Thread: 69 F(ed) body hack

Since the rest of that can be easily reached from inside the car, I once again went for visual external progress...

Not much to show nor tell today but the right quarter is on it for keeps. That part is in place with screws, ready to begin my welding process.

Here is a sampling of the activities-

Backside of where I cut for fit right next to the tail lamp (quarter is laying on a stand in pic) was actually not too bad. Welded one little hole and lightly grinded-



There was a little crack here by the top outside corner, at the tail panel. Lo and behold, thats brazing rod on a brand new quarter. On a crack! Nifty.



Welded that after cleaning out the brazed material.

Yesterday I made this outie corner of the qtr an innie because it was hitting the door. Got gap now.



There was drilling and fussing over this and that-



Then on it went, for good.



I may just get the other side to this point before I plug weld. The sheetmetal shop's (Miller 220) welder with .030 wire has a trigger issue so right now I'm using the mechanic shop's one with .035. I'd rather get back to .030 for this.

Would it be easier to remove the vin plate and buy all new parts....assemble them with the right specs?

No idea, Bill. The new bodies are available assembled and can be titled without any VIN taboo.

I decided to weld the quarter on. It was too tempting sitting there all prepped. I nearly finished.

The bag full of new tools I brought in sure made this easier.

Here is a sampling of fresh plug welds-






After grinding-








I relocated this corner bumper brace to where the quarter wants it to be-



Remembered I needed to slice this front trunk corner for gap, but saw gold soon as I touched it. More brazing on a new part, and its hurting the fit! I'll dig it out later.

I finished welding up the quarter blah blah blah. Didn't get a pic of the welds at the drip rail, those were tense and I kept them only lukewarmish if you know what I mean. No warps though.

Down at the front of the wheelwell on the rearward end of the rocker there was a mess. I had been stuffing rust converter in behind it all along, and now was the time to fix. It was really mangled looking, I tapped around on it and tacked it before pic to avoid the barfys.



I just kinda listened to music for a spell while playing bodyshop and then there was this.



Then I remembered to take a flash pic inside the front of the quarter looking down at the rocker. Even if only half of those stuck, I'm satisfied. It only had about half that many.



Then I ground the row of welds everyone is tired of looking at on the tail panel behind the bumper. Then I started eyeballing that left quarter...



Big ol wide gap at the top. I took some measurements and established the quarter as the culprit. The outside edge of the notch for the U-seal was vertically flush with the flange for the window fuzzy on the other side, but not on this one. So the quarter stuck out a little too, at the top corner.





So, I thinks. Then I chops.



Then I bent, the edge only, forward.



Cut it all the way through at the top and just set the gap like I wanted-



In that pic, you can see that the top of the quarter now aligns with the door. I had to push it in. Then I trimmed the old edge that was sticking out past the face of the panels and tacked patches in. I don't want to stick this to the inner so I'm being careful and may just tack it and finish with the panel off.. I do have a screw holding the inner to the outer for no suprises later.



It will work out, you'll see-

Today I beveled that corner back to where I want it, added a bit of rod at the bottom of the split, and smoothed the existing tacks-



Tacked some more-



Marked welds and took the quarter off-



These welds at the base of the B pillar rusted off just like the other side-



Nothing new here-



OK, one new thing-



Sanding and dot welding and more rust converter-





A new patch on the left and brace on the right, down at the rocker-



That about covers today's action!

If a new body is straight and ready.the price has got to be what has someone doing this much work on an older one.

year one sells whole bodys, https://www.yearone.com/Catalog/1967...nd-convertible

Wow... today is the day that on 3 seperate forums, people have brought up the new bodies. Thats not a decision I would have any part in at my job. Anyone who has seen one in person, raise your hand and show gap pics. I want to see one or three, untouched and not display queens. There are many facts to consider when comparing apples to oranges. I could lay them out but thats just a completely seperate topic with politics attached. People bring us cars, we fix them. Somebody wants to use a crate body, bring it on. Want to buy each piece seperate then have me assemble it? No problem. Want me to seperate every piece of a rustbucket, fix them, and reassemble? Can do. Whatever idea you like best, my advice is free but the decision is yours.

