READERS' PROJECTS

1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - Part 8

By Steve Nicholson

After all of the rust repairs were finished on the front fenders it was time to prepare them for some body filler and primer. The edges and insides of the fenders were sand blasted. The outsides of the fenders were sanded with a DA sander and then metal prepped with Dupont 5717S Metal Conditioner. A coat of epoxy primer followed just in case we didn't get to the filler work soon. The epoxy primer will keep the metal from rusting. The body filler work can be done over epoxy primer. The insides of the fenders were sprayed with 2 coats of black Zero-Rust.

Thin layers of body filler were applied to smooth out the repairs and waves in the fenders. We then applied another coat of epoxy primer to protect the exposed metal from rusting until we had time to apply the 2K filler primer.

This is the left fender after the headlight repair panel was welded in. We have the fenders outside getting ready to sand blast the edges and insides.

The fender is shown here after the sand blasting and metal prepping were finished. Notice the fender is very clean. The 5717S Metal conditioner removed all of the surface rust. The fender should be wiped down with a “wax and grease remover” to remove any contaminants before applying the epoxy primer.

Follow the manufacturers directions on applying body filler over epoxy primer. Most will recommend sanding or scuffing the primer beforehand.

This is the right fender after the filler work was finished. The fender is ready for another coat of epoxy primer or a few coats of 2K filler primer.

We opted to apply another coat of epoxy primer before apply the 2K primer.

Stay tuned!