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1967 Convertible sheetmetal

4K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  65_&_67_Impala 
#1 ·
I'm going through and planning on what sheetmetal I will need and have been trying to sort out the confusing mess of documentation regarding sheetmetal on my '67 convertible. I've got the 39th Edition of Hollander's Manual, and have noted what should work, but there are still some discrepancies. The biggest mystery I'm trying to resolve is the rear quarter panels. People keep telling me that the rear quarters from any '67 will interchange while Hollander says they won't (only the '67 convertibles), but then Hollander is not too clear on what exactly constitutes the quarter panel and there is no picture or diagram. Trying to cross-reference against 3rd party vendor re-pop's is just as confusing.

To illustrate, I cropped a pic from Craig32's "Just Getting Started" thread, you can see below.

If the quarter panel is defined as from the top of the rear quarter where it includes a small portion of the rear window pillar, then Yes, I agree it is a convertible part only. But,
if you work from the beltline down, then it certainly looks the same as a 2door.


Drilling a missing hole or trimming a little corner is one thing, cutting/bending sheetmetal is entirely different. Does anyone have knowledge of what really does and does not interchange among the various bodies?

Thanks!

btw- if the Forum Moderators would like me to submit PDFs of those pages, I can certainly do so.
 

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#2 ·
What you are illustrating isn't a quarter panel but a patch panel (a really big one that isn't sold by the sheet metal manufacturers, so you need a donor car for a used part).

Hollander describes a rear quarter panel for the collision repair industry. They wanted the rear quarter of the car (cut through the middle of the trunk in the back, and up to the roof on the rear pillar with about a foot or so of the bottom of the door channel). The repair shop would trim off the excess and install it on a wrecked car with a few spot welds and half gallon of Bondo so that inside of a week it was painted and out the door.

Hollander also has three levels of interchange from direct replacement, to it has a few extra pieces you don't need (such as a mount for a caliper on a steering knuckle offered for both drum and disc), to yah you can use it but you will have to modify the part to get it to fit. These are in the foot notes explaining the letter code next to a an interchange number.

Big Dave
 
#3 ·
Even on my 63 convertible they do not reproduce full quarter panels. You have to buy a coupe quarter panel and with slight mods make it work. I'm not sure if it is a case on 67 or not, but on 63 impalas they do not reproduce the inner wheel well as well and you have to use a coupe again and this part requires significant mods. If you don't do it right the convertible top will not sit fully down in the well when retracted as the inner wheel wells have indents on them.
 
#4 ·
ok, so it's the definition of what constitutes a QP and since Hollander really didn't describe it..... and while it would be nice if they manufactured a whole quarter panel from door to rear, the patch panels are fine.

as far as I can recall, most of my internal sheetmetal back of the firewall is in decent shape. it's the rear quarters that are in bad shape. you can see by scrolling thru the pics here.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/eLpizRuHXdAsmGxx9

I do need to empty out the shell and clean out the debris just to start taking pics of what I'll need

I did find these page at Hubbard's and they are saying they are cross-compatible with all 2-door 67-68 models as indicated. Impala Bob's also seems to agree but goes on to mention that the QP lower rear must be modified for the '68 marker light, where Hubbard's says nothing about that at all.


https://www.impalaparts.com/6768FQPR/ 1967-68 FRONT QUARTER PATCH PANEL, RIGHT
https://www.impalaparts.com/6768FQPL/ 1967-68 FRONT QUARTER PATCH PANEL, LEFT
Years : 1967 - 1968
Models : Impala, Impala Custom, Impala Super Sport, Caprice, Bel Air, Biscayne
Body : 2 Door Hardtop Sport Coupe, 2 Door Hardtop Custom Coupe, 2 Door Convertible, 2 Door Sedan


https://www.impalaparts.com/6768RQPR/ 1967-68 REAR QUARTER PATCH PANEL, RIGHT
https://www.impalaparts.com/6768RQPL/ 1967-68 REAR QUARTER PATCH PANEL, LEFT
Years : 1967 - 1968
Models : Impala, Impala Custom, Impala Super Sport, Caprice, Bel Air, Biscayne
Body : 2 Door Hardtop Sport Coupe, 2 Door Hardtop Custom Coupe, 2 Door Convertible, 2 Door Sedan, 4 Door Hardtop Sport Sedan, 4 Door Sedan


https://www.impalaparts.com/6768FPR/ 1967-68 FENDER PATCH PANEL, LOWER RIGHT
https://www.impalaparts.com/6768FPL/ 1967-68 FENDER PATCH PANEL, LOWER LEFT
Years : 1967 - 1968
Models : Impala, Impala Custom, Impala Super Sport, Caprice, Bel Air, Biscayne
Body : 2 Door Hardtop Sport Coupe, 2 Door Hardtop Custom Coupe, 2 Door Convertible, 2 Door Sedan, 4 Door Hardtop Sport Sedan, 4 Door Sedan, 4 Door Wagon


also, does anyone have diagrams of what the different 2door models look like HT Sport vs HT Custom vs Sedan (I think I know what a convertible looks like...)
as near as I'v been able to determine, the Sport is the Fastback, the Sedan looks like a Sedan, a Convertible is obvious, but what is a Custom Coupe?
 
#6 · (Edited)
I believe I have seen such a model of a 1970 impala (with a formal roofline that harkens back to the fancy designs of the 20's and 30's) but still unable to find such a beast of a 1967. Further, the original documentation from GM stipulating body types, on pg. 2, has:

Biscayne
2-door sedan
4-door station wagon
4-door sedan

Bel Air
2-door sedan
4-door station wagon (2 seat)
4-door station wagon (3 seat)
4-door sedan

Impala
4-door station wagon (2 seat)
4-door sport sedan
4-door station wagon (3 seat)
2-door convertible
4-door sedan
2-door sport coupe

Impala Super Sport
2-door convertible
2-door sport coupe

Caprice
4-door station wagon (2 seat)
4-door sport sedan
4-door station wagon (3 seat)
2-door convertible
4-door sedan
2-door sport coupe

but nowhere do I find mention of, nor a picture of, a 2 door Hardtop Custom Coupe. This leads me to think that somebody has been sloppy in their parts documentation, which is what I have been alluding to all along.
 
#7 ·
I think I finally got this figured out. I found a a unit marked as a Caprice on Craigslist. I've also spotted a different year-same model with the same roofline and also marked as a Caprice. since Caprice was considered an upgrade back then, I'm thinking that the Hardtop Custom Coupe was strictly available as a Caprice and was not sloppy documentation.

does this sound right to you Big Dave?
 
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