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Finally getting started. . .

10K views 36 replies 7 participants last post by  Big Dave 
#1 ·
Finally cut off one of the horrid repairs on the quarter panel, three layers of wrong! It is going to be right when I get done.
 
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#5 ·
yeah marsmann, new outer wheel house is on the way. Once I cut the armor plating out of the trunk, I knew nothing would match up right if I didn't replace everything. You can't believe the truly terrible job done on the quarter - there was a giant section cut out around the wheel opening, and another piece fitted over the wheel, then more pieces scabbed in at the front and rear of the wheel. Then a bucket of putty. I don't even know if the scrap guy will take it!
After that, I have to do the same to the other side. Then repair the floors. It'll be fun, we've done this before!
 
#9 ·
There is a natural curve outward of the quarter panel around the wheel well area.
It's the widest part of the car.
When you cut off the lower part of the quarterpanel you lose structural integrity of the panel and that wide part 'falls in' . It makes the car narrower there above the wheel well.
If you look down the length of the car, the quarter panels flare out like a woman's hips.
I have pics but they are at home.......



Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
#10 ·
Nope, still there. They go right up against the outer wheel house. I cut it off 2" below the crease, not at it, where the patch panel extends to.
 
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#11 ·
Side two, same deal. . . .

Notice how badly 'repaired' the wheel opening is, I'm assuming the chunk missing is from the 'lost rear end' episode the previous owner had.

Cutting out the bad, getting ready to fit in the new.
 
#12 ·
I've been busy, would have been more so, but the Father in law's welder took a dump, so I bought a new one - you won't be seeing the Hobart in any more pics!

Side two done. . . .


Rear seat platform in. . . .


Floor pan ready to go in. . . . .


Took off the fender and found a hunk of 1" square tubing welded to the inside of the radiator support and on top of the washer where it mounts to the frame. <rolls eyes> I cut that off and am making a new mount that the battery acid ruined at some point.
Couple steps forward, a couple steps back - the usual when doing something like this. We'll get there!
 
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#15 ·
Finishing the floors, it looks like it was a standard at some point.

Then I found this - who does this?! I guess I should be happy they didn't use a torch. :rolleyes:

Anyway, finally in. :)
 
#17 ·
Oh yeah, aside from that, there was a rectangular hole 'punched' (?) in the tunnel on the pass. side, big enough to put four fingers in - well, my smaller fingers anyway.

Didn't get a whole lot of photo worthy work done in the last two weeks, got the shifter back in and with the proper linkage (not a 5' cable coiled up) and patched the toe board and cowl. I also got a new radiator core support and changed that yesterday. Hopefully just about done with the metal work except for splicing a trunk lid. Then on to putty and paint and dumping a pile of money in the interior. Gonna be fun!!
 
#18 ·



Got around and worked on the trunk lid, more bad work got cut out and replaced. They don't make new ones for these, and the sedan had a different lid - too bad I had to sacrifice one. Needs a little tweaking and it'll be ready to go.
 
#20 ·
Never seen that before. [emoji16] Definitely doin what you gotta do!
Yeah, same here. Panel replacement is panel replacement, regardless! The sedan trunk lid was like 7" longer than the HT coupe lid. The inner skeleton was also different, except for the very end, so I evened up the one on the car, and cut out the spare to match. The outer skin has a lap joint on it. The original was so screwed up with a new 'patch' welded over the rotted out part and a ton of putty. The keyhole was at an upward angle due to the way the shortened skeleton was tacked to the inside. It appears the lid was sprung and puttied up to match instead of correcting it, so a little more work there. Looking to be done this year, but the weather hasn't really been cooperating! I bought just about everything for the interior, and a new wiring harness, different wheels and front seats. Found some other parts in a yard, but the guy doesn't want to sell them.
Oh well - putty, paint, wiring, interior, plates and a sticker and should be good to GO!
 
#22 ·
The guy I bought my 55 from has a couple dozen or so cars in his 'yard' that are his kid's, and he has 3 66's - a Caprice and 2 Impala convertibles that have been flooded at least twice that I know of. The one has a pretty decent grille and the other has a fender better than mine. I asked about them, but he asked if I wanted to buy the whole car. (flooded convertible - uh, no) His car, his business. I'll straighten out what I have.
 
#23 ·
One side pretty much done, ready to spin it around again. :)

Here's something no one has seen since December of 1965, I stripped off the old fabric from the rear arm rests. Also welded a plate under where the ash tray WAS.

Oh, and I also got the Grand Am seats mounted. Good thing I'm not that tall, as the original seats must have set right on the floor boards.
 
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#25 · (Edited)
new problem:

new cure:

This job isn't for the faint of heart. We successfully managed to cut out the windshield without breaking it. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess they didn't use non hardening sealer from the factory with a rubber hose across the bottom? And get it all over the inside trim??

Apparently this car did sit somewhere for awhile, at least long enough for the seat foam to end up in the heater duct. And to think, the guy I bought it from drove it to work the day I bought it.
More next week, I hope!!
 
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#27 ·
I did, but only because I eliminated the ash trays and didn't want the hole in the foam. I bought 1/2" foam padding at Joann Fabrics for like $20 for a piece 24" X 72". The spray adhesive I used didn't hold the cover, so I'm trying something else. If all else fails, silicone sealant should work - I used it to put the stainless trim on my 55 door panels.
Good luck, in the words of Red Green - "I'm pullin for ya, we're all in this together."
 
#28 ·
Good call on JoAnne Fabric for the door panel filler material.. I went to Hobby Lobby first and it was a bit of a Fail.
My local JoAnne didn't have regular foam any thinner than 1" but they had different weights and thicknesses of 'batting' and this stuff seeemed just about perfect to my untrained hands and eyes. ("ultra" weight)
 

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