Cutin' out Rust and Making Body Panels

Its been awhile since I last posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't been hard at work on the Cruiser.  All the paint has been stripped, including all the little odds and ends.  I can say that all the little latches, hinges, brackets, etc were a pain in the rear.  The abundance of paint and clear coat meant I had to find a way to strip them.  My process ended up being:  paint stripper, wire wheel what I could, hand sand with sand paper and finally sand blast what I couldn't get with the other methods.  It took forever, much longer than I had originally anticipated.  But they are done!

In the past few weeks I've been busy ordering materials to remove the rust, weld in new panels and figuring out what products to use for the floor lining and undercoating.  As for the undercoating, I ordered more rust converter to neutralize the surface rust that exists, even after a good cleaning along with Eastwood Flexible Rubber Undercoat and Encapsulater.  It shouldn't chip, its flexible and will cut down on road noise.  As for the flooring, I decided on Durabak bed lining.  A lot of people seem to like the way it goes down and covers.  This should provide a great protection for the floor.  Also in the mix has been trying to figure out a paint shop to use.  I've been pretty disappointed in responses from different shops...all seem interested, but don't show up or call back.  The good news is that they are all about the same in price...a tad bit more than I was hoping for, but not by much.  I think I have finally decided on a shop though.

So lately I've been hard at work cutting out rust and ordering/making body panels.  The rust overall isn't too bad.  I've known all along I was going to have to replace the rockers, work on the rear corners and repair a few places on the floor.  The only things I've ordered pre-fabbed is a rear corner patch panel and the rear sill.  Everything else I'll make on my own.  Today I started the rocker panels.  Flat piece the three sides that have a 90 degree fold.  I spent some time trying to figure out how to do this, but in the end they turned out pretty good!  The hardest pieces yet are the patches on the quarter panels that butt up against the rockers.  It has a curved lip.  I didn't get it perfect, but overall I'm happy with the results.  I can always shape them into the correct form later.  Next up will be continuing to form floor panels and other small areas.  And finally welding...