[Lost in the 60's]

Don't feel alone, Jayhawk, I jinxed myself too. I removed the rear window trim on my Chev-elle and opened Pandora's box.

It looked half-way decent with the trim on. I had to PRY the trim off, as it was mostly held on with sealant.





I found the previous "repairs" under the sealer...pop riveted aluminum patches, tin foil and masking tape to hold the bondo until it set...:sad:





Made the first cut.

 

[Madencali]

My rear window is screwed as well the body man is going to have fun with that!

Goes in this friday

 

[Lost in the 60's]

I have a new extension panel, but I'm not happy with the seal channel under the trunk lid. That is why I left 2" of the original on there. I have sail panel patches too.

 

[jayhawk500]

OH Damn! That's a mess.
I'm starting to get pretty good with the shrinker/stretcher. I got the first piece of the center rot installed. Can't believe how time consuming it is for just one piece.

 

[Big Dave]

Chevelles had the tunneled rear glass look that Enzo Ferrari made famous on his 308 and again on his 358 coupes. Unfortunately it traps a lot of water. Ferrais are hand made out of aluminum and therefore do not rust. The same can not be said for the Chevelle.

Big Dave

 

[Lost in the 60's]

Aluminum doesn't rust, but it corrodes, very quickly when exposed to salt. If a Ferrari was driven in the salt bath conditions our cars endure for 4-5 months of the year, I guarantee it would turn to white dust..

 

[jayhawk500]

I guess I'm lucky in that aspect. Being on the pacific coast does have its advantages. We don't use salt here, it's an environmental nightmare. But vehicles do rust, just more slowly.

 

[dadstoy]

I save these panels from my 65-66 Impala parts cars.

 

[Lost in the 60's]

I save these panels from my 65-66 Impala parts cars.

Yeah, buddy, that is a valuable donor part...:thumbsup:

 

[Lost in the 60's]

Spent some "quality" time with the Chevelle today. I removed the remnant of the extension skin and found more rust than I hoped for...









THERE, I fixed it...don't I wish...



Started cutting out the cove damage.

 

[jayhawk500]

That's what sand blasters, rust treatments, and undercoatings are for, that go underneath the new skin.
Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[Lost in the 60's]

That's what sand blasters, rust treatments, and undercoatings are for, that go underneath the new skin.
Good luck, keep us posted.

The tool on the right in the second pic scrapes off the loose scale and then it will get converter and epoxy sealer...:thumbsup:

 

[BA.]

:thumbsup:

 

[Lost in the 60's]

Today, I cut out the rust on the right side. It was worse than the left and there's rust damage in the upper radius.
But wait, there was no inner flange under the cove panel. It is misplaced inboard by 1/2" !! There were no spot welds to grind out because the flanges aren't even close.




Oh well, I'll deal with the mis-alignment later. I ground out the rust in the radius, made a patch and welded it in. First repair complete...

 

[jayhawk500]

Looks good! I would have created more work for myself by cutting out the whole corner. I'll have to keep this little trick in mind.

 

[Lost in the 60's]

The trim is very wide and will cover the patch with no further blending needed...:thumbsup:

I can hide most of the weld seam on the left side the same way, but the right is going to take more skill than laziness...:yes:

 

[dadstoy]

When we did my brother in laws 67 Chevelle we installed drains made from copper tubing.

 

[Lost in the 60's]

Yup, it will get drain tubes...:thumbsup:

I cut out more of the rust that I initially thought I would treat and leave.







Got the extension panel all trimmed and ready for install.

 

[Lost in the 60's]

Then, I got an OCD attack and decided to correct the out of place inner support structure on the right side. After attempting to just cut relief slots and pry it over, I just cut the whole danged thing out. It now lines up perfectly with the skin flange but will take some surgery to attach inside again. That will happen later.

 

[jayhawk500]

Wow, That was waayyy off. Must have been a Friday and beer:30.:beers: