[Greg Reid]

Entropy, do you have a link to the 3m purple disc you use on an angle grinder?

[Shiny]

Originally Posted by dataway

Some excellent metal work there.

Impressive to see how you shape those parts.

And even more amazing for me is how you can weld and not warp these panels.

How do you do that?

Like this - it looks ripple-free:

[Greg Reid]

Yeah, beautiful job. I watched this 39 minute video a couple of days ago for warp-proof panel welding. Had some good tips I plan to try out soon. https://youtu.be/SloowfsVE1s?si=FO7O4F3wRRv87kJl

[Entropy11]

I appreciate the kind words guys, thanks. Shiny- I’ll dig up some more pics of that area that i had saved. I took them because I screwed up that spot and had to cut back in and get creative.

[Entropy11]

https://www.zoro.com/scotch-brite-bo...37/i/G3393047/

Those should be the 3”. They’re Roloc so I just run them on an angle die grinder or anything with a Roloc adapter. I did use them on a standard drill/driver in the past while in a pinch, but once you start spinning them around 10K they kind of flare out and that’s when they become much more impressive. When you hold them in your hand you can see that all the bristles point inwards slightly. Once up to speed that’ll change a bit..

[Cammer-6]

how much better does the purple work compared to the green and yellow brushes?
Are these better than the black sponge looking ones?
Im talking all 3M stuff to compare apples to apples.

[Entropy11]

Originally Posted by Cammer-6

how much better does the purple work compared to the green and yellow brushes?
Are these better than the black sponge looking ones?
Im talking all 3M stuff to compare apples to apples.

To me there is no comparison. The purple vs other colors, off brands, or even the 3M Clean & Strip XT’ (dark purple/black) discs, the 36g purple bristles fill a void for me that the others can’t.

I like the discs for prepping areas prior to welding as well as stripping paint and filler to bare metal. Sometimes I might do some final weld dressing with them, but the majority of my weld bead removal/blending is with with 3”Cubitron Silver .035 cutoff wheels (careful bulk removal) and then 80g Cubitron belts on a Dynafile II or M12 bandfile (rough blending). After that I’ll honestly block sand any remaining bead height down flush as not to remove any good metal that needs to stay.

I’m admittedly a 3M Cubitron snob. Haha. Their abrasives might cost 2-3x as much, but to me they last 10x as long and I’m not transferring a ton of heat back into the work piece with dull abrasives.

[Entropy11]

Apologies for the lengthy and long-winded responses.

Over time I’ve just worked out a system that works for me and I’ve sort of come up with reasons for why I’ve settled on every aspect of that process (mostly through failures… lol). None of it is meant as a “how to”, more of just a “how I do” if that makes sense.

[Greg Reid]

I'd be interested in trying a 4.5" bristle disc for my electric angle grinder but only finding green and yellow in that size...and yes, was it already stated that they are pricey? About $50 a pop for green.

[Cammer-6]

4.5 inch is the snag
most of those products are aimed at 3 inch air powered.

what RPM does your grinder go to?

[Greg Reid]

1000-11000rpm range.
I use my compressor for a lot of things but it's pretty useless for something like that on a zizz wheel. Electric is much better for me.

[Entropy11]

It might be tough on an angle grinder if they made one that size. It’s aggressive but more of a “finesse aggressive” if that makes sense? Not like one of those grit fused sponge wheels like you’d hit a frame with.

Speaking of electric/battery power, I’m beyond impressed with the Milwaukee M12 stuff for sheet metal/auto body work. I find myself using my compressor less and less lately. Their nibbler is outstanding and beats any air nibbler I’ve ever used hands down. The bandfile rivals my air ones and their cutoff tool is super solid. Once I find a deal on the angle die grinder I might not fire up the compressor until I have to sand something.

[Greg Reid]

A green one in the 4.5 size could still be useful for my purposes. I think it's 36 grit. I know I liked them for paint removal when I used them years ago but it's hard to strip an entire car with 3 inch discs! They are useful in tight spots.

Several 4.5" discs at Grainger.
https://www.grainger.com/product/SCO...original=6RX96

[Entropy11]

I always think admitting that you failed meeting your goals is an important step in situations like these. I had a set goal to have this car operational by this fall and it’s 100% not happening.

As I stripped off the paint, filler, and previously painted over “scale rust” from the driver side quarter, I came across a rusted out left and bottom rear window channel. I kind of already knew it had previous work done there but hoped I could get it stripped/primed/painted and then do a half-ass clear blend into the roof to get me functional and on the road till I got into the other side next year. Instead, the new deck filler panel showed up yesterday and I’ll soon be digging into that and also exposing the remains of the portion of package tray that extends into the trunk under that deck section.

I’m still as focused as ever and plugging along almost every night. At least it’ll make for some interesting pics to post here I guess.

[kingbuzzo]

keep at it - it'll be worth the effort in the end...

[bluejudge]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Yeah, beautiful job. I watched this 39 minute video a couple of days ago for warp-proof panel welding. Had some good tips I plan to try out soon. https://youtu.be/SloowfsVE1s?si=FO7O4F3wRRv87kJl

That was a great video by Bad Chad. Fitzee’s Fabrication’s on YouTube is another one who does nice work. He also uses the compressed air to cool down the welds. Thanks, Marc.

[Greg Reid]

I've watched several of Fitzee's vids. Good stuff.

[Entropy11]

Anybody ever swap all or part of a ‘68-72 Chevelle package tray/shelf into their ‘68-69 GTO? Or know of somebody who tried.

I was expecting the worst but once I cut the majority of the deck filler panel out things were significantly further gone than I expected. Ideally I need to swap in just the part under the deck filler up to the spot weld tie-in area that is in the lower rear window channel. I’d rather not deal with the whole swap up to the rear seat back and deal with the additional side pieces.

If I could do a tie-in right along the red line in my pic that would be perfect. 🤔
Part # in pic is: AMD-640-3468

[dataway]

I always double my time estimates, that way I'm not ashamed of myself for going slow

[Entropy11]

Originally Posted by dataway

I always double my time estimates, that way I'm not ashamed of myself for going slow

Haha, I’ve learned to throw the 2x to 4x multiplier on most of my estimates to equal “real-world” time! The one thing leading to another phenomenon really got me on this one though.

I guess I’m more upset with myself for not simply drawing a line and just getting the car road worthy in any form. My biggest goal with this car was to have it running and driving so I could cruise my Dad around in it and see him enjoy something from his old GTO era that he always talked about. His health, or more specifically mobility, has decreased quite a bit in the extra year+ I’ve spent working on details instead of stuff that mattered. Getting into and out of a vehicle isn’t easy now so I really feel like I let him down. He still loves the progress updates and pics though so that’s always good. Man… years really fly by.