Diving in head first

Well, today I did it.  I had some time to kill while waiting on someone to show up and pick up some seed, and I started in on my bodywork.  I took one fender just to see how difficult it would be to remove the original paint from the parts.  Hooked up the random orbit sander and some 80 grit (36 would be faster, but didn't have any in 6" PSA.  I started in on it.

My plan was to just do a little piece.  Then I did a little more.  Then some more.  Before I knew it, the entire outside was clear of 68 year old paint, plus a few repaints over time.  So to keep it from rusting and to highlight all of the dents, I put a thin coat of rattle can paint over the newly bare metal.  Boy there are lots of dents and dings that pop out when you get that gloss paint on it.

Did not take nearly as long as I anticipated to get it sanded, so I started on the other fender.  Before I knew it, boom, it was bare too.  Repeated the rattle can on it.  Now I have two stripped and dent laden fenders ready to go to work on with the hammer and dolly.

Jump forward to today.  Cold and rainy, not much going to happen, so out come the body hammers and I did a little metal bumping.  I didn't take any pics or video of this process.  there will be plenty of it and I can get video of it.  But for my first time at bumping, it turned out pretty good.  the little dents hammered out easy and almost invisible.  Some of the other damaged places are going to take a lot more work.

Each have damage around the headlight bucket.  One is pretty significant.  There is also a rusted out area to cut and patch on the back, and a football shaped dent right in the bend.  I wish all the bad was on one fender, but each have their own trouble spots and that will make for a challenge.  I am hoping to use the original metal.  If it becomes evident that they cannot be repaired, I will opt for original fenders over reproductions.  Thicker metal, better made.  Even if they come with some issues.

I need to move about 5 stacks of seed pallets and I'll move the doors and the hood in to start.  Once all the seed is delivered, my remaining stock will get covered and the cab will come inside.  That's when the real work will start.  That one will take a good deal of patching inside, outside, cowl, lower corners, floor, drip edge, etc, etc, etc.  Plus lots and lots of minor and major dents.

But based on what it took to strip and knock out the fenders, the job is feeling a little less impossible.  Maybe just slightly impossible now.  Some would likely say, scrap and do new.  But I have plenty of time.  Time isn't money on this job.  Time is time, and likely will save money.