im in the process of stripping my car down to primer it, as a knucklehead at my school decided to run into it in the parkinglot and then drive off. anyhoo, i was pulling the weatherstripping from around the trunk seal and noticed that underneath the ring it fits in, it appears as though the quarters are riveted to the trunk there. is this right, it doesnt look very professional, nor does it seal really well in the rain, so these two factors kinda piqued my suspicion. anyone? thanks.

john

I've never seen rivets before. It's suppose to be spot welds. Look around the area real close, tell us what else you see.

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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
http://www.geocities.com/stevocamaro

Those rivets are from a repair job. My 69 had riveted patches, too. I found them when I went and replaced a front inner. Also, from the trunk, I can see quarter repairs. I have to say, from the outside, you can't tell and the repairs are over 5 years old. I personally would use structural adhesive which I plan to do on some trunk patches.

Some shady bodymen will use rivits to hold the new panel to 1/4's then weld the seam, grind the rivit heads off, and mud 'em up. Even worse I've seen where they rivited only. It will show up in the long run, your best off to repair it properly. Check the other side and the rest of the car out too. If you have the money fix it all the right way.
Austin

alright, what should i do? i worked as an assistant to a bodyman last summer in a shop near my house, so i know a little about the sheetmetal fixing, but nothing like what you're proposing to do! where do i start first? with the exception of where it leaks around the trunk seal, the patch is entirely unnoticable, so im hoping its not too bad. please help me out here.

john

john I am no pro but I have put on several rear 1/4's on camaros , if I were you here is what I would do , I would look inside the trunk with a flashlight and find the area where they did the repair (ALL OF IT) then grind away all paint and bondo where the seam (AND RIVETS) are then weld the seam solid and grind off the rivets re fill it and you are done , that is how to fix it permanantly !! if you plan to keep the car .

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67 RS 327 deluxe tach gauges , camaro's rule !

Get inside the trunk, lay on your back and look at the repair from the inside out. The other guy's were right, a hack has been at work here. I'd be willing to bet that this repair was performed a while back, prior to 1st gens becomming classics, or were they instant classics? Anyway, get a flashlight and trace the repair from where the rivet is to see if you can find any more. Hopefully you won't. If you do, you're going to have to grind it all out and re-weld it and then refinish the area you worked on. That is probably a good idea anyway. If the hack was willing to put rivets in to hold it in place while he did what ever he did to keep it there, no telling what else you will find.

I kinda like 67rs327's idea. That's probably what I'd do. Less worms would crawl out of the can. http://www.camaros.net/forum/biggrin.gif

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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
http://www.geocities.com/stevocamaro

67rs327 is right thats what I would do, but after you grind off the rivits use a small punch and remove the remainder of the rivit, then weld the hole (where the rivit used to be). If you skip that step you will eventually see little round raised spots where your filler is expanding from moisture exposure (from the inside of the trunk). I've seen it, much easier to fix it once.
Austin

i had the same trouble ,best way to fix it is to get full 1\4,and go with that.the oer fit but take working . GM fit better but cost about 1000.00 side . A friend of mine use the oer`s and i use GM his look just as good as mine ,and the same guy done both our car`s call blue Grass classic for GM`S 1969 RS black on black 406 small start saveing lt winter time any ways

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dogleg