I hated to get rid of them, but I had to take the quarter panel and fender off to the scrapyard. I tried to get rid of them locally, and I could have sold them if I had the time to advertise them, but I ended up stripping them of all trim and useable parts. I got $10 for them at the scrapyard and I have already tripled the money I paid for both of them by selling a piece of trim from the quarter panel. I still have some pieces to sell. If I had the time and space to store them I would have liked to have cut the quarter, done some body work and practiced painting it and then I would have liked to have hung it on the wall. The fender was rusted too badly as wasn't useful. All the panels were curved so I couldn't use it for scrap metal.
After raining on and off the last couple of days, today was the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, and the weather has turned painfully cold, but at least finally dry. The last two days have had wind so powerful that it has torn the cover off our gazebo behind the house, blown some shingles off dad's house and one tree down in the back of his yard. I couldn't even leave the barn door slightly open today because it kept blowing debris inside while I was trying to work.
I went to the Goodwill store and bought a couple of cheap blankets to lay the parts on to prevent scratches and dents. After hitting the doorjambs with some 320 grit sandpaper I followed them up with some Scotchbrite pads, then flipped the door over and hit it with some guide coat. Guide coat is a thin layer of black powder or paint that covers the work area. It gets into the divots, holes and scratches in the paint. When you begin sanding you sand until all the black is gone and that is when you know the area is sufficiently smooth.
After applying a layer of guide coat I begin with some 180 grit sandpaper wrapped around a foam soft block pad from the 3M company. The bodyshop recommended soft blocking this car. They said in this particular instance it would result in a better job than using a hardblock, or non-flexible sanding block. After removing all the guide coat with 180 grit sandpaper I apply another layer of guide coat and then come back with the same process, this time using 320 grit sandpaper. It is a time consuming process, but it is not as physically demanding as stripping the paint. For that reason, I actually find this step somewhat enjoyable. It's nice to actually see progress being made, to see the finish become smooth and to actually reach the end of a goal as each panel is finished and set aside. I finished this door today which means I won't have to do any work with it until it comes back from being painted.
One thing about this project: The little tabs that stick up from the side panels and hold the clips for the woodgrain molding have been a massive pain this entire project. They make each and every step of bodywork quite literally 4 times more difficult and time consuming. This last step would almost seem easy compared to having to sand around them, making sure to blend the sanding out evenly in all directions to maintain smooth bodywork. I really, really, really hate these tabs.
