Epoxy primer from the body shop?
That's very encouraging! I was looking at new panels on eurospares last night, specifically for the left front, which is really rough. I'v never welded anything before though, so have decided to keep it simple. I think Hans probably replaced his entire right rear quarter. If I wanted it "perfect", I'd go all-out and do all four corners. And 'tho there's a kind of logic to doing that, I'll let someone else do that, once these little gems begin to appreciatie like it's sister car, the 246. Funny thing, I remember drooling over a fly yellow 246 at Los Gatos Ferrari in 1975. The 246 was $13,500 and the 308 GT4 was over $20k. Soon... Very soon... I hope! But, this car has a series II grill, no tools or jack, and somewhat sketchy records from when it was a showroom queen for about a decade, in NYC & Miami. So I'm not really interested in making it a show car. And besides, I think the Series II grill is nicer looking, even on a '75. And after (now), 10 years, I just want to drive it!
David don’t forget that sometimes the present condition at the time of sale is what counts. Keep your own records. I noticed the patching front of the drivers door on the fender. Be careful with that cause there is a inner wall there. Me if u need any info when u get to that
And keep in mind that it is easy to burn through thin steel Real easy. Practice on scrap pieces first
Thank you for the great advice! I will do that. Rushing causes errors and luckily, I'm not in a crashing hurry to get it done. I spent 2yrs on a complete down-to-studs remodel of my home. So I know it takes patience.
That sounds like very good advice. I just finished reading (most, not all the silly stuff - well, , maybe just a little!) Brandan's 308 gt4 bare metal paint job - Link: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/bradan-308-gt4-bare-metal-paint-job.336741/ ... and hope that by sticking to what they did and working slowly enough to notice the moment I touch metal, I will Avoid making any serious mistakes. I took the trunk lid to someone I know and trust (mentioned before, IIRC), to fix the bent metal edges for me. We looked at the peeling brown-coat visible in the privious pictures too, and, they may or may, not take it all the way down to metal for me, we'll see. I expect I'll get a call sometime later this week. Anyway, the bare metal paint job is what I need anyway. I don't know anything about the primer except the color, so it needs to come off. I'm hoping that by doing most of what is needed, before someone who will be able to give the car the finish that it deserves (and really needs) can finish it, I can save enough to afford the best possible shop to do that; and I only know one. So I wonder, how much I can finish before hitting diminishing returns? FWIW, none of this was (to my recollection), clearly visible on the car when I bought it. So it, can be, recovered. Maybe a review of some of those old pictures can provide some insights to just how much had been done to it previously. Which when you stop to consider what you don't know, about something like this, you may wonder whether or not you really want to know! Next, I'll post the previous "bare-metal (or as Miracle Max world's say, "Mostly", bare-metal), pictures. The ones from before that first coat of primer - whatever it is. So let's take a look!
I was referring to the welding of thin metal. There will always be rust in areas you can’t even get two unfortunately unless the body is removed from frame. But the obvious rusted areas on a Gt4 are. Door bottoms , rear of fenders at doors. Front sections of rocker panels. Rear valances, rear wheel wells, which both are the opposite the trunk. And the inner wheel well support. And as far as doing actual filler work keep in mind if there is a problem after paint, the paint shop will not cover the repair. Mike
Thank you. You bring up a good point too. Very few "good" shops won't put their name on anything unless they do it. So my diminishing returns, may actually start with the filler. But I do know the primer needs to be removed, in any case.
if u are planning on pulling and hammering dents do that. if you are planning on doing some welding only remove the primer in the patch areas. I would leave the rest of the primer to protect the metal from exposure, let the body shop strip it down in the grits THEY choose. my opinion
Here are a couple of pictures of the problem areas, when I bought the car: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here are a couple of pictures that were taken just before it was taken (almost all-the-way) down to metal: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here are the pictures of it stripped-down (again, "mostly") to metal. The only thing that's been done, besides a coat of primer, are the doors. They have both been re-built and have had the rust removed. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
wheel arches and valances are a lot of work, also the valances have two triangular-ish? dividing walls where the trunk steps down on the sides. also the patches near the door on the front fenders. They seem very close to the edge. The fender lip wraps around into the door hinge area. use caution there not to cut the inner structure. Unfortunatly its not built like a normal car where the fender can be removed.
I am! I'm just not sure there's enough weekends left (even with every-other-Monday off on a 9/80 schedule), to do that. It took me 2 years to complete the remodel of my home. Of course, that was a down-to-the-studs tear-down/re-build; I'm hoping the Ferrari isn't. But someone once said, (something to the effect of) "Projects like these can end up going more than 10 years" - It's certainly something to consider!
So today I started removing the rust from the side wells in the trunk. The blue can is from Harbor Freight, it is a 40lbs soda blaster. I had to rent a compressor to get 8CFM @ 90lbs. These are the before pictures: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
This is the last pass. Now it's time for some detail work. I used my drill with a rust/paint removal disc for some of the areas, but the drill is too big to get into the small corners. So I think I'll need to get a few smaller pads and use the dremel instead. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
well looks like your deep into it now, the lips you see at the wells touching the quarter panels were once welded to the well. from what I see its going to be a complicated repair. and from memory the lip is part of the quarterpanel wheel arch. I had removed my quarterpanel and it was easy to repair the arch support with the quarter panel off the car. Good luck my man. enjoy uncovering what hasn't seen the light of day since the car was born. To me that is the best discovery an owner can have
And Btw those wheel wells have been repaired before. The entire wheel well sections are available pre made. But keep in mind that there will be modifications necessary. But I don't think that's a Major problem. And I would remove the bumpers before you carry on. It will be easier to lean in and not risk damage to the bumpers. IIRC 17 or 19 mm to remove. Good luck
That's the newer style bumper that I bought (mentioned in the bumper thread), and it's just on there with the nuts only hand-tightened. I originally set it on there, just see what it would look like as a replacement for the picnic-table bumper, and then just left it. I need to remove it to strip the body anyway. So it will be coming off very soon. I'm not sure how far I want to get into it, just yet. If I was going to try and make this the best possible car (for show), I would want to remove both rear quarters and be done with it. Both sides have issues from previous damage/repairs that would probably be better served by replacement rather than layering another repair. For instance: you can see the holes for the original bumper sides have been covered-up; it's been patched and repaired at least 3 or maybe 4 times; there are pin-holes at the bottom corners of the wells that need to be patched; etc... So I may just remove the rust, seal it, call it "good", and then make it look as nice as it was when I bought it, without the cancerous rust underneath. In the end, what I really need is proof that I exercised due-diligence in doing the repairs, so that given proper care, it will take years before any rust re-appears. Thanks for watching!
