With the window surround in place and the metal prepped, I got down to final attachment. As with most things I have encountered in this build, I am a complete novice when it comes to using body fillers (generically "bondo"). I did a bunch of reading, watched tutorials and even joined a body work forum before stocking up on gear and getting to work.
Considering that this would not be a show car, I did not go over the top. To bond the window surround to the roof, I used a lightweight plastic filler (Evercoat Rage Gold) topped off with a polyester glaze coat. I did not document this process in detail, but here is the near-final product:
There is no advice I can give here that wouldn't be stated better coming from a pro. Given it was my first bondo experience, I think I did passably.
Had I been more sane and less ambitious, I would have called it a day, taken it to a paint guy and ended my journey. Sadly, I saw pics from
@runonbeer and his Smyth Ute project and decided to follow a similar path. This meant filling in the gaps at the leading edges of the quarterpanels and window surround with old fashioned spray foam:
On top of the foam, I layered fiberglass cloth/met with resin epoxy. This was extremely messy (in part because this is all new to me) and it took a lot of trimming and sanding to get things to a reasonable point. Here is some of the carnage:
Once I got the fiberglass sanded down to a reasonable point, I applied plastic body filler.
I have not applied a glaze coat yet because I know that my work is sub-par and will need more professional attention before it is ready to paint. The nooks and crannies in there are beyond my skill level.
I should mention at this point the sideskirts. I did a dry fit over the rocker panels, but have not yet attached them. The reason?
Yup, the dreaded rusted out rocker panel on the driver's side. The passenger side is fine. I had already obtained a pair of primed, unpainted, brand new OEM fenders. I was hoping that would be enough. When I get this to my body/paint guy, we will see if it is worth repairing the rusty rocker panel. Then we will install and bondo the sideskirts.