I finally got back to making progress on my '77 rebuild today. I have been needing to replace some rusted panels. Took forever to get parts at a good price (thanks to ronr11). I was going to do it myself - my first time at it. I would've done fair and with some massaging, it would have looked good. But, I wanted to make sure there wasn't more to it than what I've seen on the TV shows, reading in the books, etc. I called in Robert Pugh. Robert Pugh has been a freind of mine since 1993 and is an expert body man. So expert that he always stays busy at his job. I had not talked to Robbie in about six months, so I called him Wednesday evening. He had changed jobs. He was doing only custom work. He had more time. He was available this weekend. Hooray for me. I watched this master work today. I had always thought that the smallest panel patch was the best. Robbie said whatever repair will make for the least amount of shaping and massaging was the best. Grinding one weld line was better than grinding two or three or more. When you click on the link below and see the pictures, you will see the small part I cut out. You will see what Robbie cut and replaced. One weld line on the flatest surface for the quarter panel. We haven't welded the panels, yet. We will do that tomorrow afternoon. Oh, and talk about speed, even with Robbie studying and placing the piece on the quarter panel for 30 minutes before he made the first cut, he had two panels fitted and ready for welding in just 3 1/2 hours (including the 30 minutes study time on the quarter panel). We will start again tomorrow after church (around 1:00 PM). Robbie has to fit one more panel and weld all three. I'll bet he will be through by 4:00 PM. My car will be painted in less than 2 weeks. WOW. Here's the link: [SIZE=-2]http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbOGjlo4bNGLCoA¬ag=1[/SIZE] BTW, if I can borrow the pictures, I'll scan and post the before and after pictures on the front end of a 2005 Ford GT he just rebuilt in four weeks.
This guy is just awesome at body work. I was extreamly impressed. He is the only person I have ever seen that could match the body work my dad used to do when he was into cars. The Ford GT he fixed is just insane. That cars was very messed up. Now, you can't even tell it was ever wrecked. He said out of the 12 Ford GT's that were originally sent to Georgia, 8 have been wrecked.
Congrats on the progress, Terry. I didn't realize you had that much to replace. Looks like you've got a sharp helper ("doer"?).
Wow this car will be good when finished. Are the inner wheel wells available as a sheet metal part for the maverick/comet? or will it be possible to use a part from another car for example a mustang? In my car they have been repaired, but are "cosmetically" ugly.
Really didn't have to replace that much, but since I had very good pieces and Ron did a very good job cutting them off the donor car, Robbie thought it best to do what was going to be the best for the car and the body work. I learned a lot from just watching. I can't wait for tomorrow.
My husband who has been a body and metal man for nearly 50 years had this to say: " It's sure nice to see someone who is a true bodyman that knows what he's doing." Excellent job!
Jean,, Dale is a true bodyman,,, I been doing it for 36 years. I learned from guys like Dale. Look forward to seeing you both at Carlisle. Dan
Thankyou Dan. I'm looking forward to seeing you at Carlisle too. I can hardly wait. I wish my camcorder was working. It would be so cool to video tape these old bodymen at thier craft so we could all see how it's done.
Hey Terry.......ol' buddy....ol' pal......ol' friend o mine Next time you come to Arkansas to visit your kin, bring your body man friend with you. I have a littttle project I could use his help with:evilsmile Your FRIEND: Darrell
