[67'7F6'Bird]

Pictures of the rear roof brace clamped down and welded on.

[67'7F6'Bird]

All Roof braces completely welded on. I then dressed the plug welds, cleaned them with Picklex, then sprayed Rust Encapsulator over the cleaned surfaces. I did have burn through on the rear brace which I'll weld up tomorrow. Completing this means there are no more panels being cut off -YEAH!!!!!!

[67'7F6'Bird]

We did some Roof fitting today, it went very well. I cleaned out the drip rail completely and did some grinding and hammering on the front area of the roof where it meets the pillar post. For final fitting we will use the ratcheting straps to pull the roof as low as we can so it sits flush in the drip rail area.

[67'7F6'Bird]

More Roof Pictures.

[67'7F6'Bird]

We began our final assembly one last time to make sure we didn't miss anything and to make sure all our plug weld holes were aligned properly to all inner structures. We left all panels on the car and began our welding on the drivers side quarter panel. We only used the Fuser Adhesive in the drip rail area. We applied the weld through primer on the inside of the panels.

We welded in the following order:

1) Quarter Panel to Rocker Panel
2) Door Lock Striker area to inner bracing
3) Quarter panel to inner bracing (outermost portion)
4) Door Jam Lip Horizontal from right to left
5) Door Jam Lip vertically from the bottom up


We will next do the same on the other quarter panel before we move on. All panels are in place and clamped together. We spent about 6 hours Saturday hole punching panels and spraying them with weld through primer, and final reassembly.

[67'7F6'Bird]

We dressed the welds - one of those days!!!!!

Wiped everything clean with Picklex and then sprayed on some Rust Encapsulator.

We placed special attention to where the quarter panel sits on the rocker, the gap is very tight and we will apply seam sealer when all the welding is completed.

[67'7F6'Bird]

Here is a close up of the drivers side Wheel Well area. The Quarter Panel is not yet fully welded. We then moved to the passenger side Quarter Panel and followed the same welding order as the drivers side.

Next step is to weld and glue in the rear valance panel.

[YVEYANT]

You are doing an amazing job. Before you know it, you will be ready for battle!

[67'7F6'Bird]

Thanks Yveyant, I can't wait to start her up again, much more planned for the drivetrain too.
Your paint looks great too!!!

We had time to Glue/Weld in the rear Valance Panel.

We used glue only on the seam where it meets the rear quarter panel.

We used the SEM Copper-Weld Primer on the panels where they meet one another for the plug welds, again this stuff works great!!!!

We still have to get used to the glue, always missing the right clamp when you need it.

The Plug welds came out great - only needing a little sanding with the right angle sander, using 2" diameter 80 grit paper.

It looks like my brother got some action shots.

[67'7F6'Bird]

We placed some 2x6 's in the trunk to sit and kneel one, anything to make it more comfortable when your welding.

I did apply Picklex and Rust Encapsulator to all the welds.

We hope to get the tail panel welded in Sunday.

I'll get some close-ups of all the gaps/seams tomorrow and post them too.

Thanks for looking!!!!

[67'7F6'Bird]

Here are some photos of where the tail panel meets the quarter panel. We started welding from the inside right above the hump where the bumber covers and worked our way up one plug weld a time. After both sides were completed in this area we put the two plug welds in the recessed area in the tail panel. All welds underneatht the car will be completed at the same time, wheel wells, trunk drop-offs to quarter, tail pan to inner pan, although we did have them all clamped together.

I did notice that on each quarter panel their stamped upper rear curves are unique and I will have to lead-free the passenger side to match the more pronounced curve of the drivers side. I will also lead-free the bump out on the tail panel where it meets the quarter, as the stamping drops off instead of going straight across.

[67'7F6'Bird]

Here is where we started on the inner area of the tail panel. We then moved on to the trunk pan to tail panel with using the large clamp to make the welds flush.

I love that last photo - almost done!!!!!

[67'7F6'Bird]

Tonight we were able to complete the lower area of the quarter panel where it meets the trunk drop-offs. We did need to slice the tail panel (about 3 inches long cut off wheel thickness) where it meets the quarter in the very bottom. I will post pictures of that tomorrow. If your wondering we have plent of clamps!!!!HAHAHA

[RLEbird]

The louvers on the replacement quarters are slightly shorter than what they were from the factory. I think Ames still sells shorter chrome louvers that will work for aftermarket quarters.

[67'7F6'Bird]

Hello RLEbird: I installed my GM louvers and they fit perfect.

Here are the final welded passenger side trunk drop-off pictures. To be painted soon.

The Tail Panel shows the slice we needed to put in to it for a better fit.

[67'7F6'Bird]

Here is the drivers side trunk gutter being reshaped. We penciled a line on the first picture so we knew were to cut using the saber saw/ high speed cut-off.

We used a hammer and punch and attached a large clamp at the tail panel edge and used a large screw driver to manipulate the very end of the radius flush to the tail panel and then spott weld it there. Thats when teh hammer and chisel came into play.

Used B 6 on the Mig and started from the top and pulled the weld toward me.

[67'7F6'Bird]

We then sanded it with 60 grit paper, wiped it clean with Picklex then sprayed some rust encapsulator and moved to the passenger side. Gutters to be welded next.

[67'7F6'Bird]

Here is the Passenger Side Quarter panel gutter being fixed.

[67'7F6'Bird]

We got the trunk gutters completely installed, overall they were a good fit.

The Extreme DynaMat arrived this past week and we applied it to the underside of the roof. The roof in this photo is just sitting in place. When we clamped it down it is very tight to the roof bracing.

Steve

[RAIV-Z]

I know you’ve really busy with the holidays and all, but when do you plan on welding to roof on?