PROJECT 51: Paint can hide a multitude of sins. When I discovered that there was surface rust underneath what I thought was a pretty good paint job, I had the fenders, running boards, and firewall media blasted down to bare metal, and coated with powder-coat primer. The blasting not only takes off the paint and rust, but any plastic body filler (Bondo) that is hiding imperfections. One surprise that blasting brought to light was a hole in the right front fender that was added by someone for a radio antenna. A period-correct installation would have had it in the side of the body.
The hole was 3/4-inch across, and had been filled with a big blob of Bondo—a fix that would almost certainly have cracked over time. To fill the hole correctly, I first made the hole round using a hole knockout, then cut the same size slug from 22-gauge steel, and TIG welded it in place. When the fender goes to the paint shop, all it will need is a light coat of spot-putty, and the non-factory hole will be hidden forever.
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| Top half of the hole knock-out. |
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| New round hole and knocked-out slug. |
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| Repair slug pressed in place. |
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| Slug TIG welded in place. |
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| Sanded smooth and sprayed with primer. |
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