Eddie, you and Brian (69442C) are in a league of your own when it comes to metal crafting artisanship.

 

Well Thank You very very Much, I assure you I am not in Brian's and Many others League here.. I am just a Car Guy... but the kind words are very very much appreciated.

 

Thank You Sir, I am hard at it... man oh man but it feel good progressing.

 

Well the pics are similar to what was posted, but hopefully a little clearer for the processes, Here we go, here is the drop downs and outer wheel house after repair, the wheelhouse was replaced same as the quarter, I trim the wheel house down, so it can be fit over the existing, areas that were rotted were cut off completely on the old wheel well, and the flange between inner and outer was cleaned up and ground down, then, cut the wheel houses together at the desired location and start the tack welding.

here is the drop down and wheel house installed on the drivers side.

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[img]https://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv17/fastelectric/quarter%20repair/IMG_0672small04.jpg

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here is the attachment process again, maybe with some better pics..

step 1 fit the replacement panel, takes some trimming etc


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MARK YOUR CUT LINE

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cut...
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then roll away waste

then tack
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coming to the ends

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after you reach the ends, you can pull out the waste strip inside be careful it is sharp

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your sheet metal work is superior. I really like your methods of the installation on the quarter panel. u must be a body man by trade?


nice work ray

 

You guys that can do body work amaze me. It is an art that I have no clue how to do.

 

Thank you, no I am not a body man at all, theses are my first full skins actually, I have done some metal work , and body work, and even some painting, but it was a long time ago, I can braze metal like nobodys business this is new to me, I read this technique on the musclecar restorations site, and I have learned a bunch of stuff here on the forums, and of course Brians thread (69442c) he has given me tons of advice.

I am just trying to do it the best that I can .

I really appreciate the kind words

 

Just a quick update, I am still working on the finish of the quarters, and I still have some of the drivers side wheel well to clean inside miserable job lol

Both quarters are on and 90% of the pinhols are filled, my goal is to minimize any filler.

I also picked up a set of doors, and although they look very very good, I discovered a couple of places that the metal is a little thin, or a minor pinhole, I will clean them up and install them for the next phase.

I also fixed a couple of dings in the new sheetmetal, these dings were minor but if your interested I will show how I took tgem out without filler.
As a caveat I am NOT a bodyman, not even sure if my technique is correct but it works for me

Ok back towork at hand, I have more pin holes and these come when I am cleaning the welds tighter and tighter to tge original sheet metal. These are tiny, I could seal it with lead if I had any and I knew how lol... or duraglass, but I figure I can just keep filling them, they are small enough that the .023 wire wont fit in it.

I also want to say I cant believe how long my resto is taking
I am getting closer and want to thank everyone for their support. Well have a great sunday heading into the garage more pics tomorrow...

Hoping this thread helps others

 

Eddie:
Wow! I just read your major-build thread from start to finish (all 14 pages). I just have to say, I admire your perseverance: 4-1/2 years, that's some real stamina. I also had to chuckle when I saw the date of your first post, April 1st. I purchased my '72 442 convertible project and towed her home on April 1st 2012. I am about to reacquaint the body with the frame after powder-coating the frame and rebuilding the suspension and differential. It's time to start on quarter panel replacement.

I have a question for you about how you attached the door jamb area. Did you drill out the spot welds between the inner and outer panels at the striker area and reattached with plug welds, or did you cut and butt weld this area like you did on the top of the panel? I'm very concerned about getting the trailing edge of the door to be flush with the replacement panel. Also, not sure how to maintain an even gap between the door edge and the new panel. Could you post some pics of how you did this area? That would be a great help to me.

Like you, I have never replaced body panels and the task seems daunting, but having a community like CO.com to draw upon the experience of others, really boosts my confidence. Thanks for not giving up on your project and for sharing your trials and successes with the rest of us!

Rodney

 

Hey Rodney, first thanks for reading.
Regarding the door edge , no I did not drill out the parts inside the jamb , I did think about it but the bend is slightly rounder , and a guy who did it before me 69442c (Brian) mentioned this when he was doing a quarter on a 69 and I was looking for it.

