Finally got my passenger 1/4 delivered, got one little problem. On the pass side the gap is a little larger then the driver, but the new tail panel won't let me squeeze the gap up. I got some pic's I'll post. Do I need to radius the tail panel to shrink it up a bit? I'm going back out to install the bumper, and valance. Just wondering if you know a trick for what I'm trying to do here. Thank's for the help, Dave.

i also had more trouble with pass side . i had to do alot of fitting with the tailpanel and even more with thre trunk panel. one question? why the twisted picture? i had to lay my monitor on its side to view. goodluck

one question? why the twisted picture? i had to lay my monitor on its side to view. goodluck

The only way I could get it all in the pic. I'm standing with my back to the wall.

Yeah, the passenger 1/4 does'nt seem to line up as well as the driver did. I'm noticing that the 1/4 to filler panel seem has some issue's. Maybe I should post a pic of that.

Am willing to bet if you pushed the tailpanel piece back on that corner it will tighten up that gap.

Clamp that panel in just the center. Push out on the corners of the tailpanel. It will pull back and roll that quarter in.

If you install the rear bumper, look and see how the 1/4 fits the bumper right above the taillamps. Get that gap flush and straight. Lifting up on 1/4 will also tighten up that gap. But it can throw off that bumper 1/4 gap.

Anyway, with the bumper on you can fine tune that tailpanel fitment making that 1/4 fit anywhere you want.

You can push the corner in or out, you can twist the tailpanel up by the rain gutter to give you your height adjustment.

getting that tailpanel in the right spot and checking the fit with the bumper is THE key to making those lines on the 70-72 chevelles straight and flush

Thank's for the insight, I'll head back out and try. Just figured out, that by sinking the tail panel/1/4 at the trunk gutter, it took the swale out of the gaps. Right now i'm adjusting the trunk lid, got the bumper on, and it's real close now.:hurray: Will tweak some more, get some new pic's posted. Thank's again. Dave

I got everything pretty close last night, then I tried loosening the tail panel, and adjusting thing's a bit, and kind of lost it.:angry: I'm going to back track, remove the 1/4's and get the wheel well's welded into place now that I got their position accurate. Also will prep the 1/4's, get the weld surface's cleaned off, and the hole's punched in all the right place's. That way this might be the last time I need to remove the panel's.:D I can only pray for this to be true. Eric, please check in from time to time, once I get the wells welded in place and the panel's fit up correctly, I'll post some pic's. Hopefully by sat. evening or so. Thank's, Dave.

scuff up the inside of those quarters with a red scotchbrite before you put them back on, it's a lot easier to scuff the interior now then when they are installed-I'm assuming you'll be priming and painting the interior.

Well, I got the wheelhouse's installed. Got all of it ground, cleaned then shot 2 coat's of DP, letting that dry till later tonite or so. Will start scuffing the 1/4's after the epoxy is dry. (Thank's for the tip, Bob)

Got a couple of question's:

1. Got 2 tube's of Lord Fusor #108b/109b, with the applicator. It say's it has a work time of 40-50 minute's, full cure in 1-1/2 to 2 hrs. This is what the guy at the body supply store recommended. Is this the glue, that you all would recommend?

2: I was only going to use it on the wheel lip, and behind the wheel along the bottom. The door, rocker panel, sail area and along the tail panel, I was going to plug weld? What about along the rear window? Would seem to be a good idea to glue this area to get the best seal, for water protection?

3: When gluing the panel in, what's the best way to get the glue in the wheel opening? Kind of think I'm going to have to have it in there from the get go, the other area's I'll be able to seperate, and shoot it in as I set them.

O.K., enough for now. I'm beat, and my little brain is spinning. I can't wait till I get this done, then I can stop worrying about screwing it up! Thank's to all for the help. Dave.

Well, I got the 1/4's back on the car tonite.:hurray: Was still having a problem getting the trunk lid to fit in there square, till I discovered the hidden problem. Was waiting to repair the package tray untill I got the new 1/4's in place, but with the package tray in it's current condition, it was allowing the decklid to shift. Got that pulled back in to place, and found the proper position for the hinge brace, and the rest fell into place. The whole driver's side tray,inner/outer wheelhouse, rear floor,and 1/4 were basically non-existent when I started. Need to do a little more tweaking, and try to get some better pic's when it's light outside. Will hopefully get them posted tommorrow afternoon. Two step's forward, and one step back, as I think once I do a little more tweaking, I'll need to deal with the package tray. Should have started with a better car, but this one was good to learn on.

