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My 85 TBird

Reply #150
Covers are primed, light coat of 2330 plas-tick adhesion promoter and 3 coats of 33430 primer surfacer with 2350 flex additive. I will let them set a few weeks before block sanding and re-priming.  Axalta products


My 85 TBird

Reply #151
.  Looks like i need to take a road trip up to Monona. You['re just over an hour north of me.

My 85 TBird

Reply #152
Quote
bootleggers deluxe
. Looks like i need to take a road trip up to Monona. You['re just over an hour north of me.


Well I’m guessing that puts you about 15 miles south of hwy 20. Come on up I’ll give you the short tour. Not that there’s a long tour.

My 85 TBird

Reply #153
I'm in Delhi.  so like 3 miles south of highway 20.  Maybe i'll boogie up some weekend, i'm typically working 6 days a week, so Sundays are fundays for me.

You going down to Wild Wade's swap meet in Des Moines next Sunday??

My 85 TBird

Reply #154
Most likely no, going to bid on an antique tractor down by Kansas City next Wednesday. If I end up with it will be on my way home with it on that day.

My 85 TBird

Reply #155
Cool, thanks, great stuff...I was gonna bite the bullet and grab a housing from one of the pre fab shops, like 300  to 400 bucks. Havent found anyone around here with the jig, but will keep looking. I will need to swap bearings ends from small to large and I know that usually costs me a couple hundred for narrow and bearing swap...so pre fab maybe just as economical.

My 85 TBird

Reply #156
Wow, very nice work on those. I need to pickup one of those older plastic welders. My Harbor Freight is not very good for this type of work. Do you have any tips for working with wavy covers? My 03 Marauder has the yellow urethane and the rear cover is wavy on the sides and the paint has spider web cracks. I tried to redo the front using some Metal Kote filler but now the paint is popping off the filler.

My 85 TBird

Reply #157
Quote
Drewstang

Wow, very nice work on those. I need to pickup one of those older plastic welders. My Harbor Freight is not very good for this type of work. Do you have any tips for working with wavy covers? My 03 Marauder has the yellow urethane and the rear cover is wavy on the sides and the paint has spider web cracks. I tried to redo the front using some Metal Kote filler but now the paint is popping off the filler.


Heating them up and pushing out and in where needed is about the only way. I use a couple of body dollies and spoons to "work" the plastic around when its warm, then hold it there until it cools down. I wouldn't attempt to do this unless you plan on repainting the cover, more than likely to get things hot enough to move you are going to burn the paint. I rarely fix bumper covers here at the shop, it has to have just very minor damage or it gets replaced. More often than not you end up with more labor in fixing and prepping than the cost of a new one. Your Marauder rear cover is about $1350 though, so it may be worth putting some time into. 

By no means are my covers going to be what I would call straight, maybe it's possible to get them there, but to me would be an exercise in futility. 

This is the heat gun I use at the shop.

http://www.autobodydepot.com/MRA-HG501A.html#.WqST7bmWy5g

My 85 TBird

Reply #158
thanks on the plastic work, wondering about that myself.  I used a good old Wagner heat gun to strip my Mustang...worked great...maybe not the best for a dedicated shop, but got the job done for a lot less...

 

My 85 TBird

Reply #159
Quote from: bodyman;464917
Heating them up and pushing out and in where needed is about the only way. I use a couple of body dollies and spoons to "work" the plastic around when its warm, then hold it there until it cools down. I wouldn't attempt to do this unless you plan on repainting the cover, more than likely to get things hot enough to move you are going to burn the paint. I rarely fix bumper covers here at the shop, it has to have just very minor damage or it gets replaced. More often than not you end up with more labor in fixing and prepping than the cost of a new one. Your Marauder rear cover is about $1350 though, so it may be worth putting some time into. 

By no means are my covers going to be what I would call straight, maybe it's possible to get them there, but to me would be an exercise in futility. 

This is the heat gun I use at the shop.

http://www.autobodydepot.com/MRA-HG501A.html#.WqST7bmWy5g

I appreciate the info, I hate asking about bodywork tips and tricks. I knew the rear covers were expensive, I just had to replace the front cover, header panel, grille, and impact absorber last year. I was an estimator for 3 years, and took a break but looks like I'm going back into the business as a shop manager.

My 85 TBird

Reply #160
Some body work photos. Decided to use the header panel from my parts car, too many broken mounts on original. Yellowish product is a sprayable polyester filler. Both fenders and header are ready for primer surfacer.

My 85 TBird

Reply #161
Found some ambition and made some progress the last couple of weeks. Stripped it back down to the shell and finished welding and grinding on the modifications. Needed a way to move it around so made some dollies that mount to the bumper supports. Did a little body work on the strut towers and cowl, and today rolled it out and blasted the engine compartment. Would of liked to blast some other areas but between running out of daylight and fogging up the helmet lens it was getting hard to see. Then back into the shop to warm up and spray a coat of etch primer so it doesn’t flash rust.

My 85 TBird

Reply #162
Wow!  That looks good.
1988 Thunderbird TC, 5spd
Stinger 3" single exhaust, Cone Filter, Adjustable Cam Pulley, Schneider roller cam, Walbro 255 lph, AEM Wideband O2
'93 Mustang Cobra replica wheels on 235/50R17

'21 F150 Powerboost
'17 Husqvarna TX300

My 85 TBird

Reply #163
Fun project, glad to see progress forward!
One 88

My 85 TBird

Reply #164
Good to see it's moving again!
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.