Technical Order of body repair?

I've been searching and searching and I need some thoughts. I'm almost done blowing my 28 Tudor sedan apart and I began to wonder if I'm doing things out of order.

Do I fix the rust before I blow it apart for sand blasting? Do I blow apart sand blast, prime, and then repair the rust holes? Blast, repair, prime? Do I have to ***emble the body again to do the patch work or can the panels be patched separately?

I am no body guy so I apologize if my questions are basic. Time is a premium so I just want to make sure I am approaching this in a semi correct order to save myself time and headaches. Not many cars can literally be taken apart the way our old cars do, so I feel like it adds complexity to the project.

Thanks again for any words of advice.

 

I'm not sure if you mean you're taking each panel completely apart or you're taking everything off the body (doors, windshield frame, tank, etc.) The way I have done it does not involve taking the panels themselves apart. I separate the body from the frame, dis***emble all non-metal parts (windows, trim, etc.) then take it down to bare metal. If I'm patching existing panels, I leave them on the car so that I get all body lines straight. If I'm replacing the entire panel, that can be done when re***embly is done. Once all panels are metal finished I epoxy primer everything and then do bodywork on top of that. If you live in a region that is very humid, you may want to epoxy primer before doing patchwork so the bare metal doesn't flash rust.

Step 1

Step 2:

Step 3:


Step 4:


Step 5 is the filler work, primer, and several rounds of block sanding before sealer and paint.

Others may do it a different way but this has worked well for me.

 

Sandblast completely dis***embled vehicle will expose all the history, that's how I have done it. I find it easier to repair doors/fenders laid on sawhorses than of the vehicle. ***emble vehicle once before painting as well. Sometimes making marks to make sure you know exactly where hinges should be for alignment

 

Take totally apart, sandblast, epoxy prime all, re***emble and mount on proper blocks to a square frame. Then you can make sure all is square and aligned. Then you can start replacing any rusted out areas. Don't put in patch panels when the part is not rigid on the body. If it is slightly wiggly on a sawhorse it will probably be welded in sprung crooked.

 

yes, the best way is as alchemy stated. All the patching should be done on the frame, bolted tight. it is best to totally prebuild the car before ANY paint is applied. if you look close at the 2nd post by smokeybear , NONE of the panels line up and i doubt they will be better after tightening it down to the frame.
been there redid that.

 

The panels do line up, its the angle of the camera that makes it look off.

 

Yes, as ^^mentioned above^^ make sure everything fits before any finish/paint work, and do not expect any patch panels to fit as well as you would like.

 

Thanks everyone. You guys confirmed my original plan of attack.