Treating the box-in nose

During the week I picked up some things to help treat the hidden boxed-in sections at the nose. I already had a pump garden sprayer, which I knew would be useful for rinsing. I bought a roll of gauze, the idea being to tie some knots every six inches or so and pull it, soaked in whatever I was applying, through the panel. I also found a long "bottle" brush, billed as a facet cleaner. It had handles at both ends, and they were too big to get into the tight spots, and since I did not need it I cut it off.

I decided to get started on the front LH corner, although the RH side would have been equal. Applying what I have learned from working on the back end, I began by opening up the large rust hole using a rotary file in the die grinder, working back to thick, sound sheet metal and a smooth opening. I will decide of the final shape when I make the patch; for now I just remove the minimum.

Outboard of the hole I had left some bondo and this was the time to get rid of it. When I realized how much this resembled the rear I decided to take pic part way through the removable process. I continued on around the top of the fender; at times the bondo was as thick as my grinder's wheel. Too bad, because it softens the original lines. I finally got back to a normal finish just aft of the side marker light opening.

Speaking of the side light, I removed it to get at the bondo and discovered rust under a spot at the lower forward corner. In the process I realized a challenge to restoring this car. The side marker light will need as least a new rubber mount between the fixture and the body, a rubber gasket between the amber lens and the fixture, and a crack in the lens repaired. Ideally the amber lens should be replaced, as it is faded. If this were a really old car these things would likely to have been hand made, and therefore more readily repairable. With my Lotus, these things are standard bits taken from mass produced cars and are still available as new.

What I discovered under all that bondo was some uneven lead work. There is one high spot that might explain why the bondo was so thick. Hard to say if this was collision repair or original construction. Probably a little of both. As with the rear, I plan on reducing the filler thickness as much as possible.

I took another look at the big hole I started with today and decided it needed a little more work. Then I got underneath with my wire brush in the die grinder and removed as much loose stuff as I could reach.

Finally it was time to try out my new brush, and it worked great. I used it to clean with POR-15 Marine Clean, which I brushed on the traditional way everyplace else. Then I rinsed everything with water from my sprayer. After everything was dry, helped along with some compressed air, I put a bit of Metal Ready in the sprayer and sou it all over the underside and inside the boxed-in area. Messy but effective. I won't paint with POR-15 until after the patches are welded in.