| Mach 1 Project
This Mach 1 vehicle came to us in the fall of 2005. My students repaired the
roof, right quarter panel and right fender in the Fall 2005 Sheet Metal Repair
Class. Before we received the car, someone had stripped all the paint and then
sprayed the bare metal with lacquer primer. When we sanded off the lacquer
primer, we found black rust pits on every panel. We treated the bare metal with
etching acid and conversion coat. Someone had installed a new door skin on the
driver's door. It was a terrible fit. My student removed the door skin; it
wasn't glued or welded. The students mounted the door frame on the car and used
a porto power to push the front edge of the door forward. This straightened the
door shell and gave a much better fit. The hood was almost beyond repair; it had
gouges, holes and dents. We fabricated patch panels for the rust holes in the
left quarter panel and tail light panel. The owner provided a patch panel for
the right quarter panel. We installed the right quarter panel patch with
adhesives.
The students sprayed self-etching primer and surfacer on the body and most of
the bolt-on parts. The door skin was installed with adhesives. After block
sanding the surfacer, the body openings – door, hood and deck lid – were trimmed
along with most of the bolt-on parts. The students partially assembled the
vehicle starting with the deck lid, then the doors and fenders. We had to wait
until the hood was installed to align the right front edge with the fender. Don
and Jon used clamps and a porto power to bend the edge of the hood into
alignment. The hood required more bondo work. It took the efforts of 4 students
to get the bondo sanded to the proper contour. More dents were found in the body
and many panels so the students had to fill, block sand and reprime. Three
students sprayed the body and hood on March 29th. They did a good job, no runs.
There was a fair amount of dirt in the clear coat. The students began color
sanding and buffing on March 30. The clear coat did not buff well so the
students sanded the car and resprayed the clear coat. Jon masked off and
sprayed the black stripe on the hood. |
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This hood has problems.
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Brian strips the hood.
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The students are removing
bolt-on parts.
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Look at the damage to
the bottom of the door.
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The hood has deep gouges.
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The hood has holes
from a previous repair.
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Spencie removes
the extension. |
All the primer is
stripped. |
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The Mach 1 had a dent
in the tail light panel.
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The rust hole is repaired with a butt weld.
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The welds are ground down.
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The hood has been
epoxy primed and filled.
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The tail light panel
has rust holes.
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A cut line is drawn
on the patch panel.
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The patch panel is
cut at the line.
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The patch panel was
installed to make a cut
line on the quarter panel.
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The outer wheel house
has been spliced.
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Scott removes the
improperly installed
door skin.
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The door, without the skin,
shows considerable
misalignment.
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Bonding strips are
glued in place.
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The splice panel is held
in place with screws.
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Don & Jon are removing
a crease from the
passenger door.
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The students used a porto
power to bend the door
frame into alignment.
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The splice is finished
with bondo.
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The students are masking
for primer.
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Jon sprays primer.
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A big step forward!
The Mach 1 body is in prime.
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Jon uses a yard stick
to block sand the roof.
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The students are installing
a new door skin on
the driver's door.
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The door is installed
while the glue cures.
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Jon trims the Mach 1
bolt-on parts.
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Jon sprays base coat
on the door openings.
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Scott sprays base coat
on the rear body panel.
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Jason and Scott begin
reassembly with the
deck lid.
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The students installed the
doors and then the fenders.
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The door and fender show
a slight misalignment.
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The hood is installed next.
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The Mach 1 is partially
reassembled.
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Jon block sands the surfacer.
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Nathan applies bondo
to the hood.
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The hood shows a slight
misalignment compared
to the fender.
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Don and Jon use a C clamp
and 2 boards to straighten
the hood.
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The hood and body
are primed again.
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The students teamed up to
wetsand the Mach 1.
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Jon tacks before basecoat.
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Scott and Jon spray basecoat.
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The Mach 1 is clearcoated.
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The students are color-
sanding the clearcoat.
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Jon is masking the
hood stripe.
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The tape is removed after
spraying the black base coat.
The entire hood will be
sprayed with clear coat.
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Nathan and Jon color-
sanded and buffed the
hood.
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The first application of clear
coat was sanded and the
body was re-clearcoated.
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Jason, Jon and Scott did
the majority of the work
on the Mach 1. |
