hey guys hows it goin. well where to start, my car is a 1971 cutlass "s". the bodyman told me that my car is not fixable because of the rust that the package tray has. i went and bought a package tray (used) and he says that he still cant fix it because theres nothing to weld it to i think he said something about an inner brace or 2 braces that holds the tray to the body. anyone knows what it called??. well i need help tackling it as ill be fixing it on my own i need to know what kind of welder i need and what tools. im going to brace the car cut the tray out with zaw saw, the cut out the braces weld in the donor braces then slide the new tray in spot weld it in place sandblast everything and prime. sounds easy but im prepared for war. thanks for looking

 

Here are a couple of pages from the parts catalog, those things are one of those things.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3573/...2b8dbf6a_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3462/...5972b7ce_b.jpg

 

looks to be 29 and 36

 

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-replaced.html the brace is in the first pic it goes welded to the inner wheelhouse

 

Do you have any pictures of the rust in your car that you could share? Man I hate rust, but if you want to save that car it sounds like you have a project ahead of you. How is the rest of the body? Is it only around the rear window area? John

 

http://98.130.168.105/images/1970%20...%20b%20009.jpg this is a chevelle but its as close as it gets. look north of the outer wheelhouse ok now you see the big brace that extends North east towards the roof, its were it meets with the package tray that its rusted out,. its missing about 4 inches in that brace at the level of the tray and under towards the outer wheel house. i thought about doing it myslef as its gonna cost me an arm and a leg. im replacing both quarters the package tray and fixing the braces. i've never welded but i plan on welding a whole month or 2 so i can get the hang of it

 

Can you get actual pics of your car damage? Seems fairly straight forward as far as a repair. If it is a 4" section you are talking about, you should be able to even make a patch...what kind of bodyman did you go to? He says he can't fix it , that's what he gets paid for. Sounds like a parts changer to me...

 

he's really skilled but as a friend he told me it was not going to be worth fixing, that i was better off buy another shell