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Thanks for the clarification George. That's exactly how I was planning it. Your pics are more motivation for me to get out there. Thank You.
That really does suck about the crossmember! Karma will take care of it!
I worry about that stuff living out here somewhat in the sticks... country. When my Rushforths were being delivered, I passed the UPS guy on the road on my way to work. I called a friend and asked them to drive out and put them in the garage for me.
 
Discussion starter · #323 ·
I'll be calling Bowtie ODs tomorrow, see how they are doing with UPS on my claim for the X Member. Seems lots of package pilfering these days.


Today I cut the horrid top edge from the replacement quarter panel skin. I also cut the wrong front edge and the long back edge off. the lip that fits atop the rocker was angled wrong too. After all this was fixed, slapped her up on the Camaro

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Am going to trim the ends of the existing QP for butt welds, top seam will be flanged, all the bottom edge gets spot welds in the factory spots

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Once the back edge is cut, will know if the bottom of the QP sits right on the bottom of the trunk extension. Short day, left early to babysit the grand daughter
 
Butt weld the top, no need to flange. Whether you flange or not, if you do not maintain continuity of planes between panels, welding shrinkage will cause the joint to suck in creating a deep valley. Flanges are especially prone to this. If this happens when flanged, hammer and dolly work is hindered tremendously. Flange tools also eliminate the contour of a panel at the edge, and reforming it after it's flanged is required. This is of no consequence on flat panels but must be corrected on convex panels. A correctly done butt weld, which is not difficult, will leave a seam with no valley that requires only a skim coat. Zero or very little gaps when butt welding; those butt welding clamps leave large gaps. Thinner guage repro panels shrink more, so slowly welding a seam is required to minimize it. Corners should be radiused as right angles or sharp corners induce excessive heat shrinkage. You class instructor undoubtedly knows all this. I'm not a fan of skins, butt welded Mustang skin in this photo:
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Discussion starter · #326 ·
Thanks Sauron! (read below)



Today I cut the aft end of the new skin to remove some of the contours that were interfering with a good 'spooning' fit. I screwed the panel down front and back, then cut down the back edge with my trusty DREMEL and a fine cutting wheel.

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Quite pleased indeed, I went forward, did the front edge the same way

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Teach will bring his panel alignment goodies in tomorrow. He had this home-made device in his drawer. A pin fits thru the back of the blade that draws the panels forward together from the back side. Blade is .020" thin

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With gaps this pristine and prom night tight
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, Teach says we are well set to butt weld the top edge
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. Self and Teach were rather doubtful things would look so great. Gotta get after the patches, outer wheel house lip-job and a few odds and ends but welding commences tomorrow, hope that by FRI close of business, the Qtr Skin is on. I intend to weld myself, starting on the simple patches and the thick metal of the wheel house. If fully competant by then, will do the QP weld. Student Richard is standing by to assist/coach or heaven forbid, take over welding.




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Looking good George. I love that gadget. I guess you access the pin from inside the car. We did a simular butt weld on my passenger side quarter. I was suprised after it was welded in place how good it turned out, and it was mated at the rear seam. I wanted to do the full quarter but the body shop guy said this was the way to go. In the future I would replace the entire quarter only if there were issues outside of the 80% panel area. Otherwise a good 80% job does the trick quite well. In my case it was cheaper and took less time. Can't wait to see the weld job.
 
A little more time spent to achieve zero gaps dramatically reduces warpage due to heat shrinkage. Heat shrinks metal and causes the panels to draw together. This action is further increased by gaps. No gap provides a better result. That's why I do not use those butt welding clamps. I scribe my panels and tickle them to get zero gaps. The same procedure was used in the Mustang photo I posted above. I would not grind the EDP of the edges to be welded, those repro panels are thin enough. Just use a Scotchloc or DA. Have fun.
 
I wanted to do the full quarter but the body shop guy said this was the way to go. In the future I would replace the entire quarter only if there were issues outside of the 80% panel area. Otherwise a good 80% job does the trick quite well. In my case it was cheaper and took less time.
If a car is yanked apart, a full quarter is 100% faster to install than an partial quarter.
 
Looking good George. Did you just slap the old QP cut out over the new skin for your cut? Of course leaving a lil' extra. I'm ready to weld the outer into place and then I'll be cutting the QP.
Also, did you go wider when you cut the new outer? Would that cause problems with the QP install? Maybe a 1/2 inch wider wouldn't be that big of a deal.
 