If you ask an engine rebuilder if they can rebuild your 3800, they say yes. Same thing. I say if we run out of American cars, THEN lets build tin-can re-pops made in Taiwan. I probably won't, but everybody else is welcome to. You wanna know how to fix and fit sheetmetal, you're in the right place. Shopping choices good or bad don't concern me.

the crate bodys seem to be pretty solid, but its not original, and thats what collectors are after, why you have your job lol

hers a show that built a 69 with pretty much all year one parts. http://www.powerblocktv.com/episode/...d#.V0ZnZjUrJMx

Thats hard to watch, lol. What is the metal thickness on a GM quarter and on a Dynacorn?

i dont recall, but i do remember seeing the show as it was built week after week years ago. year one bought all the gm die's and press molds, so its all original pressings, id have to guess its as close to stock or the press would not make em right.

i do recall them saying you cant title them, i was like whats the point then? just a track car or trailer queen?

I don't know. I do know dies are a wear item and the press in Taiwan isn't as heavy as the ones GM used, so DC stuff is 1 mil. 1st and 2nd gens were skinned in 18 gauge. A comparison of the steel's composition would be interesting. So would a side by side crash test.

im not donating my original camaro for that test lol


crash test wise, even if the crate body was thinner, the rust factor of the older car you know all the unseen rust would have to factor in to it not being as strong as once was.

theres got to be a forum or two where guys have bought and built them bodys for a real world review.

They could duplicate crash tests GM did back then, and compare. You're probably right about the forum thing. Dudes who own rusty old Camaros should check into that kind of thing before buying a restoration.

Food for thought-

http://jalopnik.com/this-is-what-a-z...-fo-1777974705

http://www.hotrod.com/news/1605-hot-...-for-everyone/

Moar cleetus.

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

Moar cleetus.

Might have sprayed epoxy today if I hadn't needed to spend a couple hours taking undercoating off the inside of the left quarter. On weld flanges and all. Dear Lord... why? The e-coat cleaned up fine.

Then I was able to finish this up-



This is the inside of that after grinding and fogging-



The outside-



... and fogged to keep humidity out-



That bottom corner is too close, needs a little more work.

The car just wants to go git'um that Falcon-



But I screwed the quarter on, to protect things during a break in activity. Then pushed it into a corner to make way for the '68.



It might be a spell before I'm back on this job. Time to work on the other one for a bit. Next steps are to fix an edge on the tail panel, prep the roof inner structure, epoxy that and weld the quarter on... then roof, and so on. To be continued...

Well, slight change of plan today. Going to switch to the '68 on Thursday instead. Fine by me, I kept moving on the '69.

Made these. Took almost all day to make and install them.



They go here-



Don't be fooled by the next pic. I used a brake, shrinker / stretcher, drill press, and plenty of screws to form and fit the parts to the car. The anvil was handy for final shaping though. Sprayed some rattle etch on the backside and the car, then cleaned up weld spots with a drill bit once they were screwed down tight.



Plug plug plug. Grind grind grind.







So theres that, done-

Tired of looking at ugly stuff? Your day is finally here.

Spent the morning warring on rust. If I didn't win... well I left a scar on it. Did what I could for it and called this the stopping point. It will last a long time.









One or two good soggy coats of DP90LF-






Heres the last glance at anything very ugly-




Screwed it on, and here we are. A good Thursday should have that welded on and smoothed out. Maybe I can get the roof on Friday if I hurry. Have not started prep on that part yet. I was supposed to work on the 68 today but that changed. I'm glad because I'd like to take this one past third base on the metal work, before I stop running. Did at least pick up junk around the car before leaving today!