I have a '69 Camaro, that is fairly clean (some rust damage but it's minor) but it was rolled onto the passenger side. It bent the front pillar fairly badly, and pushed the whole back of the roof about 2" over.

I figure I'll replace the whole passenger quarter and probably that front pillar...BUT

would it just be easier to lop off the whole roof structure (inner and outer) and replace the whole thing? It pains me to think of cutting this shell up since it's pretty clean otherwise (I've searching for something this clean to start with for 2 years!)

Thanks for any advice, I can post pics if you'd like to get a better idea!

Yeah, pictures would be GREAT!

Check out a panel beater who is good with hydrolic jacks...one of these in experianced hands is amazing to watch in action

yea pix will help alot, i would find another first gen and make a template of the demensions of the pillars, a few different angle's, without pix, i really cant make a good suggestion

Check out a panel beater who is good with hydrolic jacks...one of these in experianced hands is amazing to watch in action.... and someone who knows 1st gen camaros' it would be a far better repair not cutting the inner structure

Okay here are some pics, I took off the sail panel cover at the rear and it didn't look too bad from the inside, maybe a coupla quarters and a roof panel could go a long way there! Front still looks pretty hopeless:

Front pillar, front view:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/69Camaroyell/Dsc00425.jpg

Roof from rear
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/69Camaroyell/Dsc00424.jpg

Roof from front
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/69Camaroyell/Dsc00426.jpg

Pillar from side:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/69Camaroyell/Dsc00428.jpg

Sail on passenger side:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/69Camaroyell/Dsc00431.jpg

Sail on Driver side (from top looking down to quarter)
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/69Camaroyell/Dsc00427.jpg

Inside structure passenger side
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/69Camaroyell/Dsc00429.jpg

Inside structure driver side:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/69Camaroyell/Dsc00430.jpg

Thanks for any advice! The pics don't really show it but the passenger pillar is rotated about 1/4 of a turn as well as being bent. The passenger drip rail is pretty well shot. On the driver sail, that rust line is the start of a crease, otherwise it looks okay. The driver pillar at the front has the filler popped loose and may be off a touch as well.

1st consideration is
how much structual rust in these sections? If present then these panels have to be replaced anyway
Just because these sections are bent it doesnt mean others are not bent also in the base of the body...these areas have to be measured for square against a known good body.
Rgardless the body will have to be pulled square again, any rust or previous structural damage will most likey prevent a good accurate pull.
This is not a simple pull and/or replace project.
Personally, I can see huge headaches, even after pulling/replacing as doors, hoods and other panels are attemped to be lined up... I would be leaving well enough alone unless I had a full workshop and were WELL experianced in to undertake such a project...an experianced person would shake their head knowing what the future holds and move on....at best used as a 'parts car'

This may illustrate a little, we had a 1st gen, hit a big curb under power, put the wheel upinto the firewall, and a slight kink in the speacker grill on the dash. We used well in excess of 15 tons to pull out straight that cnr...without the sub frame in.
It was not just 1 pull in 1 direction. When a car gets such damage there is the 1st impact then as the accident progresses the direction twisting of parts changes and often in areas that are located in very unlikely parts...meaning that basically when pulling the reverse has to be undertaken very carefully.
It is not just a skill, its an art. Simply replacing what is obvious is not a viable soln.

Thanks, about what I figured... There really isn't much rust (that "crusty" stuff you see all over the inside is dirt and glass, the result of a power washer and a flashlight, much of the inside paint is missing due to sunburn) the only structural section that is rusted is behind the driver seat... The passenger door still lines up good...

Anyway, I'll get out the tape, level, and plumb bobs and see what I can find!

Get a chaasis guy involved to...no someone who is trained on modern cars, a resto guy....Hand him a good bottle of Chivas Regal.
Use diagonals even where u dont think it matters.
Good body structure make a huge diff.

Okay, I spent a few hours measuring... looks like everything is okay below the roofline.

I measured across the car: front radiator mount to front spring bolt
dash to bottom rear of door opening (across interior)
front bottom of door opening to rear top of door opening across car

The rear of the roof isn't out anywhere near what I thought it was, maybe 3/8" probably a bit less(I had a larger left rear tire when I started measuring yeaterday!). Rear window will still drop in fine (with adequate clearance), most of the problem is actually cosemetic WHEW!

Front is pushed down and to the left (this is why the rear driver outer metal buckled). I'm not sure I can fix that, but I'll be bugging some body shops here locally...my biggest problem is getting someone to even LOOK at an older car, which is why I try to do this stuff myself...but this isn't a dented quarter panel! I have a friend of a friend who builds racecar chassises, but the car itself is looking straight (or close enough with Chevy's rather, um, lax tolerances, at least within 1/4 inch (giving error for my measuring, I came up closer than that)

i would find somebody with another camaro shell, and make some templates,locating all the referance holes, then make them fit ur camaro,

Okay, another related question... (I do have access to a coupla Firechickens, that's where the roof was gonna come from!)

Should I (correctly) strip off all of the bent outer metal (leaving the inner) and then try to get things straight? That seems to make sense to me but perhaps it's foolhardy...I can do that with the parts car to make sure things are good from that end too...

No...As the car is pulled, the folds in the damaged steel come out. Watching these is important as using the tape...how they unfold is an indicator that the pulling points are correct, and order of pulls is correct.
Also removing then 'weakens pionts and the car unfolds not as it should do.