But taking that layer of crap off was a lot of work…

the crazy part is after 2 coats… I’m still not done… ugh

So this is where I’m at with the valence…

Not bad… and the holes for the bumper mounts are actually circles now!

Hammered and grinded down… time for some paint stripping.

This is where the original dent was…

The top portion’s lookin’ straight.

First coat of stripper…

It ended up needing 4 coats.

Much better no?

After a couple hours of tapping and bashing… This is where I’m at.

The metal was so thin, the welder was melting through the valence… I let Don give it a shot… same thing…  We were luckily able to use a rod to chase the heat from behind…

It’s still hurting… but a LOT better than when I first started.

I’ll be grinding tonight.

Remember that huge kink?… Almost gone.

So I’m planning to go to Don’s to weld a couple sections on this valence… well maybe more than a couple.

I tried my luck with tapping the dents out. This was after 5 minutes of tapping… the dent was a 1/4″ divot that was filled with bondo. I wasn’t impressed.

Hammered out the top arc of the hole… and the divot… just a bit more tapping… but it was getting late.

And it wasn’t like I was going to get to the other side… FML

So I got goin’ on things that didn’t make as noise. Oh wait… you can’t see?

Here… let me turn it around for you… Yup… I’m strippin’ it down… there are so many imperfections… and I’m hammering each and every one out… hey… I’m learning… and it will be the original panel…ha

That was the third coat of paint remover…

No comment.

Are you thinking…

Holy F_CK!… Cause I am.

After washing the E30… I backed the Healey out… sat in front of the valence… and just contemplated…

This was the outcome of  that thought…

That front valence was battered… Bondo must’ve been the shit when it first hit the automotive scene.

See what I mean by the title of the post… that is a rasp I’m using… the title should have been fubar.

This might be my biggest challenge… But it will be a good experience.

Notice anything off?… it’s a fucking parallelogram…

That shift is causing this bump by the hood stop.

Wow… I finally wire brushed my way through all that crap… I know I won’t be able to get the metal shaped perfectly… but at least it’ll be a skimming of filler instead of 1/8″.

Oh yeah… remember that parts dipping bucket I made the other day…

Check it out… it works surprisingly well.

After picking up the paint cans on Friday… I’m super stoked to start tackling the front valence…

Up on stands… I rip the bumper mounts off… notice that chip on the driver’s side mount…

That turned into this… I just kept chipping bondo away… ugghhhh

Let’s hope the paint matches…

Down to the metal… the stud welder works… the puller… not so much.

So where were we?…

Ah… yes… it was getting trailered off to get TiG welded.

Well that was 3 weeks ago… and it just got back this past Thursday.

Lookin’ good.

Welds are spot on… word on the street is that these guys do cages for NHRA and Rally cars.

So I was responsible for fabricating the caps for the empty spots in the chopped body… both and aesthetic thing as well as adding more structure.

Don cutting the other side while I made stencils.

Not too shabby for a sawsall… bench grinder and vise eh?

Don getting better and better at welding… Oh yeah… one last thing…

The graphic possibilities are endless! ha

After calling several custom paint places yesterday… I finally found one in Rhode Island… Only one problem… you either needed the paint code for the car… or a 3″ x 3″ swatch of the paint… I didn’t really trust just using the paint code as paint fades over time… nor did I have a 3″ x 3″ swatch… so what exactly did I do?… read on.

Can you guess? probably not… keep scrolling.

Yup… I’m ripping the door off… I still needed to put the glass in… so I figured might as well.

Off!

It’s not as crazy as it seems… only 4 bolts!

My car door diagram… a lil’ trick I learned from Mr. Boudreau.

The guts are out!… time for a quick wipe down… I need to get the best colour scan possible.

I didn’t think I was going to take the doors apart… sigh… must… buy… more… seals./