I wanted to replace the rear filler panel, as it had been bent when the bumper was pushed in, also, both ends were twisted. I figured it would take a good eight hours to get the metal satisfactorily straight. I had another option, which was to remove it and replace it with the NOS one I had found at a local swap meet for $40. I had to set the rear of the body down from the rotisserie, as it was in the way of accessing the back of it.
Drilling the spotwelds out was not an option, as they were hidden behind the flange at an angle. I used a high speed drill with a carbide burr to go through them instead. The replacement panel had factory locator holes to align it too the body, which was nice.Drilling the holes in the replacement panel for installation-Panel clamped in place, and then the completed product, rosette welded to the body.
Nice job John - If you remember the rear filler panel on Charleen was too rusted to save. I got a very good used one from you but my process was very different from yours. I cut my old filler panel off with a spot weld knife and a 4 lb. sledge. Then I marked and drilled the holes and bolted the replacement on. If anyone is interested I have a NOS filler panel for sale. I will sell it at what I paid but I have to look the price up.
Dick.
Dick Koch wrote:Nice job John - If you remember the rear filler panel on Charleen was too rusted to save. I got a very good used one from you but my process was very different from yours. I cut my old filler panel off with a spot weld knife and a 4 lb. sledge. Then I marked and drilled the holes and bolted the replacement on. If anyone is interested I have a NOS filler panel for sale. I will sell it at what I paid but I have to look the price up.
Dick.
That's a good idea, Dick. If it ever got damaged, it would be easy to replace without welding.
Thank goodness the weather held out for painting, I was concerned that it would either get windy, or cold, but was still with 80 degrees for the high. I reapplied seam sealer to all the necessary areas on the lower body, I didn't want to paint the bottom and then have seam sealer ooze out somewhere afterwards. Next was to paint the underside, in preparation of mounting the body back on its chassis for panel fitment. Came out pretty decent, after using a half gallon of single stage enamel.
After sorting body mount hardware, I placed the pieces in the necessary spots. I had to look at some cars in the yard, as it was not fresh in my mind. I was hoping to have some friends over to assist with lifting the body onto the frame, but one had a sore back, and another did not show. After a bit of thought, I hooked up an engine hoist to the front, and used the back half of the rotisserie to support the rear. By then, Austin had gotten back from Yuba City, and we easily rolled the body over the chassis, and set it in place.
Afterwards, I threaded all the body mount bolts, and tightened them up. Finally, I removed the braces from the doors and quarters.
I test fitted the fenders and doors, to be sure there were no problems after all that had been done. After lining these parts up, I drilled all the holes for the sport fury trim, and welded the others shut.
I stripped off the old layers of paint from the fenders, then scraped the undercoating and loose rust from the undersides. I gave the inside of each fender a light sandblasting to remove remaining rust, then acid-etched them. A few small holes were found, so I welded them up. After dinging out most of the dings, I shot the fenders with primer.
Now, on to the hood.
The best hood I could find here, I had gotten from my friend Kenny J in Vegas. It had heavy surface rust on the top, but no major damage on the top side. Most of the hinge mounting bolts had been broken off or the captive nuts had been pulled through, so this required a little work. I sanded the heavy rust off, and acid etched the top, then sandblasted the bottom before applying primer.
Looking good John, you seem to be moving along pretty good now. Your fenders are almost NOS compared to what my fenders looked like. Then again I don't have the good fortune of a multitude of parts cars.
Sigh!!!
Dick.
