Spot Repair Challenge

[1982911SCTarga]

I've got four spot paint repair items that I'm looking at on my project '83 cabriolet. These are the usual suspects when it comes to bubbling/lifted paint on SCs. Two spots are at the bottoms of the left and right windshield pillars. The other two are below the headlight buckets on the fenders.

I'm not so concerned about how to handle the two spots below the headlights. The toughie, however, is the driver's side lower windshield pillar. The bubbling on that is close to the rubber body-fender seal. Because of the rubber seal's proximity to the area to be spot painted (probably 1/4 inch or less), I'm worried about whether I can properly sand, prep, mask and repaint without noticeably affecting the seal (thus rendering the repair noticeable).

On the other hand, I could remove the fender, but I've read that when you do so, it's apparent that the fender has been removed and re-mounted, and that there is the potential that current good gap dimensions can be lost.

Is it possible to loosen the fender enough to remove and eventually replace the rubber fender-body seal after I've prepped and repaired the paint?

Thoughts anyone?

Before someone suggests re-shooting the entire car, I should note that the paint quality is very, very good on the rest of the car. However, the color is moss green metallic (I know ... a joy to try to match on a spot repair). Hey, what fun would we have if there weren't any challenges?

Brian

[K. Roman]

Good luck.
I always wondered about if a car was painted by Rembrandt (in this case he sprayed your car Metallic Green) and was showing at a museum, what would the restorers do to spot repair it?

[Axiom]

The rubber strip between the fender and cowl can very easily removed, do you have some tools? 5mm hex and 10 mm socket.

[1982911SCTarga]

The rubber strip between the fender and cowl can very easily removed, do you have some tools?

Yes, I have tools.

My question is, do I have to completely remove the fender or can I unbolt from the rear towards the middle to gain enough room to remove the fender-body seal and work on the spot repair without completely removing the fender?

Thanks!

Brian

[Axiom]

You don't have to remove the fender, like you said, just loosen the bolts around it, the seal is not that wide. you may need to pry a little.

[1982911SCTarga]

OK, and thanks. That's a bit of a relief.

Brian