Body preparations

The goal for today was to get the wheel arch and lower corner panel installed.  I broke out the sandblaster and cleaned up what would be the mating surfaces for the welds.

Cleaned them up, made sure there was not any caulking that would get in the way (or burn).

I found that once I had them fitted, that I was better off mounting the corner panel and then used that to locate the wheel arch.  There was no place for any clamps if I had not welded in the lower panel first.  Worked out quite well.

The upper portion of the panel was welded through the access afforded through the removal of the inner panel.  The drivers side will be more interesting as the cabinets will have to come out. 

So while the blaster was out, I cleaned up the seams on the nose of any sealer that I could get at.

Then prepped the panel, the A pillars and primed with the Metalok.

I miss having a paper/tape gun.  Peeling off pieces of paper, and then tape is easier from the machine.

The funny gold color is the Metalok.  I will use this to seal up the body while I do the rest of the panels.

For anyone who wondered how you make provision for spot welds, its done with a nifty tool that will punch holes in the panel.  The tool I have used in the past was an expensive version that my body man friend owns.

I bought this cheaper version on ebay for around $30.  Honestly, I do not expect it to last much past my needs for this van, but sure does make things easier.

So now that those items were completed, and the rain seemed to have held off, I started on the tail section again.  Cleaned up the seams, blasted the very bottom of the valence and brought out the Metalok.

Now that part is done, time to work again on the wheel arch, get that into primer.