Exterior paint and body work. The start...

[73 T&C]

Now that the top is on, it’s finally time to do the bodywork and repaint.

Came to this decision for a couple of reasons. When I did the big rehab a year and a half ago I knew I would be here. And now, with the new top on, and the interior sorted.... the rest of the car looks a little rough.

First, the paint is so thin, I’m afraid to even wax it at this point. It’s got terrible road rash on the front and the biggest collection of dings and scrapes of any car I own. It has a partial spray of the trunk and lower left quarter that really kills the car for me.

Also.... the panel fit is ****. Drives me crazy! And the only way to get it right is to pull all the windows and trim to align everything correctly. So might as well do it as part of the paint.

As an experiment, and to further convince myself I worked on that a bit today.

Started at the rear passenger door. It sat a good 3/16”+ below the fender and roof. I was able to move the strike out for part of it but will need to rework the base for at least 1/16” more. Also the edge fit for s crappy. I would want to weld in a wire along the edge to get it closer.

Here it is with the strike moved out all she’ll go.

Front of same door is again lower than the rear of the front door. Was able to raise it a bit

Took the difference down by half. Better .... but not there. Again I hit the limit of adjustment here too. Next would be to rotate the front door a bit. But in reality, to get this right will lake shimming and then adjusting the glass.

This is as good as I could get it in the limited provided adjustment without resetting the windows. Again..... better; but not there.

 

[Davea Lux]

I would strip the panel to bare metal as there looks to be some bondo just below the trim line under the "Broughm"script. If the rear quarter was hit as some point, that would explain the poor fit for the door. If the seam was pushed back in a collision, it might not have been properly reset. A lot of body shops fix that type of error with filler.

Dave

 

[73 T&C]

Thanks Dave.

I’ll check but I don’t think so.

I’d love to see the original assembly manual to check some tolerances I think are off with the fender as it’s welded to the door jamb as both have the same problem to some degree.

Also...that alignment is off for the entire belt line in steps up to the fender. Both sides. The difference is that the drivers side has the rear door higher than the front.

Interestingly, the strike and the hinges do not look like they’ve ever been touched. Also, the torque on the bolts was varied on the hinges. Some were tight and others more like just snug. Like 30-40 ft.lbs versus 10.

I need to first check the fender and hood tomorrow to see if there’s anywhere to go with them before I tackle the front passenger door. If no play in the fender and hood to go down, then the front edge of the front door would need to go up and the rear go down by about an 1/8” to work. I would then need to realign the front window as the change would bring the top of the front window too close to the rear window to marry up even and parallel.

any advice here is welcome.

 

[Davea Lux]

Thanks Dave.

I’ll check but I don’t think so.

I’d love to see the original assembly manual to check some tolerances I think are off with the fender as it’s welded to the door jamb as both have the same problem to some degree.

Also...that alignment is off for the entire belt line in steps up to the fender.

Might also want to check the hinge pins, grab the door handle and lift up with the door just open, if there is lots of play, the pins are worn out. You can compensate for the door offset by placing shims on the lower door hinge where the door meets the hinge. Good luck.

Dave

 

[Mr C]

I must say, that despite my love for Formals, they have the worst panel gaps from the factory of the C body family in my experience (Slabs being the best, then Fuseys, then the Formals).

You're seeing some of that in what you're encountering (reaching the limits of adjustment and you're still left with issues). When I restored my wagon it gave me fits and I'm still not pleased with the drivers door fitment to this day.

My 77 T&C sits next to the still waiting to be restored original 68 Imperial in the garage and there is a stark difference. On the Imperial the doors close effortlessly and the gaps are so perfect I'm afraid to dismantle the car to restore it.

I wish you luck on that beauty you have.

 

[commando1]

Jav, I showed you the passenger side mirror on my NYB, didn't I?
We don't need no stinkin template to drill the holes.
And yes, a mirror was on the build sheet.

 

[75LandYacht]

Javier, I’m so happy that you’ve documented your work in this car, I’ve been a faithful follower since day one.. having one now, your pics and write ups are very valuable..

