10-3-08 Here's the progress thus far on the Antenna shave. I absolutely hate bondo. I welded in the filler plate and filled the low spots with a bead and then ground everything down. Bondo was applied very lightly and smoothed. I still need to wet sand the area and re-spray primer to give it a smooth finish.
10-4-08 Here is the License Plate Box that I got from www.suicidedoors.com It came unwelded, so I welded and smoothed the corners. I should have this baby frenched all crooked-like into my gate soon.
10-8-08 I removed the rear wiper and liftgate popper button from the tailgate. Again I have the ghetto shave going on, this time in the rear! I need to find some 16 gauge filler panels or make my own for the two larger holes. The smaller two can be filled with weld.
10-10-08 Here is kind of a step-by-step look at the tailgate shave. I started out by cutting out the tracings that I had made on the 16 gauge metal. Sorry no pics of the cutouts! They turned out very close to the correct size. The larger cutout needed to be trimmed for proper fitment, but the installation went very well. Below, you can see the grinding and smoothing process followed by a thin layer of bondo. The patched area has not been sanded or primed yet, what is pictured is just a layer of bondo. I will continue the project on Monday, and hopefully finish it up. Next week, I will french the license plate box and get it completely welded and smoothed. Above, is a pic of the approximate size of the pieces that need to be cut out. The larger hole is the size of the mouth of a 4 TSP measuring cup that accompanies most cough syrup bottles. The smaller hole is the size of the top of a Sam's Choice Purified Water 20 oz bottle. Here is the pic so you can see the comparison. Some griding off may be required for exact fit. I'm using 16 gauge sheetmetal that I picked up at Tractor Supply. These comparisons are the closest I've found yet. I should have the pieces cut and ground tomorrow, and perhaps welded into place.
10-29-08 I was able to weld in both door filler plates today. We applied a Fiberglass reinforced Bondo to the spots where we welded to fill in any pin holes my eyes may have missed and for greated build; most was sanded off, though. Next a layer of the "Magic Putty" was applied and sanded followed by Metal Glaze. In the pics here, you can see that we did encounter some major warping of the door skin, hence the wide Bondo area. All of the areas have been sprayed with primer and wet sanded, as you can see in the first pic. I cut out the rectangular section of the tailgate with the plasma cutter and weld in the License Plate Box. We experienced very minor warpage, so little that we were able to use very little mud on the seams. What Bondo you do see is very thin and there solely for straightening purposes. Keep in mind that I hate Bondo, but I also wanted a "Glass-like" tailgate. As far as the rear window squirter, I just capped it off with a vacuum cap that can be purchased at most automobile stores. I cut off the rubber nipple that goes through the tailgate and capped it. Honestly, I don't think my rear window squirter worked anyway, but I wanted to have it plugged just in case!
The door popper fit conveniently into the hole that GM puts there to access the inner screw for the exterior door handle. The popper was purchased from Suicidedoors.com with the AVS Kit. It appears to be a standard AutoLoc Popper, judging by the emblem on the bump-stop.
11-1-08 Beings the AVS Kit eliminates the door locks, I felt no need to keep the interior locks there just to flop around. The bezels were removed and sanded smooth, and the lock hole was filled in with Lord Fusor 143 I believe, which is used to repair Plastic Bumpers, but it works well here, too! In the photos, the Lord Fusor has not been sanded, but it turned out really well! I am currently prepping these and the door handles for paint. The texture has again been removed to match the other color-matched interior pieces.
11-3-08 I have the door handles and bezels completey smoothed and painted. I used Dynamat on the doors for vibration protection. LOL Also, I must add that the only rod going into the door latch is the one to open the doors from inside the car. All of the other rods have been removed as well as the complete lock assembly. My door is losing functions as we speak! LOL As a matter of fact, I have no way to open my doors from inside the cab unless I use my poppers! HA HA Hopefully, within the next few days I'll get the doors put back together.
11-6-08 I installed Dynamat on the doors and tailgate to prepare for the sound system. The tailgate weighs about fifty pounds after I installed it on the inside and on the removable plate for extra protection. It sure sounds solid when it is closed. Eventually, I would like to do the entire cab. Also, I got a bit creative with the hood after I welded in the washer-nozzle holes. I primered the entire hood and made a tribute to all of the Rat-Rod Hot Rodders out there. I hope you appreciate it! I did it free hand! It is installed on the Blazer, but only until I prep the entire thing for paint.
My Free-Hand Hot Rod Tribute