Well, I got the wheelhouse's installed. Got all of it ground, cleaned then shot 2 coat's of DP, letting that dry till later tonite or so. Will start scuffing the 1/4's after the epoxy is dry. (Thank's for the tip, Bob)

Got a couple of question's:

1. Got 2 tube's of Lord Fusor #108b/109b, with the applicator. It say's it has a work time of 40-50 minute's, full cure in 1-1/2 to 2 hrs. This is what the guy at the body supply store recommended. Is this the glue, that you all would recommend?

2: I was only going to use it on the wheel lip, and behind the wheel along the bottom. The door, rocker panel, sail area and along the tail panel, I was going to plug weld? What about along the rear window? Would seem to be a good idea to glue this area to get the best seal, for water protection?

3: When gluing the panel in, what's the best way to get the glue in the wheel opening? Kind of think I'm going to have to have it in there from the get go, the other area's I'll be able to seperate, and shoot it in as I set them.

O.K., enough for now. I'm beat, and my little brain is spinning. I can't wait till I get this done, then I can stop worrying about screwing it up! Thank's to all for the help. Dave.

1. I don't have a fusor catalog but if that adhesive is for "Body panels" or something like that, it should be the one. Read the label and see if it sounds like it is correct, bonding steel, door skins, quarters, that sort of stuff should be on the label.

2. Yeah, wheel well is fine, all other places should be welded. "Plug weld", sure, but some places like the outer seam on the quarter needs to be fully welded. The "pinch weld" areas where the factory spot welded, those get "plug welded". Around the rear window, or "upper panel" that is below the window, weld it then seam seal,

3. You put this adhesive in the wheel well arch BEFORE you put the quarter on! READ the Fusor tech sheet to see if they want bare metal or what ever. But most want bare metal, you grind the area where the glue will be (right where the factory spot welds were) with a nice sharp 24 or 36 grit disc. Then you grind the mating surface on the quarter panel the same way. You put a ribbon of adhesive on both ground surfaces and spread it out with an acid brush to be sure to cover EVERY SINGLE speck of bare metal that has been ground. You THEN apply another bead over the middle of the area and install the quarter. That area WILL be sealed for good if you have massaged the two parts to mate reasonably well.

At this point, you need to align the panel and put a few screws or clamps in strategic places to be sure you have the gaps where you want. Let it cure there before you start welding, it is flamable (don't ask me how I know!).

Brian

I don't know if these picture's are any better, but we'll see. Nope They don't show the gap's too well. I'll try to get some better shot's.

Brian, thank's for the tip's. The Fusor require's the panel's to be ground to metal for bonding. That's a good idea about spreading a coat on, then a bead, the tech sheet does'nt mention that. So, what your saying is that the 1/4 to rocker seem, forward of the rear tire should be welded solid, from the outside? Was wondering if it was plug welded from inside or not.

"Around the rear window, or "upper panel" that is below the window, weld it then seam seal"

Do you mean plug weld, or solid weld? (I'm assuming you meant plug weld) Also along the bottom of the 1/4, behind the rear tire, adhesive or should I weld this? What I'm getting at is do you mean the only place I should use the adhesive is in the wheel arch?

Thank's for your time, just trying make sure I understand what your saying. Thank's, Dave.

Well, it's been a couple of day's since I could get back to the car. Still having a problem with the gap's on the rear. I can get the pass. side to line up pretty good, but the driver is now out. The pic's should be good enough to see what's going on, it almost seem's as though I need to shrink the width of the trunk panel. Got both 1/4's screwed tight to the rear edge of the drop-off, got the trunk latch set so that it work's real nice. Up at the top of the trunk, the gap is even and the right width, along the pass. 1/4, I've got a nice gap, at the top of the driver 1/4, it's O.K. But no matter what I try with the tail panel I can't get the lower part to close-up. Have you ever had to beat the rear edge of the drop-off over to close-up the trunk lid gap? Would appreciate your idea's. Thank's, Dave.