 

[commando1]

Javier, I’m so happy that you’ve documented your work in this car, I’ve been a faithful follower since day one.. having one now, your pics and write ups are very valuable..

Personally, I think this guy is bonkers. Thank you Javier.

 

[65sporty]

Total repaint or just repair and blend?

 

[Polara_500]

Total repaint or just repair and blend?

C'mon man, think who yer talkin' to here.........

 

[73 T&C]

Total repaint or just repair and blend?

total repaint from the top down.

 

[73 T&C]

C'mon man, think who yer talkin' to here.........

Lol!!!

 

[73 T&C]

F&@ked with it some more but it got dark on me.

**** day raining off and on. Here you can see what I’m up against. Front fender to door is almost ok but the drop of the front door at the rear is something to behold. The front door leading edge is also a bit proud of the fender.

The rear door is almost acceptable at the rear with maybe a 1/16” low.

Here you can see what I mean between the rear of the front door and front of the rear door. The view from the rear view mirror has always made me cringe.

Detail of the rear almost ok but just a touch low. Slight relocation of the strike made this go away.

View attachment 340583

Here’s the difference with a strait edge to show the drop. Checked the door hinges and they are tight.

A little loosening shimming and only the tiniest of bashing later.... better.

Front door still needs to come in but I’ll tackle that tomorrow.

Again, the bolts were all different levels of torque tight which was totally weird.
No sign of any work on the car or damage so it’s how she came from the factory.

Shims included washers in and under the hinges. The hinges all have about 1//8” total vertical play built in them which I found when I jacked them up with a floor jack and some soft pine. I’ll show you tomorrow how I did it.

 

[65sporty]

C'mon man, think who yer talkin' to here.........

That's what I thought when I asked, but some guy's are pretty anal about original paint and wasn't sure.

 

[73 T&C]

That's what I thought when I asked, but some guy's are pretty anal about original paint and wasn't sure.

You’ll be hard pressed to tell after I’m done.

I tend to pull fenders, all trim and glass and tape carefully to the interior edges of panels.
It’ll still have what’s left of its original paint.... under the new.

the car also now has over 105k miles....and...

This ain’t no barn find Ferrari.

 

[78Brougham]

but some guy's are pretty anal about original paint and wasn't sure.

There are some that are pretty anal about that stuff, but let's be honest, some of the original paint and paint jobs wasn't the greatest. Then after years of washing, waxing and normal exposure to the elements really takes a toll.

The new paints they have today are way better, and they should be because they cost 20 Times as much! Yours will shine as she never did before... even from factory new.
Good luck Jav! Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[75LandYacht]

She’ll be shining like a diamond in a goats ***.. lol

 

[73 T&C]

There are some that are pretty anal about that stuff, but let's be honest, some of the original paint and paint jobs wasn't the greatest. Then after years of washing, waxing and normal exposure to the elements really takes a toll.

The new paints they have today are way better, and they should be because they cost 20 Times as much! Yours will shine as she never did before... even from factory new.
Good luck Jav! Can't wait to see the finished product!

don’t worry! You’ll all see it here soon enough.

 

[73 T&C]

Rained off and on all day today. Also had pesky clients to deal with today.... No progress in panel fit.

So.... in between clients and showers, I decided to do a little much needed hoard sorting.

Tested my collection of Lean Burn Spark Control computers ( solid state), to see how many actual working spares I had. Turns out Three. But I’m flipping over to my Lean Burn thread for some questions I have.

Also, I killed the battery testing them. The battery had been showing signs of low amp failure coming on for some time:,poor hot restarts, low voltage (<12.3 volts)... all of which play havoc on the ignition. So I’m off to get a battery first thing tomorrow morning. Then. I can then do a bit of panel fitting fun.

 

[78Brougham]

She’ll be shining like a diamond in a goats ***.. lol

I'll post a picture on my thread tomorrow of a diamond it'll look great, and you can bet it won't be in a goats *** John

Stay tuned.....