Skinning a 68-69 tempest/lemans/GTO convert
 

I bought my skins and outer wheelhouses for my 68 convertible project. I have read many posts that full quarter panels cut down to just below the top of the body line change the body lines on a convertible. But what about skins? I took mine out for inspection and noticed if I cut the old quarters an inch below the top that the skins looks like they will retain the correct concave shape from front to back. Am I missing something with this body line?

The only other option is to do a half panel on the lower, which means a seam on the inside and more time doing bodywork through the middle.

Let me know what others have done. I have replaced full quarters on many cars and halves on 72 chevelle I owned. Just never did it on a convert. Boy it would be nice if full panels were developed.

Thanks.

thats what i did on my 70 vert. came out nice.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../Scan10005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...gto/top003.jpg

Vol: The 68-69 vert quarters are different that the hardtop quarters, as you are aware. One person to ask would be PaulatFast, he has done many verts and has been really helpful on here to many. Might want to try a PM, or search his posts. BTW, is this the green one you had in your garage a couple of years ago? (can't remember if that one was a vert or not).

Yeah I have searched around for answers first. I will search pauls' posts too. I really like the idea of the high cut like the pictures above vs. the middle of the panel. Thanks for the replys.

What did you do about the convertible outer wheel house being different than the hardtop? do they make the convertible version now?

Here is a post with some info from PaulatFast.
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...rtible+quarter


Paul

The 68-9's are a totally different animal than the 70-72's. If you skin it one inch below the top of the panel there will be NO concave bodyline unless you are a very good metal-shaper. The quarters will bulge. use only the lower half. The outer wheelhouse will need to be sectioned as they are different as well. again, about half is what you will be using.

I am doing the underside of the car now on a rotisserie. I have to replace the outer wheel house. I have a hardtop outer but it does not come close to fitting like the original covert. The convert has two flat areas on the top. One straight up about 8 inches long, and another ahead of that toward the front of the car but at about a 30 degree angle down. See first image. It is marked as two shades of yellow. Red line represents the seam which is not straight like a hardtop.

I see getting creative on the cut to making this work. See second image with green shaded area.

Before I start on this I am looking for input.

I had to go a few inches higher because of a major dent behind the door. I like to leave the rear area if the metal is good, that way you don't have to reposition the side light.

I sectioned out the bad area on the outer wheel housing.

I had to buy the hard top inner 1/4s and just cut off what I needed for my car. I used the 1/4 patches for mine as well.....not the skins. I kept as much of the original sheet metal as possible

I'm at that point on my driver side quarter. There's no way to save the original sheet metal due to the car getting hit in that location at some point in its life. After i ground out a gallon of bondo, I found that an entire section from another convertible had been scabbed in from the rear jamb to the middle of the wheel well. I'm talking inner sheet metal too.
Talking about a nightmare:(

Here is an update. Right quarter is nearly done. Of course once started, the bottom of the cowl needed attention, and a complete rocker replacement.

I 1/2 inch lapped welding across the panel seam . but welded down the door inch off the jamb and filled in the spot welds around the wheel house and rear section.

The seam went well. Moved around a lot. Ground down each time I tacked welded. hardly any warping, very minimum. Only thing I noticed along the seam is the panels dipped together when welded. They formed for lack of a better word a V. I had to port-a-power pressure along the seam as I welded to correct the shrinking together. It should require minimum fill once complete.

My question is there a better way to combat the shrinking? Sheet metal screws to hold in place? Butt weld the entire seam? I have the other side to do as well, so still searching for the best way.

Upon final welding I noticed a spot that I am not sure if it looks factory. The back of the outer wheel well where it meets the outer skin. I have a few pictures of how they meet. Is this what they look like from factory? Did they just get caulked from the outside or is there more to be done here?

I filled that area in with seam sealer. Not sure if that's how it was from the factory or not, but I wasn't worried about that.

I have a few photos taken when the body was on a rotisserie. I was replacing a few areas of the trunk floor that had some pinholes. Send me a PM with your e-mail and I can send you the full size pics....you can then zoom in and see more detail.

Hope this helps.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...26d37a5582.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7de985e9a9.jpg

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