I'm not trying to be rude or condescending with my questions. Are you concerned with longevity of the repairs due to the rust not being removed prior to the "new" metal pieces being welded into place? By not removing the corrosion especially in the concealed areas along the rocker panels, the new welded patch pieces have sealed the corrosion. Stripping the rust prior to repairing the metal would greatly help in eliminating future issues with the repairs or paint problems.
I agree with ECS. I commend you for having the skill to do the welding. I am not so fortunate as I do not know the first thing about welding, however, I do know that you need a good, clean surface in order for the weld to hold. If it were me, what I would have done first was to have sand blasted the metal to remove the rust. This would also give it a nice clean, rough area for the weld to bite onto. All the panel replacement in the world isn't going to matter if you don't remove the cancer (rust) before hand. Over the years, the one thing that I learned and stuck in my mind was that you need to remove all of the rust otherwise it comes back with a vengeance big time. A little extra now will definitely save you a ton of money later on as you only have the base to build off of. Weak base tends to have welds pop, rust bubble up under paint, etc.
Keep up the progress. Its no easy task but as long as you have forward momentum, its still progress.
Thank you guys for your comments. No offense taken.
Yes, I do wish I had the blaster first, but once it was sitting in the shop, I just couldn't resist doing some cutting and welding. I am learning as I go, and now that I am blasting it everything from here on should appear better. Because the car was blasted before, all the holes were already exposed and this is mostly surface rust I am taking off. I also wish there was some way to dip the car around here, because even blasting won't get in the seams.
I've seen some of you're work ECS. Nothing short of incredible. I appreciate that you even looked in here and made a comment! As I said earlier though, this is just a low budget resurrection driver. I drive on a gravel road every day. Reality is this car, like most, will not see much rain ever again. It will live in a shop and odds are if I never get to doing a full restoration, it will still outlive me. Nothing I have done or will do can't be undone and replaced though (and I may yet do so). I have seen many builds where guys have cars apart at every spot weld. Wow, I commend their abilities and efforts. "Maybe" someday I will spend the money on all the AMD sheet metal and "restore the body correctly". And I use the term "restore" loosely!
On the welds I did before my blasting, I ground the edges with a die grinder. If the steel was too thin I went a little bigger until I thought it was strong enough, then made my patch fit that. The only thing really "sealed" is inside the inner rocker, which you can't blast anyway, I guess I could remove the whole thing. The inside where the floor joins will be blasted today. If when I blast the areas around where I patched it goes through, I'll make another patch.
Thanks for looking in guys.
