1973 Maverick Ldo

Did you mean the Melvin’s one or the original one in place now.

 

I think he may have been referring that your existing battery tray is in better condition than most.........
David

 

Although rusted, the tray is pretty sturdy so I decided to give two coats of rust paint and I’ll deal with it later. I’m moving on to some light rust work in the wheel arches.

 

I used a 3M fiber wheel to grind out the surface rust in the front wheel wells and then coated the area with Rust Bullet.

 

The next step might be too much for the purists. This is a Bondo touch up with a rattle can paint job. No welding. Sorry.

Once the Rust Bullet cured, I lightly sanded it and applied Bondo to cover the holes that were made many years ago then the previous owner installed mud flaps. After a few attempts to get it smoothed out using 3M sandpaper with a Makita 1/4 sheet finishing sander, I primed it and shot it with Ford Pearl White 9C paint mixed by Express Paints. I ordered the paint from the Internet a number of years ago and was relieved to find the paint could still spray but it clogged after the first coat. I’ll probably get more paint and do another coat.

 

I’m carrying on with this temporary rust repair. Maybe some day I’ll cut it out and weld. Here shots representing the rust area at the leading edge of the driver’s side rear quarter panel. I ground out the loose rust, painted the outside metal with Rust Bullet, sprayed the back with Eastman rust encapsulator, laid a 8” x 4” piece of fibreglass on the back, placed short 3M shredded fibreglass Bondo in the holes. I rough sanded it and will now apply 3M Gold Bondo to condition the surface for painting.

 

For the final Bondo coats I used 3M Bondo Gold filler. Here are pics of the rough coat, then after sanding. It still needs some touch up. I used a Mikita 1/4 sheet linear sander.

 

Lots of potential there...

 

Now to hand sand and blend the primer edges then spray the Ford Pearl White. The photo was taken under fluorescent lighting so the original paint looks yellowish.

 

Before I paint, I’ve moved on to some smaller rust areas. I have three places where it holed through in a smaller area. I am grinding them out and hitting then with Rust Bullet. Here is the first one.

 

Here is the same problem area covered in Rust Bullet. I’ll apply a second coat today.

 

Passenger side showing Rust Bullet applied.

 

Passenger side after applying Bondo Fibreglass, sanding and then applying Bondo Gold filler.

 

Passenger side after applying Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty.