On the 67 race car I'm rebuilding. Both sail panels behind quarter window, in almost the exact same spot, there's a bulge in the panel. Right up against the edge were the drip rail mold starts. About 2" wide & 4" long. I suspect this is from severly twisting the body without connecters or anything else to help stiffen the car.
My question is how would you approach a repair to this? I can't hammer & dolly it with the inner structure being in the way. The headliner is out. If I just start beating on it I think I'll warp the panel worse. Any secrets?

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Steve
67 SS 396,4-sp
67 RS 327,4-sp
72 RS 350/350
69 4X4 suburban 350,4-sp
73 3/4 ton 454/400
Stevo Camaro's Toy (http://www.geocities.com/stevocamaro)
Our Muscle Cars (http://community.webshots.com/user/steve_lynell)

Stevo, I'm not a body repair man but have spoken to people who have had this same problem. Most likely your thoughts on the bulges cause are correct. If the car does not have frame ties and it was used as a race car then racing is the cause. To remove without hammer and dolly, which would only cause the bulge to pop up some where else,you would need to slice the metal and reweld in some way. Sorry I can't give you expert advise but I do know that hammer and dolly won't work.

Stevo, that bulge may be the factory lead. They got real sloppy with the lead, I find that they are most always HIGH.

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Fan of anything that is interesting and moves human beings.
1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
1948 Chevy PU with 401 Buick

I have it down to metal and don't see a lead seam. Further back on the panel towards the rear window there is a seam, and on the pass. side the seam is low like it's been stressed. Which I'm sure it has been. I know it's just a race car, but when the time comes to blow paint on it you will see this for sure. In primer it's unnoticable for the most part, but you can sure feel it with your hand. I've learned that the sail panel area is vulnerable to damage on high H.P. cars. The 68 race car I painted for my friend last year had the full fiberglass quarters and were seamed at the sail panel where the stock lead seam is. Even with a very strong chassis and 12 point cage it broke loose and split there. I did some extensive beefing up in that area with long strand Kitty Hair from the inside basically tying the outer panel to the inner structure and it's been good since. He's in the 8's now and no signs of stress cracks. There are other problem areas with my car here as well that are related to body flex but are easily correctable. This car is a good example of what can happen to a F-Body with no chassis work and to much H.P.
Any other thoughts? I'm thinking I might be able to carefully cut out some inner structure, just enough to make repair with hammer & dolly. Then weld them back in place. Seems like alot of work though.

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Steve
67 SS 396,4-sp
67 RS 327,4-sp
72 RS 350/350
69 4X4 suburban 350,4-sp
73 3/4 ton 454/400
Stevo Camaro's Toy (http://www.geocities.com/stevocamaro)
Our Muscle Cars (http://community.webshots.com/user/steve_lynell)

Stevo, I was talking to my friend about your problem last night. When the panels flex under severe torque somewhere it is stretching. This happens because the panel is being pulled on from the twisting of the chassis and the distance between panel braces is moving apart. When the twisting stops and the panel is now not under stress the excess metal( it is actually thinner now from being stretched) has nowhere to go so it pops up, causing a bulge , or pops down causing a depression. Possibly you could remove by heating metal in a circular motion to shrink but this takes an expert hand and alot of experience. Maybe show the problem to a good custom shop that may have the experience with this kind of thing. Hope something of what I said helps you out, Chris