Bodywork is like a peeling an onion; once you start in to it, it's hard to
know when to stop. I would say make it look reasonably nice without tearing
into it. You can always do it later when you have more time, (fewer family
commitments, etc.)
> ----------
> From: Jeff McNeal[SMTP:jmcneal@ohms.com]
> Reply To: Jeff McNeal
> Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2000 5:17 PM
> To: Spitfire List
> Subject: At a crossroads - opinions welcome
>
>
> Hello all. I'm faced with a difficult decision and I'd like some opinions
> before making it. I am comitted to keeping and enjoying my Spitfire for
> many years to come. Hopefully, the next fifteen or twenty, at least. If
> you've seen pictures of my car on my website, you're probably thinking how
> clean it looks. Well, in photos and from ten feet away, it's VERY clean.
> I've been concentrating most of my efforts on the interior lately and I'm
> very pleased with the results thus far. Unfortunately, my pride of
> ownership is somewhat marred by rust bubbles emerging from the paint in
> almost every outside panel except the top of the hood bonnet, doors and
> sills. I don't ever plan on having my car entered in any concourse
> competitions -- I'm content to just turn heads on the street. :-) My
> first
> inclination was to simply whack away at the rust where I can find it, cut
> it
> out where I have to and patch over the problems with fiberglass or some
> other filler, then get a good re-spray after removing all the rubber,
> lights
> and trim from the body.
>
> My concern is that rust might then just reappear on different parts of
> those
> panels in a few years -- and I'd really be upset if that happened. This
> car
> will always be garaged and never driven in the rain. I live in a
> semi-arrid region with very little humidity.
>
> While I would be willing to replace all infected body panels with new
> replacements, I'm wondering if I'm not going overboard, here. I can
> envision spending a good $5,000 getting the body back to perfect condition
> with all the cutting and welding that would be required. While I might be
> willing to do this, it would be silly to spend that kind of bread on this
> car IF I can be reasonably assured that new rust spots won't bubble up in
> the forseeable future. What would YOU do? My inclination is to lean
> towards the full restoral since I'm planning to keep this Spitfire for a
> number of years. But people that I run into on the street think I'm nuts,
> since to them, the car looks so good to them as it is. The worst spots
> are
> in the lower portion of the rear valance -- not easily seen. I'm also
> concerned about the sills. They outwardly look great -- the PO worked for
> GM and fashioned replacements out of galvanized sheet metal -- but he
> riveted them on OVER the old rotting sills. I'm not concerned about rust
> coming through the galvanized sheetmetal because I think he treated that,
> too -- but I AM concerned about the old rotting sills infecting the inner
> sills, which actually appear to be in really good shape right now.
>
> If I DO end up replacing the panels, I'm thinking about getting some
> "hands
> on" body work experience by trying to repair the existing damage to the
> rear
> wings, valance and trunk lid myself in the meantime, before I bring it
> into
> a shop -- just for the fun and experience of trying. If I can do a decent
> job, the decision might be an easier one to make...
>
> Opinions and debate welcome.
>
> TIA
>
> Jeff in San Diego
>
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