Yes, I have some previous experience, mainly, what I learned came from restoring my other 240z back in the 90's.  With that car, I got lots of experience with cutting out rust and welding in new metal!  However, using a stud welder and pins is new to me.

28 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

@inline6, you must have some previous experience doing body work, if not then you're a natural. 

So did you cut out the strip of floor pan from inside the cab that is just above the rail to get access to the rails?

No, I put the end of the 2 X 4 section (section was about 12" inches long) on the inside floor, with the 3 and 1/2" side right up against the edge of the hump which runs over top of the rail.  And then I hit the other end of the 2 X 4 with the 5 lb hammer.  Doing that transfers the force directly onto floor where the weld flange from the frame rail attaches -  where it is spot welded to the floor.  It is double thick there - floor panel and frame flange.  Hitting it repeatedly along the sides of the hump where needed is quite effective at removing the arch (that developed during the cars active driving life) from the front floor section.

Edited November 9, 20195 yr by inline6

After finishing the work to straighten the floors, I sandblasted them, careful to avoid hitting the wiring clips.  I followed that with a coat of epoxy primer the next day.  If you don't prime quickly where I live in GA, rust will start developing again, typically in the pitted areas where rust was before.

Epoxy primed:

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 20195 yr by inline6

Sticking with paint removal for now, I found that one of the bigger jobs was removing paint from the exterior panels.  Certain areas, I was ok with sandblasting after some testing.  But for the large surfaces, I switched over to a high speed sander similar to this one, and some 36 grit paper with supporting, backing disc.  Interestingly, the disc removed the one layer of repaint, the factory silver, and the factory top coat of primer (dark grey I think - I am colorblind) and left the red (oxide?) primer behind for the most part.  I then used a DA sander and 80 grit paper to remove that.  It was helpful the way it worked out because the red primer stayed where there were dings and dents.  This gave me a visual aid for hammer and dolly work, and hammer and flat punch work.  I found some of the dents were best handled by locating the flat punch on the inside of the panel and tapping with the hammer.

Here are some representative pics of this work, done on the fenders:

  

  

  

  

 

Edited November 15, 20195 yr by inline6

Here is the hood stripped inside and out to bare metal.  The sand blaster was used on the inside frame parts.  The high speed sander was used on the large, flat areas.  There was some hammer and dolly work on some minor dents, and some stud pulls on the pointed nose at the front.  80 grit on the DA was used to get it ready for epoxy primer:

  

  

 

These pics show the sandblasting the cowl panel.  As mentioned by Grannynot, you have to be careful about sand blasting thin panels such as this one. 

  

 

Edited November 15, 20195 yr by inline6

32 minutes ago, inline6 said:

As mentioned by Grannynot, you have to be careful about sand blasting thin panels such as this one. 

I think that was Patcon, so how are you blasting those thin panels and what are you using, glass beads? 

4 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

I think that was Patcon, so how are you blasting those thin panels and what are you using, glass beads? 

Whoops, yeah, Patcon.  I am using play sand from Home Depot.  Once it has been used and recycled a couple of times, it is very fine.  As you can see in these pics, I was removing the repaint layer first and then the original paint and primer.  Varying distance, and being careful with "used" play sand works at keeping distortion minimal.

Some of the smaller panels after dent straightening and sand blasting:

  

  

And other parts getting stripped.  Lots of stripping!

 

 

That's interesting, play sand is beach sand and is rounded from the wave action, sharp sand is used for cement and when sifted is used for blasting. Looks like you found the technique to make it work.

Looks good! I tend to use copper slag for rough part blasting and crushed glass for fine work. The glass breaks down quickly and gives a polished finish. The copper slag leaves a textured finish that hold powder coat really well. Even the copper slag breaks down significantly and has to be replaced every so often. I have never used sand...

14 hours ago, grannyknot said:

That's interesting, play sand is beach sand and is rounded from the wave action, sharp sand is used for cement and when sifted is used for blasting. Looks like you found the technique to make it work.

I'm thinking about making a video of sand blasting with play sand just for entertainment purposes.  I'm sure that courser and sharper sand is more effective, but much like glass beads, I believe play sand to consist of smaller grains, overall, and thus, more similar to glass beads.  They have less weight, and less momentum for a given air pressure, and in my opinion, do not impact with the same force, and do not cause the same level of distortion on thin sheet meal that bigger grains can. 

That said, the more I read about silica being harmful to health, the more I think everyone should avoid using sand for blasting.  Glass beads or coal slag would be better.  

11 hours ago, wheee! said:

Looks good! I tend to use copper slag for rough part blasting...

Where do you get that?  I tried looking with Google and found no where to buy it.

 

Where do you get that?  I tried looking with Google and found no where to buy it.

 

Princess Auto sells it as Ebony Grit.

It’s the left over crystalline material in the copper smelting process. Sharp edged material that cuts through most material coatings easily.

 

 

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/ebonygrit-copper-slag-blasting-abrasive/A-p8200594e

Northern Tool

"Black Diamond"