Discussion starter · #331 · (Edited)
thanks Sauron! seems to me you do this sorta thing more than 2-3 times in a lifetime! will see how good at tickling I can get

I had cut the quarters open to view known carnage and to look for hidden surprises. look back several pics to see. I then trimmed off unneeded metal off the new skin. Then cut around the screwed down skin with thin wheels

looking for shocks. Mark Savetske said Koni are good bang for the buck. Some budget for better than Monroe Matics. Appreciate any feedback
 
Lots of good info !

When you butt-weld the gap, are you using a MIG welder and how do you do that without getting an area real hot ? I know you have to skip around to minimize heat, just wondering about how to setup the welder.
 
Discussion starter · #333 ·
Beth

Several MIG welders at the school. I feel pretty comfortable with the Lincoln unit. I have used a pal's Miller. Just not what I would call "trained"

Yes, skip down the seam with stitch welds. For sure you want to avoid heat build up. Wil do some trials on scrap for the right heat and wire feed rate. I have noted hot means a flat weld
 
Scribe the old skin after laying the new over it. Then use a good pair of snips, Midwest or Klenk to trim to the line. Or a thin cut-off wheel. Then tickle(grind) with a Roloc till there is no gap. Zero gaps and proper penetration fuse the panels together. Can't be said enough. The vendors selling butt weld clamps don't know, and/or don't tell people. A gap causes excessive shrinkage and warpage as mentioned and is done very often. A gap should never be wider than the wire, but avoided nonetheless. I made multiple size metal backers for my Rolocs to keep them rigid. This keeps the grinding on the weld, not the surrounding metal as happens when an unsupported the disc flexes. Preliminary grinding is done with a 3/16"x3' on a die grinder, not a 4" electric animal.
 
Discussion starter · #336 ·
Scott and Al,
Thanks for the extra feedback. The rear seam just about holds water! Front seam .020" wide, barely. I had seen the cleco thread already. We have a few of these. Will shoot for nil gap and see how it goes

Today, short day with grand baby afternoon. Some final fitting of the outer wheel house. Then there is that part of the inner wheel house front to be cut out, new part made and welded in. Ear of outer wheelhouse will cover this. Replacing all the tiny bad spots that I find
 
George's wheelwells appear to be formed correctly and fit well; some do not. It is advised to fit your wheelhouses to the quarter prior to welding it permanently. If the arch is formed incorrectly, or there is misalignment, problems will arise. I've seen this on more than one occasion.

While the ends of the rockers are open, I blow them out and treat the insides with 3M RustFighter I or similar products, it is not regular undercoating. It and application wands can be purchased at your jobber cheaper than most vendors, especially Eastwood. There is no reason to buy anything from E.W. for a hobby or business.
 
Discussion starter · #338 ·
Already talking to TEACH about Rustfighter for the inner rockers while open. Yup, run the wands up the innards of the rockers.

I have blown and vacuumed walnut shell and sand powder til I'm tired yet each day I get more out of the vehicle. Want all this stuff gone!
Early day today so home now, going to take parts to various places for various services

I have a pretty good fit wheel house to innards of the skin.
Having done hardwood floors, numerous drywall projects, lots of home carpentry, formerly employed in my youth as maker of crates for oil well equipment export....measure 3x...cut once!

What is your day job Scott?
 
Already talking to TEACH about Rustfighter for the inner rockers while open. Yup, run the wands up the innards of the rockers.

I have blown and vacuumed walnut shell and sand powder til I'm tired yet each day I get more out of the vehicle. Want all this stuff gone!
Early day today so home now, going to take parts to various places for various services

I have a pretty good fit wheel house to innards of the skin.
Having done hardwood floors, numerous drywall projects, lots of home carpentry, formerly employed in my youth as maker of crates for oil well equipment export....measure 3x...cut once!

What is your day job Scott?
Hey George make sure you fit your wheel well mouldings if you plan on using them as early as possible. Not sure if you are, but if you are don't make the same mistake as I did. The quarter I had once welded in was no where near the original shape and made fitting the moulding almost impossible. The car is painted now and I am going to have to figure out how to fix it now. I faked it, but it needs to be fixed. Sure wish I would have taken care of that when the quarter was going on. Live and learn.
 
Hey George make sure you fit your wheel well mouldings if you plan on using them as early as possible. Not sure if you are, but if you are don't make the same mistake as I did. The quarter I had once welded in was no where near the original shape and made fitting the moulding almost impossible. The car is painted now and I am going to have to figure out how to fix it now. I faked it, but it needs to be fixed. Sure wish I would have taken care of that when the quarter was going on. Live and learn.
7s and 8s fit better than 9s. He won't have a problem. Not much you could do for the WW profile on 7s and 8s anyway. GM moldings are available for your 9 if you want to burp for them.
 
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