As I started the process of stripping paint from the fenders, I paused
for a moment to study the many layers of paint that were revealed. I
know very little of this car's history, but the layers told an
interesting history. I found evidence of at least 4 repaints, and 2 collision repairs in the
same area. And, no surprise, more poorly executed repairs.
In these layers it can be seen that a collision was banged out, filled
with a greenish bondo, and repainted in the original harvest gold. Then
another layer of pinkish bondo sits on top of that, and the car was
repainted again with a thin coat of harvest gold. Sometime later, the
car was painted red. Then finally, there's a light coat of gray primer
an another thin coat of red! This last coat of red must have been the
cheapest of resprays, as it is super thin.
I also discovered that some of the green body filler had never hardened
completely. It was soft and still smelled like resin in places, and a
layer of it peeled away with a fingernail. Was this a possible reason
for the second larer of pink bondo and second repaint? Or was it a
second collision?
Sometimes a ham-fisted body repair causes more damage than it fixes.
This fender must have been attacked with random blows from a big hammer
until it was beaten back far enough to support the thick layer of bondo
that would hide the 'handiwork'.
So now I get to fix the damage inflicted by the former zealous
hammer-wielder. First step is to grind out the bondo from the divots.
After about an hour of dolly-work it's getting smooth enough to start
correcting the overall contours. The wheel arch is another story. Might
have to use a puller on that. At least it wasn't rust under there.
