setting the scene! i got a 72 buick skylark 350 hoping to be a 455 soon. she is a rusted hulk but i love her, thought about selling but i can't bring myself to do it. aside from some great stuff and bondo i've no experience in body work. plus i'm broke so new quarters and fenders are out of the question, also don't know how to weld. a big part of it is the fun learning experience i'll get from it. however i do have an english wheel and this idea of buying aluminum sheet, cutting it and shaping my own patch panels with or without the english wheel. then pop riveting them to the body. after that i'm gonna have my friends clear coat her or i'll do it myself. i want to strip the paint. what is the cheapest best way of doing this? i've heard i gotta stay away from a DA cause it'll warp the metal from the heat and believe me she's wavy enough. when i'm cutting out the rusted body panels is it wise for me to use a cutting disc or should i look for a cheap torch or plasma cutter? as for metal shaping i might just use a tree trunk and a rubber mallet. does anyone have any tips for shaping and cutting aluminum? it's not going to be full quarters and fenders it'll prob just be from the body line down. what i'm worried about is when i have to cut and bend for the wheel wells and the lip and the bottom? any other advice? i may be leaving some stuff out but i'll add as i remember... thanks in advance! Adam
Are you going for making the holes go away or trying to make it look good? I don't know how you are going to pop rivet anything to the body and have it not look funny. I pop riveted galvanized sheet metal to holes in a beach 4x4 one time just to keep the dirt off the window, and it looked like hillbilly work. As for aluminum panels, there is something called unlike metal corrosion that may cause you some serious problems. Probably first sign of it that you will see will be when it's weakened and the pop rivets come loose and the panel comes off on the highway.
i'm going to leave the pop rivets. i realize it may look hillbilly but i've seen this sort of thing done on rat rods and the like. my goal is to line up the rivets and have them evenly spaced. i've heard of this unlike metal corrosion before, galvanic corrosion or something. i was thinking if i have all my holes pre-drilled and then have the body clear coated. then re-attach the aluminum panels. do you think that would prevent the corrosion? i wanted to use aluminum rivets but i'm wonder which would be better? thanks gs the learning process is already beginning
it'd be something fun and a nice learning experience for me, plus anything would look better than the rust... trust me i'm thinking it might give it like a two-tone feel with the bare steel and the bare aluminum. it'll be from the mid body line down except possibly the doors until i figure out if i've got the money for those too. thanks for the opinion though :TU:
I fully understand the what can be done on my budget type of thinking. I've been there. If you do the repairs the way you are talking, the car will be worth less than when you start though. The corrosion will be pretty bad with the aluminum and steel, plus it's going to look pretty... unusual. I know you want to do something, but maybe if you wait you will find a donor that you can cut some patch panels from. I do think that within a year or two, moisture and other factors that you could end up hurting some one when the patch panels come off. I'm not trying to put you down, I just think that you will have money tied up in making the car worth less money, and may cause a highway hazard.
hey sorry didn't mean to sound defensive. kinda had my heart set on an unusual sort of two-tone look and with the rivets a old school bomber look. but if clear coating the metals isn't going to solve the corrosion problems than i guess i'll have to look into another method. but i seriously appreciate all the input and advice. anyone know if i can take care of the corrosion issue that isn't really costly? any advice on my other questions? maybe i'll be able to throw some pics of my poor rusty belle so people can see my situation thanks again guys! adam
Looks like the car is well worth fixing. I would start with seals around the window judging by the moisture on the inside of the windows, or park it in doors. I would rather leave the rust and get to it when you can fix it than to do that to the body.
While I admit I do not understand the two tone look . I appreciate you wanting to do the work and save money. sheet steel is way cheaper than aluminum. Do the ret rod thing but put metal in and then prime the car. you could then seal it with CC and have a rat rod Buick. Good luck
I'd say use sheet steel instead of aluminum, and do everything else the same. If you change your mind later you can weld the panels on and get rid of the rivets. You can sand the steel with different grits and patterns, then clear over it to keep it from rusting. Or you could make the entire body out of aluminum! That would be cool! :TU:
I work in aircraft manufacturing, and believe me, dissimilar metal corrosion is not to be taken lightly. There is a kind of sealer you could use, the specification is MIL-S-8802, also known as PR-1440 type sealant. It's used in fuel tanks and to help make the fuselage air tight. You'd have to use LOTS of it to make sure no moisture got in there, and in doing so you'd add another 50 or so pounds to the car. If you're gonna use an english wheel and hand form the metal, why not just use some 16 Ga. mild steel sheet instead? You could still use steel pop rivets and coat it with some POR-15 and head down the road. Just don't try this with aluminum - it'll cause what's left to corrode and before you know it, the quarters would look like they'd been attached using a machine gun (unless you WANT that kind of look...).
Adam, car doesn't look too bad!.... Try this: Use a cleanser like Comet or Bon Ami and scrub down the surface rust. It may remove the rust stains and make the car look pretty good! And use some tan primer so it doesn't contrast with the gold paint too much. When I was a teen (few decades ago)... we would just use window screen and bondo to fill those rusted areas. It's a quick fix that won't last, but it's easy. If you want to do it 'right' ... make some steel patch panels and weld 'em on. If you can learn to use that English wheel well....you will have a talent that will be very useful in your future.:TU: Keep at it!
I think the guys are right and you could do the same thing with steel. Only, for the sake of keeping it safe I would see if I couldn't get some one to give me a little back up with a couple quick welds. A little primer on the back of the metal before you attach it wouldn't hurt anything either.
Hey thanks everyone! you've all been really helpful and prevented me from making a major mistake. I think i will go with steel instead but because i'm a beginner i think i will save up some cash first just in case things go wrong. i will post some pics once the work has commenced. thanks again! adam
