Seasons Greetings

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The Kaiser body work is coming along slowly, I started with the roof where it had been walked on with 8 dents and scallops and 10 small holes where something had been mounted (maybe a Taxi cab sign). It took about 4 days using the hammer and dolly along with welding the holes (that had been covered up with lead) and the shrinking disc from Sunchaser Tools to get the roof back to original shape. The shrinking disc is fantastic once you learn how to use it properly.

The rear fenders were next with both sides damaged from curbs and other objects that caused long creases along with some severe dents. Most of the damage was not accessible from back due to the inner wheel well. The bottom of the fender at the wheel opening and the bottom of the inner wheel well were badly rusted with very little metal left.

I removed a section of the inner wheel well to gain access to the back side of the fender where I was able to straighten most of the damage with a hammer and dolly. The bottom of the rear door post had been hit and pushed in 1 1/2 inches where a porta-power (Hydraulic ram) was used to push it back out.





It took several days to work the proper curve back into the fenders as the damage caused flat spots and stretched metal, again the shrinking disc worked very well.

I purchased a pair of quarter panel patch kits from Kaiser Bill in Utah "Kaiserbill.com" that fit very well and welded them in per the detailed instructions that came with the kit. The welding caused the panels to be a little warped and this was taken care of with the hammer, dolly and shrinking disc.

Metal was added to the bottom of the inner wheel well sections and welded in place. Before covering up the non-accessible areas (behind the wheel wells, etc.) I coated the bare metal with POR-15 rust preventive coatings.



Next, I will replace the badly damaged and rusted out rocker panels.

The gas tank and brackets were picked up from the powder coating company and look great except the 400 degree curing oven melted some of the solder in the gas tank (solder melts at about 350 degree). I took the gas tank back to Cave Radiator for internal coating to be applied and tested for leaks then was able to clean and polish the streaks of melted solder from the tank.

I wish all who read this blog a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Ron & Karen

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