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Re: Minion Missile - 1973 Colombian Patrol Project

PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 11:00 pm
by rrodriguezsal
Hello Don. It is not usuall see a car in Colombia with a very poor quality of body repairs as your car. As maybe I told you before this is the explanation about the corrosion found on top of body when you removed hard top. By sure someone remove the hard top to works on rear panels and re install the hardtop wihtout any protection leading on a big corrosion problem. We have removed Colombian Hard top from 1961 Patrol and the body condition was perfect.

About hinges I have seen some cases where it is cover all the area with epoxy and after remove the holes and nut are there, but if the rear panels were changed almost sure there are not the original holes. The doors and hinges are exact reporduction and fit perfect on original hinges holes.

I hpe you can reapir this

Thanks

Raul R



mad4hws wrote:started stripping paint. what a PITA! to get to where I have gotten, I have used a wire wheel on a grinder. It works, but man it's a lot of work. As the type who generally avoids anything that resembles the four letter W word, I decided to invest in the Eastwood SCT. That should make quick work of most of the paint/rust, but it's on back-order so will take a few weeks to get here. I'm slammed with work work, so that's okay.

So, interesting observation today. I have my home office set-up in the garage, next to the Patrol, during this COVID debacle. As it turns out, it's the best room in the house - it has lots of room, lots of light and is pretty well insulated from all the crazy kid noise. Today, as I was day dreaming and not working I was looking at the rear of the Patrol, something didn't quite look right. The rear passenger side panel was welded in crooked. The result is that the barn door gap is a whopping 3/4" wider on the top as compared to the bottom. I have never really welded before, so I'm trying to take my time. In order to address this issue, I think I can leverage my woodworking skills to work to square this panel up. breaking the welds won't be too bad - they' big and ugly, not the spot welding variety, but thankfully there's only 3 of them to concern myself with. My plan is to get this panel squared up and the barn doors attached/aligned. Once I do that, I can work on replacing the rusty top rail and the ugly welds on the side next to the gas filler cap. Now I just need to summon the courage to cut....

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Re: Minion Missile - 1973 Colombian Patrol Project

PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 6:24 am
by mad4hws
plateaucal wrote:Have you considered paint removing chemicals. These types of paint strippers are called aircraft remover.


That is a good idea. I think I will get some of that for some of the corners and tight spots. Do you know if it goes through body filler? In the few sections that I have stripped, there is more than a little bit to remove.

rrodriguezsal wrote: About hinges I have seen some cases where it is cover all the area with epoxy and after remove the holes and nut are there, but if the rear panels were changed almost sure there are not the original holes. The doors and hinges are exact reproduction and fit perfect on original hinges holes.


I have stripped these down the the bare metal - no holes at all. The good news is that your doors will provide perfect measurements so mounting the hinges on the bed won't be too terrible at all. I just need to make sure that they are straight before I start.

rrodriguezsal wrote:I hope you can repair this

I don't think it will be that bad once I start. I'll learn a new skill along the way.

Re: Minion Missile - 1973 Colombian Patrol Project

PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 6:40 am
by Esteban
Body filler will be removed with the aircraft paint remover but may require more than one application. What worked for me was a heat gun for the thick layers. The body filler gets softened and working with a spatula you can lift it. A scrapper attachment on an oscillating multitool helps a lot.

Re: Minion Missile - 1973 Colombian Patrol Project

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 3:10 pm
by mad4hws
Hi guys,
so i mustered the courage to get out the grinder and do some very precise surgery. I ended up removing the entire rear passenger side panel. Note the piece of rusty sheet metal on the ground. It was being used to reinforce the structural piece that attaches to the frame. It was what caused the panel to be slightly askew when welded into place.

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So, when that is taken out, one can see the real issue - that structural support on that side is pretty much gone. I'm glad I did this as this would have certainly come back to haunt me in the near term had i found an excuse to ignore it. In looking at the driver's side, it doesn't look like it is compromised and doesn't look like it has a similar sheet metal patch in-place. I am going to get rid of all of the paint/body filler though just to verify. If it is shot as well, I will replace the entire structural piece. If it isn't, then I'll just repair the passenger side.
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Re: Minion Missile - 1973 Colombian Patrol Project

PostPosted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 5:58 pm
by mad4hws
I have to wait on the new sheet metal brake coming in before fabricating up replacement panels for the bed. In the meantime, we moved our attention to the windshield sill. It had some rust in it and is probably a good place to start with our first patch panel. if we mess up, it is going to be hidden when the windshield is re-installed. We have to to a repair on both the passenger side and drivers side. We started with the passenger side. We got it all cut out, and the new sheet metal ready to go.. unfortunately some idiot left the valve open on the argon so we'll have to wait to do the welding until next week
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We had a good surprise today. There were no holes for the windshield latches. i thought they would have been welded up when the hard top was installed. When we opened up the hole in the windshield sill, we saw the original bracket was still in tact. After grinding away the paint and bondo and retaping the hole.....

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I bought these brackets on ebay a long time ago. Look pretty good in their new home.

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Re: Minion Missile - 1973 Colombian Patrol Project

PostPosted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 10:32 pm
by moore_rb
mad4hws wrote: In the meantime, we moved our attention to the windshield sill. It had some rust in it and is probably a good place to start with our first patch panel. if we mess up, it is going to be hidden when the windshield is re-installed.


:lol: The logic underlying that strategy ls almost Mr. Spock-like. Flawless.

Re: Minion Missile - 1973 Colombian Patrol Project

PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 9:38 am
by mad4hws
After being patient with stitch welding and lots of grinding, the new metal is in place on the cowl. I took it out in 3 pieces. First i replaced the pax side and the drivers side at the same time, but left the middle piece in. Once the Pax side and drivers side pieces were in, I replaced the center. I'm sure it was plenty strong and I could have done it all in one go, but I was being cautious. It's pretty ugly, but it will work. I'm glad I got some practice in on a panel that no one will ever see.

Also happy to have gotten the hing latches attached. The drivers side bracket was more problematic than the pax side. there was a broken bolt underneath a ton of bondo. Since we had the top of the cowl opened up, we removed that bracket so we could remove the bolt and retap. Good as new. Again, lots of work that is invisible.

Next up, apply a few coats of epoxy primer. Spot weld Raul's canvas top bracket onto the new (old) windshield frame. The priority right now is to get that windshield frame installed and functioning, then we'll turn our attention to the back of the truck.

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Re: Minion Missile - 1973 Colombian Patrol Project

PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 9:40 am
by mad4hws
When I was grinding on the cowl, I leaned too hard on the hood and heard a pop. Looks like I broke through whatever adhesive was used to secure the hood brackets to the hood skin. Anyone know what this stuff is?
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Re: Minion Missile - 1973 Colombian Patrol Project

PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 9:59 am
by Esteban
It looks really good Don. Congratulations. :clap: :clap: :clap: Good thinking about practicing there, and the results look very good.

I've known this products from Sika, that can be the solution for the separation of the structural ribs under the hood:

https://automotive.sika.com/en/solution ... lants.html

The have there an "anti-flutter" adhesive SikaSeal®-710 LS2 – medium expanding, specifically designed among others, for hoods body structure. It's a single component product.

I'm sure there are other products from different manufactures, and the literature above will help you.

Re: Minion Missile - 1973 Colombian Patrol Project

PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 11:09 am
by mad4hws
Thanks Esteban. Does your knowledge about anything cars have no limit?