up. It's now ready to strip the passenger side and see what horrors await me there.

2009-10-28T19:26:00.001-04:00

I also discovered a new way to repair the flare on the rear wheel wells. It appears that you just beat the edges together and mold the shape you want from body filler. I just can't understand some people!

2009-10-28T19:21:00.003-04:00

I got the rest of the fenders and half of the front stripped today. I found the rust I was expecting the last time. The best news is I now have a dedicated lift for the little car.

2009-10-24T17:45:00.003-04:00

Now, here is the surprise. I would have bet that the slab of body filler was covering up a rusted out section of the fender. It is just severely damaged metal not rust, not sure how I'm going to fix it but it is bound to be easier than repairing rusted out body panels. I always welcome suggestions if anyone is reading this besides me.

2009-10-24T17:38:00.004-04:00

Well they're late but here are the update photos of the paint stripping process. There were more body filler spots than I realized and a spot that I thought was rust was just poorly repaired body damage. I'll post that pic in the next entry. In the second picture the two holes in the front of the fender were for a mirror, the three holes near the windshield post are from pulling out a dent. They didn't get it all the way out though, I'll have to work on it some.

2009-10-20T10:01:00.002-04:00

Not much new to report, spent most of the morning yesterday straightening the rear bumper before it goes to the chrome shop. I also did some more paint removal, the drivers side top and the top of the fenders. I'll try to get some pics today if I can.

2009-10-10T14:42:00.003-04:00

I managed to get the fuel tank sent out for refinishing. Obviously before and after shots. I sent it to Tank Re-Nu in Rockwood Md for their complete treatment. Due to internal baffling and a deep fill pipe I didn't think I could successfully do it myself, so I bit the bullet and sent it off. They received it on Monday, evaluated it and called me with the estimate. I agreed to the price and was greatly surprised when it showed up at my door on the following Thursday. Four day service ain't too shabby. The process used is, first, chemically cleaning the tank, they then cut it in half, sand blast it with extra fine aluminum oxide, weld it back together, completely fill it with a liquid polyvinyl coating to insure complete coverage, the tank is then drained, the outside is sprayed with another type polyvinyl coating and placed in a 360 degree oven for ten minutes for curing. It is shipped back with a registration tag embedded in the coating, a warranty registration form and a lifetime warranty. It's not cheap but considering I couldn't do it and the fact that replacement tanks just became available at close to $1000 !!?? I feel I did the best thing to insure years of freedom from fuel and contamination problems. I'll get back to stripping the rest of the paint as soon as I can.

2009-09-30T16:29:00.002-04:00

Finished the hood and trunk lid today. The left pic is after going over it with a 3M Scotchbrite wheel, the right pic is after treating with metal prep to keep it from rusting while i do the rest. I also removed the rest of the trim and the top bows so I can start on the rest of the car.

2009-09-28T17:35:00.003-04:00

And so it begins, I started stripping the paint off of the engine lid. I was surprised how much surface rust was under the factory paint. When all the paint is gone, I'll go over it with a scotchbrite wheel,wipe it down with metal prep, wash and dry it and move on to the next section. The metal prep will prevent it from rusting until I can spray some epoxy primer on it. Only then will I use body filler to smooth out any small dents I can't get with a hammer and dolly. Body filler sticks to the primer better than it does to bare metal. Also makes it easier to see the dents.

2009-09-22T12:45:00.002-04:00

Finally got a chance to finish the floor this morning. The next step, I think, is going to be paint removal to see what kind of horrors are under the two tons of Bondo around the wheel wells. Wish me luck.

2009-09-08T19:20:00.002-04:00

well, I did get the floor cut out and the new floor fitted and welded in but I ran out of seam sealer so I don't have the finished picture yet. Instead of waiting and posting both later, I'll put this up here now since I'm going to be tied up with Corvair work for a while. Got a big job in Sunday.

2009-09-01T19:26:00.002-04:00

I had an unexpected break from Corvair work so I jumped on the little car again to replace the passenger floor. Changed the lift over to fit and raised the car to working height. You can see why I am replacing this side also. By the time I removed the interior door upholstery, the door stop and the hinge screws, I removed the door and the polished aluminum door garnish strip, it was time to rest the back, leaning over really kills me. Tomorrow should be cutting out the old floor and trimming the new floor to fit, we shall see.

2009-08-25T12:35:00.003-04:00

Since I'm still too dumb to figure out how to put three pics on one post without them overlapping, these are the finished buckets. The other pic is the reason the Bianchina can't get on the lift. It's a 1965 Corvair bracket racer that I'm working on that belongs to a friend.

2009-08-25T12:21:00.004-04:00

Since my lift is still full of Corvair, I started looking for something to do that didn't involve the lift. I decided to refurbish the headlight buckets. They underwent the usual blast, prime and paint treatment as shown above. Why red springs? Why not? Maybe they will act as a hidden identifier if the car is ever stolen. When the buckets are installed in the car, they will get new headlight bulbs even though these check out okay. I also need to get some more of the retaining spring wire thingies, I'm missing three of them.

2009-08-07T16:57:00.002-04:00

I drilled out the pivot rivets on the seat tracks so as to remove them from the seat. I bead blasted them and started the tedious chore of straightening them so they would slide on the new floor tracks. After they were straight I painted them black and hung them outside in the sunshine to dry. I fabricated end pieces for the cross members under the floor and welded them in. I then seam sealed the bottom. You can get a good high off of that stuff, good thing all the doors were open. I installed the dry seat tracks and temporarily put the seat in just to double check the operation. I know the seat isn't pretty, ignore it, it will be re upholstered down the line. Chased the threads in the door hinges and re hung the door, lowered the car down to the floor and rolled the lift out of the way. I pushed the car back over to the other side of the garage and swept the floor. All ready for Corvair work. I'll do the other floor next break in paying jobs.

2009-08-06T17:20:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I lied. I spent yesterday cleaning up the Corvairs for the show Saturday. Today I finished welding the floor in, ground the welds smooth (left pic) and seam sealed all the joints (right pic). I think tomorrow I'm going to remove the drivers seat tracks and work on them until they glide smooth on the new floor tracks. Welding this was literally a pain in the back so it's rest time now.

2009-08-04T17:18:00.002-04:00

I did the final fit and got the pan spot welded into place. I started the finish welding and realized this is going to be a long process. There is a lot of leaning over involved and my back is complaining. I listened to the complaints and quit, I'll go at it again tomorrow. Probably even get some pictures too.