http://community.webshots.com/album/398426958fZMEUp

 

Some nice shots of your rig. Big project ahead. Good luck, keep us filled in along the way.

 

Project looking good.
Spot welds look good. When you go to seal the seams before painting be sure to use a good Seam Sealer on both sides of the seam top and botom.
Hardning or Non hardning I don't think it maters too much. I would then use a zink cromate primer before a good undercote. Or you could go with an epoxy primer under a good single stage urathane. Then a good thick coat of undercote. It comes down to cost and amount of effort you are willing to contribute. You are going too a great deal of labor and expense by replacing the rusted panels, but the work will be a waste if it all goes back to rust in a few years.
I went through this a few years back. Pics in my gallery. You may allready know more than this. From your pics you know what your doing.
Ed

 

Not bad for a 15 year old eh. yeah before i installed the parts i painted them with an epoxy paint which made the parts silver. I wanted to make sure that the seams didnt rust again. my next task is to take the body off the frame. i saw by your pictures that you did that also. do i have to pull the motor before i take the body off because it would be easyer to do it after. i found a place that will sandblast the frame and powder coat it for $500. I'll just sandblast the body myself.

 

No, you don't have to pull the motor to take the body off. But you will have to lift it a lot higher with it in. I would recomend taking the doors, tailgate and of coarse top off to lighten it up. If you take the doors off you will need to build a support of somekind to put in the place ot the doors to keep from folding the body up. Don't forget all wiring from frame to body and the fuel filler hose/s. 4 guys can lift the body. I wouldn't powder coat the frame my self as you will, over time, probably do other mods that will require welding and such on the frame. If you powder coat it your not going to be able to match that. I also would not plan on sandblasting the entire body. Use chemical stripper where you can and sand blast the rusy areas.

 

Hey thanks that helps.I should have updated pics in a couple weeks. where would i get the chemical stripper

 

any automotive paint shop. Napa would have it.
Also I wouln't paint anything untill after it is welded. Paint and welding don't mix.
Rattle can paint cannot be true epoxy. With any apoxy paint, or glue you ad a catalyst that causes a chemical reaction to cure the product. If the paint in an rattle can had the hardner in it It would have set up within 48 hours of leaving the factory.

 

Looks to be in great shape, nice Bronco!

 

from my personal experiance you have to test to many differnt chemical stirppers to find out which works best... if you send the frame to the one shop to have it blasted and powder coated... see what it would cost to have then blast the body as well... blasting the body is the way to go only becuase of the speed and it gets rid of all the mud that my abe in the body from anyone eles who may have touched it before... if they guy will blast the tub for $200 and the frame for another $200 i would go that route... that way everything is starting fresh and you dont have to worry about someone eles mistakes... i will agree on not powder coating the frame... they make a real nice frame paint that comes out gloss black, flat black, red, or blue... they may have other colors too.. that way if you made some mods down the road you could match it real easy... i will also agree on the seam sealer... i have always had alot of luck with the 3M brushable seam sealer... its a gray putty type that meets OEM sepcs on the new cars... its the same thing we use in our body shop on a daily basis...

 

Yeah i just bought the seam sealer i haven't used it yet. I finished welding in my rocker panel yesterday. Im looking at some lift off hinges now so i can run it with the doors off and it would make it easy during the painting process.

 

that would help so you could have them all lined up before painting but paint it with them off... sounds like a great project... mine has no chance for a restoration... its a frankinstine.... 66 title.. 69 vin.... big bronco axles.... mustang 289....

 

I would use a two part seam sealer. The non hardening stuff will likely crack and get brittle over time. I know its tempting to use the one part stuff thats 5 bucks a tube, and you can apply with a regular caulk gun, but just letting you know. I have used the one part seam sealer too, but the 2 part will be better. I agree don't sandblast the entire body yourself. If you don't do it right with the right media, you can really mess up thinner guage like used on bodypanels. Rusty areas blasting is pretty much needed though to do a good job. Every method of removing paint has its advantages/disadvantages, blasting for example gets the media used everywhere so cover up what you can. You will likely use different methods of removing paint for different areas of the car. I usually strip most of the paint from body panels by sanding with an 8" orbital, but it won't get every area. May use paint stripper, hand sanding, or blasting to remove from these areas, whatever is going to work the best.
Good luck with your bronc project.

 

hey that helps. who make the 2 part seam sealer? I started sanding it yesterday it is looking pretty good. thanks for the info

 

3m and fusor. May also want to search for usc and sem see what they have. The only problem is most of them require a special gun to apply as far as I'm aware, and the guns can be a bit pricey unless they will loan you a gun. Sometimes if you buy a few tubes of adhesives though they will throw in the gun. I still haven't got a gun myself cause when I was buying a tube of panel adhesive at one time they wanted at least 100 bucks for the guns no matter what brand I looked at. I ended up modifying a caulk gun to apply the adhesive, and it got me buy for the time being. I don't think the 3m gun is too bad, some might be had in the 50 buck range, if you plan on getting some use out of the gun.
http://www.levineautoparts.com/3mausesese20.html