More lower nose

Another short day, had to pick up our Christmas tree this morning.

Last time I covered the welded patch with POR-15 Epoxy Putty. Today began with sanding it down. For starters I used my CP grinder, then switched to #50 paper on a sanding block. Tight spot, so it took longer than normal.

What this revealed was a low spot to the right (of the car) extending to the start of the vertical piece. I decided I had to fill this, too,but before that I had to patch a small hole with fiberglass and POR Patch. Too my surprise, my brand new tube had already kicked off. Well, I bought it a couple of months ago, I just opened it today. Still, that was a disappointment. What came out was really thick, but soft enough to work into the woven glass.

With the hole patched I opened up my new Epoxy Putty, which was still good, and filled in the low spot. Naturally I stuck my finger in the POR-15 and now have black finger tips.

Patch welded and filled

From time to time an interesting car turns up at the shop. Today it was a very clean 1967 Ford Mustang, driven by a guy about my sons' age. I hope he did not get tired of me yakking about it reminding me of my youth. I was a senior in high school when that car was first sold.

I replaced the battery in the E-9 wall clock, and in my Miller welding helmet. Both were a success. I also changed the bulb in my work light, but it still does not light up. How much can go wrong with a halogen light? Time for a new one already?

With the helmet working I got right to welding. Everything went perfectly except for the grill mounting tab. I had to do it three times before it stuck to the patch, drilling and grinding through the bad weld each time. Must have wasted thirty minutes on that one spot weld. It did end up rock solid.

After grinding I wire brushed everything, especially the exposed weld-thru primer, then just as a precaution applied a generous coat of POR-15 Prep and Ready. When that was dry I filled everything in with POR-15 Epoxy Putty, as usual.

Next week we have a gamelan performance, so I may not make it to the shop.

Ready to weld, but helmet battery died

I would of had the new patch welded in were it not for the battery in my helmet being dead. What a surprise when I struck a bead and the glass did not dim. My eyes hurt for hours.

I decided to open up and smooth out the opening a bit, one cut on each side. ( Compare with this .) When the shape was finalized I drilled holes to weld through. Two were where the electric drill could not reach, on and just below the grill mounting tab, but I was able to use a right-angled die grinder and a tapered file. Took a while, but turned out rather well.

I washed everything with POR-15 Marine Clean and ran a wire brush in the die grinder along the edges and over the holes to remove all the paint. Painted the inside of the patch with weld-thru primer.

I left the patch clamped in place so next time I can start with welding in on.