Thanks Rallypanam.
continued ...
With the metal work done and coated it's time for the Bondo. Unfortunately my skills with Bondo are limited at the best of times and I was working against the clock as my period of good weather was coming to an end.
I really needed to spend another day to pretty to it up but it is what it is.
Now we get to the experimental part. If you're reading this now (Oct 2015) you might not want to try this next part until I report back on it later in the build. The lower parts of the van were originally coated with chip-guard and then painted over. People have written about using bed liner as a replacement for the chip-guard that then doesn't get painted over. I wanted to give that a try but couldn't find anyplace local that sells white bed liner. Started looking around and found this:
Kool Seal Elastomeric White Roof Coating. $20 a can at Walmart. The instructions read that one of it's uses is over painted metal. I've sure this stuff isn't as tough as bed liner but it doesn't have to be. I'm not going to be walking on it. It just has to be tough enough for the occasional stray stone or two. Searched the internet and couldn't find anyone who has used it in this type of an application before but I'm willing to go first.
Start by wet sanding the paint I'll be covering then tape off the area.
It's a little thicker than regular paint but to get a real good thickness I would start at one end and go over the whole area then give it a little time to firm up before starting again. After enough coats the roller would start "shoving" it instead of putting down a new layer so that was when to stop.
For the first application I used short paint rollers but didn't like the texture of the finish.
Next day stopped at Ace Hardware and bought a short foam roller. Used that for the second day's coat. Was happier with the finish. Roller cleans up with water. Following day the weather broke.
While the color of the Kool Seal worked OK I initially though it felt too soft but after a couple weeks it has dried out and now feels more ridged. I'll let you know how it works long term. One advantage is at $20 a can is I'll be able to patch it easy enough if there is a problem.
I figure total cost for the repair was around $120, excluding medical expenses.
Medical Expense #1.
Found that when welding above your head a pair of welding gloves and welding jacket aren't enough to prevent molten metal from getting between your clothing and bare arm.
Harbor Freight 18 in. Split Leather Sleeves. $7.99
Medical Expense#2
On other welding projects I've seen the problems caused by letting what you're welding get too hot. I've read that when welding sheet metal warpage from the heat is a real problem. To prevent this from happening I didn't weld in a continuous line but skipped around.
In this photo I put one tack at one end then moved all the way to the far end and put in another tack then maybe to the middle and do another. I'd be scooting back and forth on my back in a inverted version of the "do the worm" putting the tacks far enough from each other to try and keep the metal from getting to hot. Same thing again when doing the full welding. Even with trying to spread out the heat and taking breaks if you felt the side of the van a couple feet above the weld it would be surprisingly hot.
The downside to all this extra care is it took a lot of time. Did I mention I wear bifocals? So all that time I'm lying on my back trying to line up my bifocals with the small tinted window in the welding hood by holding my head at odd angles. After spending an entire day on my back welding in this position I get up the next morning and I can't move my head, at all. Felt like Frankenstein's monster.
Couldn't go to work like that so that required a sick day but since it was paid that was a wash.
Medical Expense#3
All this welding also requires a lot of grinding. And I do mean a lot. I wear glasses but they aren't safety glasses so I always wear goggles over them when cutting or grinding. During one Sunday my left eye started to bother me. At no time did I ever feel anything get in my eye. It just felt irritated. Didn't think much about it till I went to work on Monday and one my co-workers asked what was wrong with my eye. It was badly bloodshot.
Went to my doctor's office and as soon as the PA looked into my eye my with that lighted device she said "There it is and it's starting to rust." She tried to get it out but couldn't so they sent me to a nearby Surgical Eye Center where a doctor used what looked like a mini ice pick with replaceable tips to pop the metal piece right out. When I asked to see it he told me it was probably to small to see.
That was that. No further ill effects. Still don't know how it got into my eye. Since I always wear my goggles and at no time did I ever feel anything enter my eye it must have been on my face or hair and I accidentally rubbed it in there somehow. Haven't seen the final bill so don't know the cost on this one yet but with insurance it shouldn't be too bad. With my propensity toward injury, insurance is a requirement for me.
So that pretty much wraps up this project. All things considered I'm quite happy with the results. If I was to do it again I'd do some things different but that's to be expected. As to the final overall look of the repair.I know it could look better but I checked from halfway down the block and from there it looks
perfect! However you look at it it's still better then this:
One more thing. Whenever I was working under the van I had protection.
My own personal watch cat.
Linear Mode
