 20. With a fiberglass hood...  20. With a fiberglass hood and fenders, we had no intention on laying down the window. We stitch-welded the window frame to the tub for strength. |  21. With the tub stripped,...  21. With the tub stripped, strengthened, and cleaned, we started down our tub. Polyester Bondo was used to smooth the rough areas. The body was then block-sanded back down, removing most of the Bondo and leaving only what was needed to fill the scratches and other imperfections in the body. |  22. A coat of base primer...  22. A coat of base primer kept the tub from rusting while we sanded away. Some of the areas, particularly behind the doors, are a little hard to get to, but patience and persistence will get you through them. |
 23. A&B After blocking the...  23. A&B After blocking the premiered body, smaller imperfections were filled with spot filler, which adheres to the primer base. Hand-sanding the fine areas also ensured that the tub was completely smooth, inside and out. | 
23b. |  24. As you can see, we managed...  24. As you can see, we managed to clean the bottom side of the tub completely of its grime so we could prepare for paint. We managed to spend as much time sanding and prepping the belly as we had the top. |
 25. Conrad used a polyurethane...  25. Conrad used a polyurethane base primer to provide a strong base. |  26. The base primer is still...  26. The base primer is still rough and will require fine sandpaper to cut through the rough texture. |  27. We sanded down the welds...  27. We sanded down the welds on the window frame and used a grinder with a small tip to simulate a seam through the weld. This gave the impression that the window was mounted using the stock method. |
 28. Our engine compartment...  28. Our engine compartment and welded-up inner fender not only look good, but with the addition of the inner fenders and patch panel, are extremely strong. |  29. After the polyester primer...  29. After the polyester primer was sprayed and sanded, a seal coat was used to prevent moisture from attacking the metal below the primer. |  30. Our window frame looks...  30. Our window frame looks awesome with the driprail removed and welds massaged down to match the window seam. |
 31. Just like any other type...  31. Just like any other type of painting, the hard sections were sprayed first. This is called cutting in. It prevents the need for touching up mistakes made from mishandling and is the proper way to approach painting. |  32. All the hard work on the...  32. All the hard work on the belly of the tub paid off. No, those aren't runs in the clearcoat. We washed off the polishing compound to shoot this picture and forgot to wipe off the water. |  33. Even the sealing coat...  33. Even the sealing coat has been sanded smooth. A couple coats may be necessary to ensure that the base primer is sealed. |