1965 Corvair - Initial Clean-Up

We have the body disassembled and mounted to a rotator. Time to strip all the undercoat and paint.

Bill removes any loose undercoat with a 3000 psi pressure blaster and 190 degree hot water.

After initial paint removal we apply stripper to remove the paint and thin undercoat of 1/16th thick or less.

The floor is thin and will need replaced in many areas.

Undercoat when thick such as wheel wells needs to be removed with an oscillating tool. This "Fein" brand works great and we have made different blades for it to tackle any shape.

After 90% removal with the tool we applied a coating of stripper and it is clean to the bone.

Now that we have all the paint and undercoatings removed we can see the rusted areas. This lower qter panel by the door is pretty much gone on both sides. These cars are not restored as often as many other marques so there is very little reproduction and the parts that are available are not very good quality. We will make our own metal parts and patches on this one.

Previous damage with thick bondo needed to be removed, Using a variable speed grinder set at 1000 rpm and a large cup wire brush makes short work of it.

After initial repairs were performed we blasted the body white metal clean and will prime it with epoxy primer.

Every square inch was gone over and cleaned to the bone.

Inside qters on either side of the engine also.