Hey Guys, The shop I work at part time has been slow so far this winter, so he let me bring my Camaro in to start the body work. Car is stripped from the fenders back. All in all, I'm pretty happy with what I found under the paint. Previous owner already painted it, but I figured it was best to strip it and start over so I know what's underneath.

It's amazing how little rust this car has, and with as much body work I'm going to have to make this a straight, black, car, I need to keep reminding myself of that!!

Left door was reskinned, both 1/4s replaced, and an aftermarket decklid. The right door is still the OE piece. Someone did a very good job on the 1/4s and an okay job on the left skin. The only "sin" I found was about a 1 inch rust hole in the lower front corner of the OE door was beat in and mudded.

I spent about 8 hours adding and subtracting metal where needed on the edges of the decklid to get it right. I've got a little more edge work to do on the right door to 1/4 gap, and then it's mud city.

Enjoy the pics... Brian

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/68Vert/ltrear.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/68Vert/rear.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/68Vert/rtdoor2.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/68Vert/rtdoor.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/68Vert/th_rtdoor.jpg (http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/68Vert/?action=view&current=rtdoor.jpg)
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/68Vert/th_rtdoor2.jpg (http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/68Vert/?action=view&current=rtdoor2.jpg)
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/68Vert/th_rtrear.jpg (http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/68Vert/?action=view&current=rtrear.jpg)
Well...I've messed with it for 15 minutes now, and I can only get 2 of the photos to work. Oh well, you get the idea...

Nice work. Love the trunk lid latch..........HA!

Nice work. Love the trunk lid latch..........HA!
I have check the assembly manual and I can't find that trunk latch anywhere! Was there a change to the AIM to reflect this?:D


Seriously....Keep up the good work. :thumbsup:

Scott

So, you are paid to work on your car?

Cool to see someone make there own patches...
I watch the rags to riches and a couple other American re build shows
Every tome I see the mudd layered like that, presume to match panel levels
This is not a normal practice here on a quality rebuild (I dont meant "quailty to mean a put down, dont take the wrong way ok?)
On older cars, 20s 30s 40s, these had heaps of lead inthem like that.
On production lines the doors etc where put in after then made to fit, on rebuilds the doors etc are mounted and any new or rebuilt body panels are then made to fit the doors.
In the same manner when doing a chop.
Then any height gap adjustments that are not correct are small and can be taken up with normal hi build spray
This is something that I have had on the back of my mind, curious about, for sometime now?????

Glad to see another first gen getting some love. Kepp up the good work! :thumbsup:

That trunk latch is pretty sweet isn't it??!!

I wish I was paid to work on my own car!! He's just got a free bay for me right now, so I'm using his shop space.

Steptoe, I'm not even really sure I understand what you're trying to comment about? Yes, the filler is there to level out panel height, not to make my gaps. I did that with the welder and grinder. I obviously don't like to use any more mud than needed, but when you're dealing with 2 aftermarket 1/4s, an aftermarket decklid, and an OE tail panel it's inevitable. When done right, that mud will still be there and fine when my daughter gets this car.

Most of it will end up on the shop floor. I just noticed a few waves in the panel height, so this is the fix. it would take 10 coats of primer to build up enough thickness for one little skim coat of mud. I don't see much difference between 10 coats of primer to build up some areas or a skim coat of mud? This car is going to be black, so I've got to have everything right.

Thanks for the comments guys. I hope to have the back of the car and the doors under primer by the end of the year so I can start on the nose. Brian

Got to agree with Timothy (Microgiant) -- its good to see another first gen Camaro gettin' some love :yes: :thumbsup:

Steptoe, I'm not even really sure I understand what you're trying to comment about? Yes, the filler is there to level out panel height, not to make my gaps. I did that with the welder and grinder. I obviously don't like to use any more mud than needed, but when you're dealing with 2 aftermarket 1/4s, an aftermarket decklid, and an OE tail panel it's inevitable. When done right, that mud will still be there and fine when my daughter gets this car.

