With all the major mechanical work now complete (engine and front assembly) – its time to put the effort into getting the body into shape and ready to spray. I decided on getting all the necessary parts shotblasted to take them down to bare metal so any underlying rust, pitting or dents would be obvious and therefore easy to work on.

So I packed the lot up in my car and drove to a place just 10 miles away where they said it could be done – as well as having a few bits and bobs powdercoated (wheels and stand) – all for the sum of £200!! not bad!!

After a few days away – I got the call to collect the bits, it turned out awesome, and exactly what I was hoping for. The body has some rust pitting along the floorpan and the odd bit around the edges of the panels, a couple of minor dents here and there but overall VERY solid, nothing to weld and hardly no filler work required.

more blasted bits

As the parts were now in bare metal, I was advised to get it primed pretty quick, as industry standard says that parts exposed to the environment will start to rust within 2 hours – so the race was on! With 3 large cans of Red Oxide primer I set to work on protecting the shiney metal, once dried I could then begin the pain staking process of preparing to spray, including all filler work and priming, flatting down, priming, flatting down…… etc etc.

So this is where I currently stand, I will update further when the time comes to spray.

powder coated wheels