[67'7F6'Bird]

Hello Esahlin,

You guessed it right with your last response. We started to cut out the small patches on the passenger quarter panel and low and behold just more rust. The car now is getting all rear panels replaced. It looks like the only panel which will stay is the lower inner panel which sits behind the tail panel.

The camaro forum has been very helpful. There seem to be hundreds of people online in the body forum all the time. Great resource of information.

I did go to Home Depot today and got the ratcheting straps. We'll get these gaps in line one way or another.

We have trial fitted the tail panel and it needs some tweaking.

Photos to follow.

[67'7F6'Bird]

The passenger side quarter will remain on until we are comfortable with the other panel alignment. We have installed small sheet metal screws to easily reference the known good attachment points on the drivers side quarter panel; this helps in keeping everything easy to install, re-install, re-install, re-install you get the idea.

[67'7F6'Bird]

Here we are inspecting and guarding the tail panel. It was ordered through Frank Pontiac Parts. The box was labeled "The Parts Place" - I was told by Frank that The Parts Place originally manufactured these and the tooling is now used by other venders.

[67'7F6'Bird]

As far as getting the Tail Panel in place it only needed some minor fitting around the new quarter panel. I can see the ratcheting straps definately being used to help get the fit almost perfect. The passenger side quarter panel was cut in the trunk weather-stripping area, by doing this we could line up the Tail Panel on the passenger side without any cutting or manipulation to the new metal.

[esahlin]

Wow....you guys are making quick progress.

Using the air chisel to remove the tail panel is a great idea....I wish I would have thought of that when I was doing it.

Yes, from my understanding there is just one manufacturer of the tail panel. All the vendors get it from the same supplier it seems. Its a pretty nice piece except for the weatherstrip channel needing a little work.

I am currently just finishing up welding in my tailpanel. I am welding all the seams between the qtrs and the tail panel because I decided I wanted to fill the seams with fiberglass filler when done. Just a personal preference.

From your pictures it looks like you have some good looking seams and the qtr is fitting the tail panel well. Nice work.

[67'7F6'Bird]

Hello Esahlin, Thanks for all your replies and compliments - I appreciate the time you put in to help us.

The tail panel was removed in about 15 minutes with the air chisel. Have patience with using it and adjust your speed as sometimes the Spot Welds pop easier than you'd think.

The Picklex 20 and the Twenty Gauge Welding Wire arrived today.

We sanded down the inner structure with a small handheld sander and with the 3M 4" grinding wheels - I love them; we applied the Picklex 20 to all the metal, and just for comparison we left some metal with the surface rust to compare - results coming soon.

Also posted is the measurement were getting from the lower quarter panel to the spring. Is this measurement correct?

My brother is modifying the aftermarket outer wheel well, the contour needs some work, as it sat in the quarter panel lip it was a little more than a 1/4 inch to short and the lip did not match - we are patching the original panel in 2 locations previously mentioned.

[esahlin]

I'm just finishing up what you guys are starting on so its been interesting to see you guys open your car up and tackle the same work....and I thought I would pass on a few tips I got from other guys who had been all thru it before me.

On the picklex 20.....Wire wheel or sand the rusted metal as best possible (like youve already done in some of your pics) then its best to apply the Picklex 20 with a small brush stiff bristle brush like a tooth brush. Pour some of the Picklex in a small cup and then U can use the brush. Let the Picklex that you applied to the rust set/dry for about 2 minutes......then lightly dab the excess Picklex that is left with a paper towel. Now, let the Remaining Picklex dry for about 15 minutes....you will see a film over the metal/rust form after the Picklex has dried. Then you can lightly scuff the Picklex film....just break the film that has formed over the metal dont try to bear into the metal with the sanding sponge or sand paper. Now you can paint over the Picklex prepped metal with a good epoxy primer. The Picklex is a rust converter/remover so work it into the pittted rusted metal well with the brush you apply it with. A little bit of the picklex goes a very long way so you dont have to use lots of it to coat the metal. Applying the Picklex to clean metal wont do anything it has to be applied to rust so it can convert it. If you get some on some clean metal just make sure you scuff it before epoxy priming.

On the aftermarket outer wheel houses....Yes my aftermarket outer wheel houses were about 1/4 inch too short also and did not fit into the quarters wheel well lip very well either. Thats why I originally said (in response to your first post) the aftermarket outer wheel houses werent the greatest.....since its a hot seller I dont know why the supplier/vendors dont do a restamp?

On your measurement, from the picture it looks like the lower quarter is too close to the spring....that lower last inch or so of the quarter should mate up to the bottom inch or so of the trunk drop down panel. once you get the outer wheel house on there (or once you patch your original)....I think that will probably prevent the lower part of the quarter from extending to far past the bottom edge of the trunk drop down panel. try another fit after you get the outer wheel house patched up. Then I think the lower qtr should mate to the drop down panel better.