Im just curous..differnt methods between US and NZ I havnt used aftermarket panels...always rebuilt the orginals. we Skim patches and welds.
But panel heights have always been close at the end
1st Hi build undercoat, soon finds the ripples in panels, and low panel heights..these are then hit heavy, then the whole car resprayed and blocked....then once more for the very minor stuff and finishing before colour
I must say the 1st gen camaro is by far the easest and fastest car I have every sanded/blocked down..beutifull curves to work with.
The only parts that one hast to be carful to get right is the faint edge above the front side light, most ppl block this off, and the same at the rear of the back fender.
I use a long flexable blocking board (18"x 2") foamed backed, swept diagonally both ways with long stokes...perfect results and fast.
When I did my 1st car back in the late 60s, an English Truimph Hearld , I didnt know what I was doing...did it panel heights with bog....
Came out real straight , until a pro restorer pointed out a slight flatening at the panel edges...those days it was enamels, far less forgiving.
Hence I have gone for the high build method, which on most shaped cars, other than the 1st gen becomes very labour intensive over the mud method.
Also bog has more of a tendancy to trap very fine air bubbles that can appear after a couple summers.

The other question:
We clean back to steel, and seal straight away...old way was etch primer, now epoxy.
Within 20 mins surface rust forms depending on humdity...modern muds(bog) is now formulated to go over the sealant, epoxy rather than straight onto steel for best long term adherance.
Im not critizing anyone or saying whatyou are dong is wrong. at all...Im seeing a different approach, and asking about it. Discussion.

Okay, I see what you're saying now. I wasn't taking offense, and you're right, there are many different ways to do things. I know there are many using epoxy, but I'm too scared to put filler over epoxy. The way I'm doing it has been done for a long time. In fact, I just talked to an old body man who did a car this way and has owned it for 30 years and the mud he put in there is still there and just fine. In my opinion, it, seems mud will stick to bare metal with a 36 or 80 grit scratch in it better than anything, so that's the way I'm doing mine. Good discussion though, and an oportunity for others to learn.

I'm not worried about flash rust at all. Car is in a shop with temperature control, and it will all be gone over with 180 before the etch primer anyway. So, if any flash rust would happen to form, that will handle it. Plus, it's low humidity during winter right now.

I've got areas on the car where using filler is inevitable. Like the factory lead seam for the 1/4s. Previous owner must have dug too much out of there because it's way low on both sides. No possible way to build that up with primer. As I mentioned, most of the mud I put on the car will end up hitting the floor as dust. I just like to skim the panel edges to show me what needs done.

I'm going to be hitting it pretty hard over the weekend. I hope to have the back of the car primed by the end of next weekend. Then, it's off to prefitting the nose. I'm not looking forward to that!! I've got an aftermarket left fender, header, and valance, but OE right fender, lower fender extensions, and hood. We shall see. Good discussion, Brian

Like the factory lead seam for the 1/4s.
I have done 4 body rebuilds on 1st gen
That seam is a pain..there is a lot of movement there, and after a couple yrs always got hair line cracks in the paint
Same for top of the 'A: pillars
Tried lead..alsorts of stuff to stop the cracks
Last rebuild I dug out the filler between the seams on the rear and ran a fine bead of weld down inside the seam with high heat. This seam is a groove ex factory, so I finished with a bit of bog and kept the seam in final finish...in retrospect I would have prefered to fill a bit more with weld and finished smooth
And it has not cracked
I have tried similar method(s) with top of the 'A" pillar..always cracked..
So last time (i had to do a small rust patch near it) I tapped it down and welded a plate over the area.....no cracks afew yrs on

Also watch the cnrs of the front and rear windscreens....pre shape these using the trim to get perfect fit...same goes with the wheel well trims.

Check the bottom edge of the front windscreen...windscreen out....there are about 3 layers of steel under there and it rusts from the inside out...thats a bitch to rebuild
And the seam that goes across the firewall,
and the area down the sides below the fan.
http://www.steptoe.sytes.net/around-home?page=1
http://www.steptoe.sytes.net/album01