70 Camaro - Boise, Idaho

[Musclerodz]

Originally Posted by Goosesdad

Should've known I didn't spend enough time blowing out sand, add another 3 to total 10 hours when I finally called it good and rolled it into the spray booth for a couple coats of DP-90. Now the dust really starts flying!! I'm far from a proficient spray gun guy but had a voodoo paint n' body guy standing next to me so it went well.

it will be leaching sand long after you finished building it. I have no idea how sand gets to the places it gets. Oh wait, I have been to the beach.....

[Goosesdad]

Originally Posted by Musclerodz

it will be leaching sand long after you finished building it. I have no idea how sand gets to the places it gets. Oh wait, I have been to the beach.....

So true! My ears are still leachin' sand! Check'd my other parts...none there.

[syborg tt]

Originally Posted by Musclerodz

it will be leaching sand long after you finished building it. I have no idea how sand gets to the places it gets. Oh wait, I have been to the beach.....

This is so true.

I am back working on my car and not kidding when I say I had sand come out of somewhere and I have no clue where it came from.

[Goosesdad]

In process of semi-smoothing the undercarriage. Not going overboard but just a few days with some Everglass to make sure the welds are sealed and improve the look before Raptor.

[two-piece]

Looks great man.

[Goosesdad]

Fab'd up some side mounts for the fuel tank so I can eliminate the tank straps.


Shaved off part of the front mounting bracket for the tank strap to add a little more room for the exhaust. Only gained a 1/2" but it may help later.


Using Ridetech's universal billet gas cap, took a bit to make it work but I think it's worth it. It's a really nice piece.... will be a shame to cover it with the license plate!


Cleaned it up




Had to raise the access port a bit to clear the new filler body and provide room for the filler neck vent port.


Made this little box to reseal this area up. I made an opening for access to the filler neck vent port, just to provide a visual later to make sure it doesn't leak. I'll make a gasketed cover for this opening later.


Welded in and epoxied. A little seam sealer after the epoxy cures. I still need to modify the filler neck to get it to align with the fuel tank....next week.

[Goosesdad]

Finished some smoothing and sealing then resealed the touched areas with another coat of epoxy.

[waynieZ]

Sweet!

[AMPZberlinetta]

Wow, following this thread and seeing how you clean up those welds is incredible. Mind sharing what tools/ abrasive wheels/ discs you use to smooth out the welds to that finish? I must see this process...especially when trying to smooth out a 90 degree pocket weld.

[Goosesdad]

Originally Posted by AMPZberlinetta

Wow, following this thread and seeing how you clean up those welds is incredible. Mind sharing what tools/ abrasive wheels/ discs you use to smooth out the welds to that finish? I must see this process...especially when trying to smooth out a 90 degree pocket weld.

Thanks! No real voodoo on my end....and to be clear, those latest pics of the bottom of the car have had a bit of body filler to the welds. Did that as much to seal up any small pinholes but it definitely smoothed out some of those areas for looks also. I used Evercoat Everglass, as it's waterproof so it's a good compliment to the epoxy primer for sealing up the under carriage. Raptor coming in the next month or so.

Since I'm less than an expert at making pretty welds and I only use my MIG because I end up needing 5 beers after trying to TIG!.... I've definitely had my share of grinding welds to clean them up. Of course, being careful not to impact the strength of the weld just for aesthetics!

By the way - I'm 1000% sure someone here will have some better/additional advice.... please don't hesitate to chime in here, no issues with me!

When grinding sheet metal welds, I use a 3"x3/16" 3M Green Corps grinding wheel on a straight die grinder. I'm embarrassed that I don't remember the person here on LatG that recommended these to me..but they are awesome for the first level of grind, that person made my life better! Ha. I do that first grind parallel to the bead to keep the wheel from touching down on the base metal. Once it's close, I switch to either a flap disk on an electric grinder or 2", 36 grit disk on an air angle grinder.

For cleaning up welds in corners or wherever, I just use a carbide burr on the same straight die grinder. And finish it up with either the 2" disk and/or cartridge rolls. None of the local shops here in Boise carry those, so I get them online from Empire Abrasives. Don't think there is LatG sponsor that carries them?

Hope that helps a little.