67Camaro ... body restoration

Show off your work! Anything from final results to full start-to-finish project journals.



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PostPosted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 9:51 am
Scott ... the seam between the *tulip panel* and the quarter is welded solid, I don't know if that's a huge problem for a driver car or not.

The quarter panels on both sides have been replaced. They were done in such a way that the outer *frame* of the original panel was left in place and the face surface of the panel was replaced. That's the reason for the abundant filler you see on the quarter, its covering that seam all around.

This particular car has been through a lot in its life. It came out of Michigan and had a lot of rust damage in the past which is apparently why the panels were replaced It doesn't even have a GM VIN anymore, it has a Nevada DMV issued VIN. It's had drive trains swapped more than once, it's been turned into a semi SS350 clone.

I bought the car from the Widow of its previous owner, so there wasn't a lot of opportunity to ask very many questions and get clear well defined answers.

I've had the car for about 12 years, it's set up with a nice engine/4 speed now and four wheel power disc brakes. I've done quite a bit to it mechanically ... body is the only thing that hasn't been made good.

My goal is to turn it into a respectable daily driver type car and to learn about body repair as I go along. It certainly won't be a museum piece when I'm finished.

That's the history of the car and the end goal for it. Hopefully you will stick around and give me guidance.



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PostPosted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:42 am
From what the skin installation photo shows, it does not look that great. If it was buttwelded properly, no ridges would be evident where I see a line of filler. Can't tell but maybe they lapped or flanged it which is not good. They may have warped the panel excessively. If skins are done, buttwelding closer to the upper line, which is a high crown, is best. Welding closer to a high crown reduces warpage, resulting in only a skimcoat to finish. However, hanging a full quarter is better and faster than hanging a skin. You could replace those qrts faster than buttering up the previous work. There are vendors who offer good deals on AMD qrts. Their quarters have a few minor issues as shown in that thread I mentioned; but are better than the competition. If you want to advance your metalworking skills, go to the All Metal Shaping site.



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PostPosted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 4:23 pm
Scott, here is a sequence that might have you really scratching your head by the end.

I had a crack in the roof just atop the D/S windshield pillar. As I began work on the tail panel I decided I'd grind down in that crack and see what I found. What I found was a nasty gob of bondo on a wad of fiberglass mesh.

I cleared it all out to this:

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Realizing there is a lot of visible rust in the interior and not knowing how far it goes, I left it *as is* pretty much and cut out the ragged hole for a patch:
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I fabricated a patch piece:
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And welded it in:
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What I am seeing is that this car really needs to be taken down to a skeleton and *remanufactured* from near scratch. I'm not in a position to do that right now and surely don't have the skill set necessary. I do however have four projects to work on and improve my skill set. Heck right now I don't even know how to paint.

In the end this Camaro may well be the prize of the bunch, but that will require another restoration on it down the road when I have improved skills and knowledge and a bit less on my plate.

Right now I consider this Camaro ... my 73 Mach1 ... the 54 F100 and my 76 F100 half ton short bed 4X4 to be where I will get my education and degree in autobody.

Once I feel competent I will very likely come back through this Camaro with a vengeance and with greatly improved skill and ability.

I want to do everything I am doing as well as I am able and to learn as much as I can. My goal at this time on the Camaro is to get it back together so it can return to the street. I want it to look as good as possible considering it's history and limitations ... and most importantly for now I need many sessions in learning all aspects of this work.

I realize it makes sense to take it all apart and do it *right*, but I also realize a man's got to know his limitations. At this time I don't have the skill to take this car apart any further and have confidence that it would go back together *right*. I need to spend some time in the trenches on this stuff.

I am coming up with many of those *notes to self* regarding what this car will eventually need when I do make that second run at it.

I'll greatly appreciate your guidance, if you'll stick with me on this.



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PostPosted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:10 am
More holes than a screen, just as I suspected. The time and money you'll throw at this Camaro doing it quickly and incorrectly could be spent on the other jobs. Got time to do it twice but no time to do it right once. I've done three 53-56 F100s, two were Good Humor trucks. You'll be learning fab work on those if the cowls and cab corners are toast. Repro patches need much to be desired and some areas require complete fabbing as they are not reproduced. When rebuilding their door hinges, they should be bronze bushed and not just the pins used provided by vendors. If you can't do it in house send them to Wille's Hinge Repair.



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PostPosted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 11:52 am
Here is the latest on the tail panel.

I did another test fit last night.

The lower valance area fits in there is a disparity in the body line up where the wave is which will be behind the bumper. The body line just under the flat upper portion where it rolls under the bumper matches up quite good.
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It seems the seam between the flat tail panel and the quarter will cinch up quite well. This PIC gives the impression that the tail panel is *popped out* from the quarter, but it isn't.
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And on the top the channel for the deck lid gasket lines up quite well. And everything lays quite flat.
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I fitted the tail light as it sits here and it fits flush all across, so at least for now things are headed the right direction on that front as well.

I want to set the spoiler on here and verify that the gaps on both quarters match. Before I started there was a big problem on the side we are looking at here. The top of the quarter between the deck lid and the side was sloped (high at the deck lid and low at the corner) making for a real ugly wedge of a gap between the spoiler and the top of the quarter. I did some slicing and dicing five years ago to try and rectify that problem. I need to see what we have as of now.



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PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 4:31 pm
I'm shifting gears here a bit ... Off the tail panel installation.

Next question here. These are the drip rails on the Camaro.

When I stripped the car there was a thick rubbery material layered into this gutter.

I dug it all out and stripped the gutter to metal.

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I then sand blasted it completely clean and brushed in a liberal coating of epoxy.
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How should I treat these gutters?

Knowing I removed that thick rubbery layer from them, should I be prepping them with something similar now that they have been cleaned and primed?



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PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 5:19 pm
Seam sealer gets applied in the gutter before paint, not prior to bodywork or multiple packings of primer. The epoxy you used on the bare metal is correct.



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PostPosted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 2:22 pm
Well Folks, I'm back. It's been three and a half years.

The old Camaro has been patiently waiting for me in the garage here and I am finally unencumbered by other larger and more urgent projects (home remodel).

It looks like all the previous pictures and posts are still here, so I guess I just take it from where I left off.

Time to get that tail panel welded in place. :)



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PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 1:39 pm
I dont feel so bad about not finishing my projects now lol :knockout:
Dennis B.
A&P Mechanic, FCC General radio Telephone Operator
Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.



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PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 2:24 pm
Doright wrote:I dont feel so bad about not finishing my projects now lol :knockout:


Sadly, this project has been on the back burner now for close to 7 years. I only got back to it for a very short time and even then didn't accomplish a lot three years ago.

I'm looking at this thing and realizing; if I want to spruce up the trunk compartment ... now is the time to do it.

With the tail panel out I have the luxury of access to work through.

The very bottom of the compartment had some surface rust damage I worked on in the past. Then the side shelf areas have some sort of tar-like substance on them.

I don't like any of it, so I'm stripping it all down to metal then I'll figure out what to finish in there with before I try to weld in this tail panel.

It's a crappy, messy project, but I know I'll be glad I took the time to do it once it's finished.


Here's a PIC. Upper shelf (with the red primer patches) was covered in an undercoat / tar type substance. The lower was cleaned and treated with RUSTMORT several years ago and sprayed with etching primer.

Like I said, I don't really like any of it, time to fix things up so I do like it. ;)

Image
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