Dave, it is very, VERY hard to see anything in those pictures and even if they were the perfect, pro photographer, perfect lighting, they still would do very little. If I were there, I would look at it a few minutes, push here, pull there, hog out a hole here, spoon down the edge there, and make it fit. I am sorry but I think at this point you are on your own.

This is what I have to offer, first, face the fact that you will likely have to rob Peter to pay Paul, you may no have perfect gaps but they will be "ok".

Using new, NOS, cherry originals, what ever, you would need to " Swedish massage" them a little. With Repro parts, it is more like "deep tissue massaging" where the gal gets up on your back and uses her knees (had one of these a while ago, not pleasent).

I just hung a quarter and door on a 2002 Honda Odyessy yesterday. Some times when you put a quarter on a late model car, you just set the thing up where the old one came off and weld it, it is darn near that easy. Todays parts are more precise, the car has no structure damage, no rust, it is a piece of cake. Just drill out the spot welds (effectively "Unbolting" it) and spot weld in the new piece. This Honda was not one of those cars. The wheel house was damaged bad (this was a rare one where I couldn't replace it). The front "dog leg" was too far back and the door gap was huge, about a half inch. I fought, and fought, moved the door all over, moved front door to fit the new place of the rear one, used a hammer and spoon, block of wood and a four lb sledge hammer, clamped, moved it, re-clamped, screwed it in place, pushed and pulled and an hour or so later it fit like a champ. The doors work smoothy and I was happy to start welding the panel on.

Sometimes it just takes a lot more than you would think. Sometimes it takes gentle "massaging" with a spoon to bring a portion of the door in a little and pull out a portion that is in too far.

This massaging was done ALL OVER BOTH DOORS AND THE QUARTER to get that ONE gap from the sliding door to the quarter right. Every move I made was for a tiny change, maybe only a 32nd of an inch or less! But they all added up to a super nice fit without a spec of plastic filler on anything.

You may not be so lucky, you may have to fix some damage you do while you are pushing and pulling, it is very likely you will. Don't sweat it, just look at the big picture. Don't focus at the gap alone. Like I said about the photos, it is like a picture of a bullet entry wound and asking "how do we fix the damage caused by the bullet?" The entry wound is not where the damage is, the liver torn in half the bullet lodged in the spleen is where you need to be working to save the patients life.

Staring at that gap isn't going to help one bit. It isn't going to tell me where to go, I would need to look at EVERY SINGLE POINT where those panels are mounted to see where I could rob a 1/16 or 1/32" here or there and "move" it over to that gap.

Brian

Brian, thank's for the reply. I know, I'm just a bit skittish on starting to bang thing's around too much.:eek: But now I feel confidant, that I have tried all my option's and now it is time to start messaging thing's a little.:D I'm going too start by bringing the driver's drop-off over a little, and see if that does'nt go the direction that I need. I think that of anything, that's what need's to move.

I know, I am on my own. I knew that when I decided to start this project, that I'd have to do all of the work myself, if I had a chance of getting the car I wanted at the price that I could afford. Doing it a piece at a time, myself, with the help of people like You, and all the other's on Team Chevelle, is the only way I wanted to go. Instead of patching panel's, I've chosen to replace the with full panel's, so that I have a better base to start with. I plan on keeping this car for a long while, and just wanted to do it right, I have to say that so far it has/is going really well. I just sometime's get stuck in that perfection mode, I've searched the showroom's, and have amassed alot of rear shot's to gauge what other chevelle gap's look like, and know that one way or the other, I'll get there.

Again, Thank You for all of your help, on this topic, and the other's you've helped with. Dave.


Now where's my mini-sledge?:thumbsup:

Well, by moving the rear edge of the drop-off over with a sledge, and a block of wood,;) thing's started to line up quite well. Decided that it is so close, That I removed the 1/4's, and started the final install. Got the passenger side glued up last night, will get everything screwed back in place and get the driver side done. Then do the final adjust, and weld the rear together.:hurray: Man am I glad this is almost done, but at least I'm kinda looking forward to sanding now!:clonk: