"20/20" Paint Job and Fender Repair Questions...

[Tom in MO]

I recently bought a 1950 Ferguson TO-20 at auction, and I'm planning to give it a "20/20" (as seen on this site) brush/roller paint job, back to the original Ferguson Grey.

How do you treat the underside of the hood, inside the wings and grille, backside of the dash, etc? Paint? Primer? Nothing? (Mine are in pretty good shape -no rust on the inside, just dirt and grime.)

Also, is it worth trying to take dents out of fender, and repair holes? (Or, more likely, having a body shop do it.) I removed a tool box that had been bolted on one of the fenders, and there was a crack around one of the bolt holes. There's also a two-inch gash in the other fender, where it looks like something had been bolted on, then torn off.

Finally, the backs of both fenders are dented, where it looks like somebody backed into something.

I know that after-market replacement fenders are available, but I've read about fit/quality issues with the replacements, as well as the challenge of getting the bolts out.

I'm not trying to make a show tractor, just clean it up a bit.

Thanks for any advice.
 

[Tom in MO]

I visited with my local auto body man today: he says he can improve the looks of the hood, and fabricate a piece for the bottom of the grill, BUT: the fenders aren't worth trying to fix, and I should get replacements.

Here are a few pix. Please take a look, and feel free to share any ideas.


 

[Jason S.]

Those fenders aren"t that bad at all....I don"t see anything that
a welder...a couple of hammers and dollies and a half a day"s
time couldn"t have looking pretty good. If you were close to me
I"d do it for you just to save some original fenders.
 

[glennster]

get a set of auto body hammers and dolleys to shrink or stretch the metal as necessary. harbor freight has a set for 30 dollars. a good set will run you 300 dollars easy, but for a beginner, these will work fine.you tube has quite a few videos on using the tools.
poke here

 

[Dick L]

Actually the fender is not all that hard to fix. you would need to cut out the cracks and holes and weld in patches. The bent part should hammer out well.







I start to take step by step pictures and then get lazy and forget to take out the camera. The fender is on the tractor now.
 

[showcrop]

[Jason S.]

Yes...body shops use panel adhesive quite extensively now.
Anywhere from patching panels to glueing complete bedsides
in. Personally I do like it for the reason that you mentioned that
it forms a complete seal against moisture. If you are worried
about strength, I have seen it tested. They glued two pieces of
metal together with it and then clamped it between to pulling
towers on a frame machine and tried to pull it apart. The metal
tore apart but the joint where it was glued didn"t. On a side
note..if you get it on a pair of vise grips..the only way to get it
to turn loose is with a torch. Don"t ask me how I know...lol
 

[Stephen Newell]

I don't think you need books. There are several of us here that will help you with the body work and painting. I would start with hammering out the fenders to as close to the final shape as you can. Then I would either sandblast all of the paint off or use a disc sander to remove it. There is a lot of rust on the fenders and surely some under the paint that you don't see so I would take it all the way down to bare metal. Then I would have a welder repair the tears if you don't weld yourself. Then after it has been stripped, welded and hammered out, I would prime it with epoxy primer with a couple of coats. The epoxy primer will have a recoat window so you will have something like three days to paint it or prime it again. Just get a specification sheet with the primer and stick to the directions. I like to use epoxy on the body first before the body work to seal the metal for rust prevention. When you use a body filler its better to put it on in layers building the shape rather than putting a big blob of bondo on it. You probably will have to bondo it and sand it a couple of time before you get it to the shape you want. Try not to sand the epoxy primer as you will need to spray it again if you are going to put more body filler on the spot. Once you get the fenders like you like them I would prime them again with epoxy primer again. Now there will likely be minor defects in the body work you didn't know were there until you started priming. If it is minor you can use a filler primer over the epoxy primer for the purpose of sanding. Epoxy primers don't sand well so you shouldn't try it. Just make sure the filler primer is compatible with the epoxy primer and the topcoat you plan to use. I normally use Evercoat Featherfil for the filler primer. After using it there is no recoat window and you can work it as you please. You can put several coats of it on sanding between coats to level the finish to your pleasing. You can also wet sand the Featherfil and with the primer wet you will get a better picture of what it would look like with the topcoat on. If your a perfectionist we can tell you how to use guide coat to help find any final defects. Once you get the finish level then you would be ready for your topcoat.
 

[Dick L]

Might have been a better example.











I like doing it this way to keep the back side as smooth as the front. Also once it is repaired it does not show where the repair was made. I stitch weld and don't get in a hurry. I make a few stitches and work on something else for a bit. When I flub up I cut it out and put in a bigger patch.
 

[Tom in MO]

Thanks for all the advice (and pix). I'm not sure exactly which way I'll go, but for now, I'm just doing a few little things.

First I gotta git me some more tools, so a trip to Harbor Freight is in order!