Oh no, Bondo!

Big surprise this past week. We started cleaning the primer off of the trailing edge from the front fenders and found that the typical line of rust had been filled in with, you guessed it, Bondo. This was a surprise that I didn't expect. It appears on both the front and right sides. Looks like I'll be placing orders this week for replacement panels from Stoddards. Here is a shot of the passenger side.



I have received the longitudinals, rocker panels and all four fender braces last week from Parts Obsolete. I know it will be awhile before I get to where I can install them but got eager this evening and applied the POR15 to the interior areas. Trust me, this car won't rust when I am done. It will probably out live you and I. If it's not going to be painted, it gets coated with the POR15. Since the longitudinals and rockers were so bad when I got the car, it looks like I can't really go wrong in this area. Here is a shot of the parts before the coating. I took some photos of the after but it looks like a big black blob. They look much more impressive in person.



I have just about finished the battery box area. I started sealing it today with the 3M Seam Sealer and ran out before I finished. So far, it looks pretty good and I am glad that I bought the correct front wall to finish the entire box area.

One of the frustrating things on this project is waiting on parts. It seems like every few days I am getting a UPS shipment but none of them are for parts I want to work on next. I am now at a point that I need to install the gas tank floor that I ordered from Restoration Design. It was supposed to ship out at the end of January and I still don't have it. I spoke to Bill Frey, owner of the company and he told me last Friday that they were held up in customs and should be in his shop early this week. Hopefully I will have it soon and will be able to finish the trunk area.

From eBay this month, I have secured the following at pretty good prices - 2 good heater flapper boxes, right side window regulator, and oil filter canister. I have sold a few of the parts that came with the car that were not for the correct year along with a couple other items laying around. In doing so, I've been able to build up my Paypal account so I don't feel so guilty buying more. I am still amazed at some of the prices these parts can go for. Would you beleive a steering wheel sold for over $1200 this week!

Another interesting note. This website is getting 25-30 visits per day on the Restoration pages alone. The visits are suprisingly coming from all over the world. Feel free to drop me an email and tell me what you think.