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Re: 1968 Plymouth GTX

PostPosted: Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:53 am
by '68 Coronet R/T
Finished grinding down the drip rail and front spot welds on the roof skin:

Drip Rail Welds Ground.JPG


Decided to tackle the rear deck panel and lower window corners. After drilling out the spot welds along the trunk edge, I tried to loosen the panel and it wouldn't budge. That's when I discovered this:

Brazing holding panel in place.JPG


I knew there was some brazing done in the left side upper quarter panel at the window but had no idea just how much brazing had been done elsewhere.

Brazing Everywhere.JPG


Tried heating that spot with Mapp gas and scraping it with a screwdriver but that didn't work. I will need to pull out the Acetylene torch and melt all this stuff out of there. :flatten:

Re: 1968 Plymouth GTX

PostPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2022 6:53 pm
by '68 Coronet R/T
After a lot of hassle I got the old deck filler pan out:
Old Panel Removed.JPG


Supports need some media blasting and epoxy:
Left side support brackets.JPG


Test fitting new panel:
Test Fit new Panel.JPG


Left side fits fairly well:
Test Fit Left Side.JPG


Right side not so great:
Test Fit Right Side.JPG


Plan is to install the lower window corners first, test fit the glass before welding, then work to get everything tweaked.

Re: 1968 Plymouth GTX

PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 6:40 am
by Doright
I was not surprised to see some Brazing Chrysler used Silicon bronze on the assembly line as do others, BUT Some one did some repairs to that car too at some point.

Do not try to weld in any area if there are any traces of that bronze on the metal it wont weld has to be completely removed for a clean weld. I like Silicon Bronze great stuff But it is a Pain to remove it.

No fun where the panel doesn't fit up well, Wonder if poor fit up is caused from prior accident damage or after market panel? I was impressed with Roof fit up.

Re: 1968 Plymouth GTX

PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 8:34 am
by '68 Coronet R/T
I have checked a number of sources and it seems that the quality control standards being much lower back then are the cause of it. Slight tweaking of the new panel at the right and left seams as needed is a common practice.

In view of that my panel fits pretty decent. The upper right seam being the area that will need some customizing.

Thanks for the info on removing all the brazing for good welds.

Re: 1968 Plymouth GTX

PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 2:19 pm
by Doright
I ran into the Brazing stuff on the Bird and the Studebaker had a Heck of a time trying to weld on any of the spots that had previously been brazed no fun.

Re: 1968 Plymouth GTX

PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 9:33 pm
by '68 Coronet R/T
After careful inspection and taking lots of measurements, I found a small locating tab that was 1/8" too long. Trimmed it and then test fit the panel again.

Test Fit Left Side 1.JPG


Test Fit Right Side 1.JPG


If you look at the right lower window corner, you will see the patch sitting in there and how much metal is cut away around it. That was the brazing that i had to remove. Now I have some serious patching to do.

Notice in this next picture how the upper edge of the patch is much more rounded than the original quarter panel. Also the patch sits about an 1/8" lower than the surrounding metal.

Lower Right Window Corner Test Fit.JPG


Did I mention how much fun this is turning into?

Re: 1968 Plymouth GTX

PostPosted: Sun Jun 19, 2022 9:27 pm
by '68 Coronet R/T
I was really struggling to figure out why these corner patches weren't lining up right with the quarter panel.

Notice the height difference in this picture even after I had added some 18 ga. metal to help lift the patch some:
Window Corner Height difference after adding 18 ga. under.JPG


It was really bothering me that these parts wouldn't line up. I have purchased plenty of AMD body parts and they all fit fine.

So I did a search online to find some pictures of others who had tackled this type of repair and viola the light came on.

I had ordered the "inside" corners, which I now believe support the "outside" corners which I did not order.

Sent an email to AMD to get some questions answered and hopefully will get a reply tomorrow, that is unless they celebrate Juneteenth. :rolleyes:

In the meantime, I will media blast the rust away and get things coated in epoxy.

Re: 1968 Plymouth GTX

PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 9:47 am
by '68 Coronet R/T
AMD got back to me this morning. My assumption was right, there are inner and outer patches that work together to provide complete replacement of the rusted out corners.

I will order the outer corners today.

By the way, they did say I could return the inner corners if I wanted to. However, since I had to remove so much brazing and rusted through metal, I need to install them anyway.

Re: 1968 Plymouth GTX

PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 10:14 pm
by Doright
More pics of that rt window area please.

You got your hands full with this one! but your got it going in the right direction!!!!

As far as Panel fitment goes all of these older muscle cars there was a LOT of on the fly panel adjustments made.
Those guys were all taught by each other on the line, they knew all the tricks!
All they did was get stuff close enough for the inspector walking by with the Go no go Gauges/templates and or visual inspection. It just had to be close enough no time for perfection.

Re: 1968 Plymouth GTX

PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2022 6:22 pm
by '68 Coronet R/T
Prepped and sprayed epoxy primer on the roof skin, drip rails and welds.

Roof in Epoxy.jpg


Also removed the rust, prepped and sprayed epoxy on the underside of package tray and the deck supports.

Deck Supports in Epoxy.JPG


Tried the DeVilbiss Dekups for the first time today. They worked great when spraying the underside of the package tray.

Is it me or do they cause a wetter spray? Seemed as though I should have upped the PSI when spraying but I didn't.