74 Bronco 1st timer

[74BroncoSmith]

Im new to this site, so to get things started ive been working on ford 4x4s for about 8 years. All mechanical work. Well my wife fell in love with this 74 bronco and ive done most of the mechanical work for now until I get more parts. So with that being said I need help with body work. Ive never attemped to do it. First time for everything.

The bronco is in fiar shape, no major rot. But the tunnel hull for the transfer case shifter has been butchered so im planning to cut that out and weld in a new pre fabed piece.

But can anyone give me some adive on the proper way to sand down the body and paint it.

Would it be better to pull the doors, hood, fenders, ect. off and do them one at a time and the tub seperatly or just do it all at once.

Ive been told to wet sand it, dry sand it, and some ppl say just buy a sand blaster and blast it. But im scared that would be to harsh and pit the body.

All comment and adive welcomed.

Thanks everyone,

74BroncoSmith

Deep in Tx.

 

[Seabronc]

Welcome to the Zone > .

The main thing is to get rid of any rust that has started to rut through by cutting it out and replacing the area with new metal. With doors and fenders you may want to consider replacement with new from some place like LMC Truck http://www.lmctruck.com or The Bronco Graveyard http://www.brocograveyard.com . You don't need to weld the new metal in place. I'm sure someone will disagree with me, but welds are the place that the next round of rust will start plus unless you really know how to do it right you will get warping. A lot of body shops these days are using some of the new structural epoxies that are on the market like Fusor http://www.lord.com/Home/ProductsServices/...98/Default.aspx or 3M http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_U...3be1K3HXBTMF8gl . I have been using Fusor and pop rivits for quite a long time now and am really satisfied with the result.

On outside surfaces, you will want to use a flanging tool and flush rivets to hold new metal in place. I then use something like Bondo http://www.ehow.com/how_2149826_body-fille...ody-repair.html or Evercoat http://www.evercoat.com/ to cover the edges.

On any metal that has been cleaned down to the surface I first prepare it with Picklex http://www.picklex.com/ . That neutralizes flash rust that you can't see but starts immediately after you clean the surface.

Another great product I have been using for rusted parts is EvapoRust http://www.evaporust.com/evaporust.html .

I'm not a professional body man but have been doing this for over 10 years on my truck with excellent results. There is a lot of good information on the net about body work so just look around before you start. I find it very satisfying, similar to wood working.

Good luck,

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