They have started to "salt" the roads around here...too many slide-offs and crashes when it snows I guess...I think they use magnesium chloride..still a corrosive salt though...

I bought the seam sealer at an automotive paint store. There are lots of varieties of the stuff..I think I used the same gun as you would use with painters caulk.

A little practice and you can make a really nice smooth almost invisible seal and it can be painted..

You should primer your tub to protect it from rust and then do any body work needed. If you don't primer it it WILL start showing rust spots.

BTW, nice machine tools. I saw a photo of a CNC lathe, do you do machine work for a living at home?

Agreed, I think they use that alien blood excrement on the roads up here. Depending on how fussy you plan on being (especially with a dark color) take a little extra time with spots like the hood and top of the fenders. In the right light a little spot can really stand out.

Last winters project.

Looks good. Did you do all the body work?

You did a excellent job. Do you have your own paint room? I had a friend who painted a Scion for me in his garage with a makeshift paint room of plastic and a few exhaust fans. He waited for the perfect day and the results were outstanding. It had a little dirt and a few bugs in it but with base coat clear coat it was fairly forgiving after a good wet sanding and buffing. Most of the imperfections were gone or very difficult to see. Where there is a will there is a way is very true. Nice job.

That's called job security! Or hobby security. Nice piece.

My opinion is to spray epoxy primer over fresh metal as soon as possible.  You may think you will start the body work the next day but........life happens.  Most good epoxy primers will allow you to spread mud on top of the primer but as mentioned earlier some people still like to sand down to bare metal and fill on top of that.

You didn't mention it, but a great product to use after body work is filler primer.  This is thicker than epoxy and "softer" but its purpose is to fill in minor sanding marks and act as a final step before paint.  There is one big secret to filler primer.....time.  The longer you let it cure after spraying before final sanding the better because the primer will "shrink" a little as it cures.  One local restoration shop will not touch their filler primer for a minimum of six months depending on the weather conditions.  Of course, most of your body shops paint within 24-48 hours of the primer drying which is fine.  It is just a matter of how slick you want your paint.

Finish body work is really not about money, but more about time and skill.  I unfortunately have neither one of these......I usually end up looking like Thor when I do body work.  However, I'm lucky enough to have a buddy who is an excellent body man and owns a paint booth!

Great looking projects!