I will also note that they do not my 69 vert quarters, so you have to adapt a hardtop skin, this invoved soe trimming and the area above the wheelwell is flatter on a 69 vert, so it necessitated pushing in the slight bow as it said in the thread, I then broght the quarter up to the edge of the jamb, there is a body brace there that holds both the jamb and the quarter I cut right at the back edge of the brace keeping the original jamb and the gap.

Now I believe they make full quarters for a 72? If they do that is the way to go believe me, I think the gap will be ok, if the edge ist crisp enough you can deal with that with some 1/8 th inch filler rod, but you will be miles ahead not worrying about warping panels etc

Do you have to replace the wheel houses?

If they made a full quarter for a 69 vert thats they way I would have went


Happy to help any way I can let me know

 

[QUOTE=Eddie Hansen;770070]Just a quick update, I am still working on the finish of the quarters, and I still have some of the drivers side wheel well to clean inside miserable job lol

Both quarters are on and 90% of the pinhols are filled, my goal is to minimize any filler.

I also picked up a set of doors, and although they look very very good, I discovered a couple of places that the metal is a little thin, or a minor pinhole, I will clean them up and install them for the next phase.


Ok back towork at hand, I have more pin holes and these come when I am cleaning the welds tighter and tighter to tge original sheet metal. These are tiny, I could seal it with lead if I had any and I knew how lol... or duraglass, but I figure I can just keep filling them, they are small enough that the .023 wire wont fit in it.



Eddie a really good filler is ALL METAL. It will cure just like metal. I use that instead of the traditional filler. You don't have to worry about moisture getting into your seams. It is pricey however.

 

Thanks Gary, I dont need much, I think ill give it a try, its almost as much as the lead kit from eastwood. But I know how to use filler lol

Project is getting there , went to tack up a pinhole in the door, and decided to replace the whole corner... . Might as well do it right...

 

So more photos of the process...

After you have "Connected all the Dots" meaning a full bead, it is ground down as previously mentioned with a cutoff wheel, careful not to touch the sheet metal, then I use a right angle die grinder and a 2 inch twist lock using 40 and 60 grit. This then reveals tiny pinholes in between the welds, and you go back and fill those in using the same method as before, not too much heat, tack and cool

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After the second pass it is getting pretty good, but then your also tapping down the weld "proud" meaning the tiny crown that comes from heating the metal, this is done after the initial grinding, and your using a straight board, etc , I like to use a slapping file and dolly, or a spoon, eventually it starts looking very good and fairly level, this will need a minimum of filler,
I will go over this a few more times a tack here a tack there a few slaps..


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Well I have had the quarter skins on and off the car a gazillion times, I do work mostly by myself, so I occasionally picked up a ding or two.

Nothing Major but still a ding that will require a little filler or glazing at least, I try to work these the best I can, I use a Body Dolly with the approximate curve, and push from the inside of the quarter, and rather than a hammer , I slap with a Slapping File..

Here is the damage, you can just just see the little ding here..
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Awesome work there

 

I used a flat board to see what I need to do,
I use it in a criss cross motion, so you end up with a kind of cross hatch
This is the board

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The damage reveals itself a little better

 

I have made my slapper file, you can use an old file ( as this one is) , or you can even make it with a broken leaf spring etc, you will need several shapes and curves , but this is the one I use most often.. and my old vintage dolly,

to make a slapper, you cut the tang off, then put the file in a vice, heat it and bend, flip it over heat and bend the other way, then round off all the corners..

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What you are doing is pushing the depression up while slapping the high side down, work slowly your not breaking rocks, its more like making music, tap tap, not bang bang..

keep checking your work, the flatboard tells you how your doing..it's getting there

quarterding2.jpg

it gets a little better, Almost there
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Voila...Good enough for this amature...
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as I was replacing the skin, I noticed there was filler on the rear like the car got tapped, instead of a little more hammer they added a little more filler, so I used a rounded chisel ( ground the edge into a radius) and had at it

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while not perfect its getting better,

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Ill finish it when I do the flat portion for the bumper...

 

so there you have it....

I also fixed a few pinholes in the door, and for the life of me, I don't know why, but I ended up just cutting off a corner, and replacing the corner..

it did give me access to the inside so I was able to clean and treat that portion, this was the better way... more pics later...

 

I know what your going through. I've been working on a set of model A fenders for last 6 weeks of Sundays with a hammer and dolly. Very tedious work, trying to make gold out of a pile of crap. These were in bad shape. They are coming along though.

 

Eric, you have it worse, the steel is thicker... thats good and bad.. I hope some day to be able to build sh%t out of flat sheet, I am in Awe of the Covells, and the others... English aluminum smiths who built cars by hand.. and I am at least moving forward, I remember when I was 16 and bought my first qt of Bondo, and the lovely screen to fix rust holes LOL....

I really want to learn lead work next... could be with the lead substitute they use.. but you know what I mean, that and tig welding maybe???

 

I am finally chiming in here, man your build is making me tired. The time and effort will terminate into a masterpiece! Keep up the great work!

 

Joe from you that means a lot you are d meister I have had a lot of interfernces and other priorities that life dictates, luckily Multiple people have kept me on the path, cant tell you how many times I wanted. to quit, or perhaps take short cuts but you and others have inspired me worlds , so now getting this beast done jersey style lol is all that matters come hell, ot high water .



Thanks for the kudos

 

I am still working away, I picked up a set of doors, and in between filling little pinholes and straightening out little dings etc , I thought I would inspect the doors a little more closely. These doors are not new old stock lol... but they are original paint doors with no filler.

I removed the weather strip and found a couple of pinholes , really just pin holes, I decided to take out the corner and replace the metal rather than zap the pinhole, with the mig. I also got a third door with the deal, the doors corners were shot but in between thecorners was excellent sheetmetal, so I cut out a 6 inch chunk, and fabbed a new corner piece, and but welded it in. Came out excellent, pics to follow. I also took this chance to strip the entire lower door front and back, the backside was excellent for the most part, behind the pin hole spot I did find about a quarter size piece of thin metal, I decided to cut this out as well, and fabricated pieces from a piece of metal from the same third door, I built the piece using three different pieces that were butt welded together, it was the only way to make that complicated shape without making a buck to form the metal or a pristine donor piece. This also came out well, I then treated the whole backside with por 15, and I just put por 15 intercoat primer over it while it was still tacky.

I did not have my phone to take pics of the whole process I will for the second door as I see a small hole that needs fixing.

 

Eddie, more pics!!

Also, thought of your Jersey cat reference Friday night - I play in a Bruce Springsteen tribute band, and we had some hardcore fans from Jersey show up...

 

There is no stopping you Eddie, your a mad man! Lets see those pictures!!!

 

Ill get more pics lol.... thanks for the encouragement, I am getting a little worried though, I was considering asking the wife if I could use the downstairs bath tub so I could soak the door bottoms in evaporust lol.... there are a lot of nooks and crannies you cant get to but decided I like solid food .

 

Eddie:
You just need to send her away on a women's retreat or some girl-only weekend get-away, scrap booking party, etc., then you can soak those doors in the tub. She'll think your a king for the get-away and never be the wiser - lol. Just remember to clean up the bathroom - don't leave behind any incriminating evidence.

Rodney

 

Hmmmmm Diabolical, yet it may work...LOL

Actually I am pretty fond of standing when I tinkle so I will have to think hard and long of the risks involved LOL....

 

"Hi, I'm Eddie Hansen and welcome to this episode of This Old Olds!"

Digging your thread! You are "Boldly going" where this man has not gone before!

Keep it up, cant wait for the Concours show where it will debut! 2025,2026??

Looking great! Keep up the good work!

Craig

 

very Funny Craig, Very Funny...

Actually, I was using the build to teach my daughter, (that is right my daughter...) how to check to make sure the panels are straight...

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And also how to use a DA sander with dexterity LOL...


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AWESOME! She now knows more than me! I hope to get my girls in the garage some day. My youngest seems to be my best bet but she's only 4! She did put the lug nuts on a wheel! I'm on my way!

Keep up the good work!

Craig