My new '63 Falcon

Nice piece of work!

What do you mean, it never rains in California? Man, don't they warn ya, it pours, man it pours!

Ha, thanks Vanny.  It's actually raining here today, but I tell ya, it's either mega drought or mud slides!  



Here is some crusty gunk under that rear drip rail, and next after I cut it out



Cross section of the factory build.  



Tried to think how to replicate the structure portion.  Just couldn't make the shape the same but I came up with a different plan that will probably work ok.  Made a bunch of small 1" wide sections while figuring out the shapes.  I'll use them as a template for some beefier sheet metal ones that are full width of the repair.  



Here is a cross section of how it will all go together

That looks like it could work. Great idea and nice work.

What BigW said, X2!

Looks like you've got a plan in place.

Thanks guys.  Got it roughed into position.  Still needs lots more welding, grinding and sealing.

I believe you got it figured out. That looks damn good.

Once you've got it to where you're happy with it, is there some kind of sealer that needs to be applied to make it last another 50 years?

I can't remember what it's called, but there is a self leveling sealer that you pour into the gutter and let it flow along the gutter. Now I'm not sure what the process is with this stuff. Prime, then sealer, then Paint??? Or if you put it straight onto bare metal. I'm guessing prime first then sealer. I hope someone in the know will chime in on this part cuz I need to fix this on my rear gutters as well.

Nice Fabrication work! Looks Great!

Thanks for the nice words. I asked about rain gutter sealer at my local body shop and he gave me a tube, like for a caulking gun, and said it could go on bare metal or over primer. I'm gonna use it over primer, seems like better protection. I'll try to grab a pic in the next couple days so you can see what it is. Not sure if it's self leveling, was kind of thinking you would smooth it with your finger, like caulking around a window. My progress is gonna slow down to normal speeds. I just spent the last 10 days straight working on the van. Back to work tomorrow. Thought I'd get farther but still pretty happy with what got done and really enjoyed being able to just go for it with no distractions.

Nice work, you got a ton done in ten days!

+1

It's coming right along. I love following these kinds of repair threads, great work!

Thanks.  Here is a pic of the sealant the shop recommended.  I'm a fan of 3m products but think I'll do a bit of research just to make sure there's not something better to use.

Awesome job man. Time for a cold one...lol.

I used a marine sealer that could be applied even under water and comes into different colours. Stays flexible and lasts. I can try to find the name for you but usually marine stuff is top notch...

Hip E van wrote:Thanks guys.  Got it roughed into position.  Still needs lots more welding, grinding and sealing.

Those look awesome! Making them from scratch, amazing.

Thank you for the nice comments. Abitibi, if you have that info available, I'd like to look into it.

Been putting a ton of hours into the van but not much that seems note worthy.  Just block sanding like crazy and filling low spots that had been missed.  I filled in the vent that someone had added and sandblasted all the rust off the roof.  The whole exterior is in primer and almost ready for paint.  Interior still hasn't  been touched.







Had to set up some scaffolding since there was days worth of roof work

Nice setup, work smarter, not harder!

Looking good. Roof looks awesome. Great work.

Man, If I had a barn like that I'd have that 8 Door Van I've been itching to buy sitting in it! lol

Nice work filling in that vent hole! Can't wait to see it Painted! Pick a color yet?

Thanks all.  Yeah, I feel fortunate to have a good area to work in.  I'm going with this blue from summit and the roof is going to be white.  Not sure until I shoot some test panels but the plan is to add some turquoise flake to the clear.  I'll post up some pics after trying different options, never used flake before so it's gonna either be totally awesome or a nightmare!

Love the color! Hope it turns out Great for you!

Nice color, That type of blue is a lot like the original van color Viking Blue Metallic.

Shot out some test panels this morning.  The top two are just the regular paint I got from Summit.  The bottom blue has some Strato blue flake added and the bottom white has got bright white flake added.  I really dig the blue as is but the pop you get with the flake makes it even better.  I'm just gonna go with the plain white on the roof.