Ok, I've been cutting away on the driver side trunk on my 69 convertible. I need some suggestions about how to proceed. I don't have pics yet but I hope my verbal description will suffice. If not I'll grab some photos later. I've got a little bit of rot everywhere. The outer 1/3 of the trunk needs to be replaced, as does the brace. No problem there. The dropoff seems to be fine - still has the factory or dealer undercoating on the outside. The inner wheelhouse is rotten ALLLLL along the bottom where it attaches to the rest of the car, from front to back, and the outer wheelhouse is rotten along the lip. The upper part of the inner is in fine shape. I'll also need at least a 3/4 quarter panel. I will probably need to replace some metal behind where the inner is rotten as well - this is not reproduced so I'll have to make it.

Here is what I'm thinking. Use a repro inner wheelhouse to repair the bottom of the existing inner wheelhouse first, rather than replacing it entirely, which I think I can do without removing the quarter and outer. This will eliminate having to entirely remove the inner, which would of course require removing the quarter and outer. Also, I beleive the inners are different for a convertible and are not available? Also at that time I will repair the metal behind where the inner attaches at the bottom, because that part is not covered by the replacement 1/3 trunk floor.

Then, once the attachment for the outer edge of the trunk floor is solid, replace the trunk floor and brace. THEN, cut off the quarter skin and replace either the entire outer wheelhouse or just the lip, and then the quarter.

Sound like a game plan or would it be easier to just remove the quarter, inner and outer wheelhouses, dropoffs, and just replace the whole sheebang at once? I'm thinking that might be an alignment nightmare doing it that way, not to mention the car collapsing around me.

Thanks guys

Andy

I was in the same exact situation but with a 65' post. I ended up replacing everything your talking about. I had a hard time making that decision since the rot was only at the bottom. It was a pain but I am glad I went that route! Here is a link to my thread.http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157963

Sounds like a good plan.

I replaced my trunk and the lower 3" of the inner without having to remove the qtr. or the dropoff as they did not need replaced. But I have to say. If I needed to do a partial qtr. I would go ahead and remove a portion as this would allow better access for cutting, welding, grinding and finish work.

I would definitely not cut everything out at once. Do the trunk. Get it close to final. Then go back and do the outer and the qtr. And...Only do one side of the car at a time. That way you have the other side to reference and...the whole task doesn't become so overwheming.

This is a little overkill, but i always overdo stuff, but getting good measurements before you take it all apart works for me.

Replacing body brace?? (http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156506&highlight=plumb+bob)

Anyway for what its worth.

Rob

I was just thinking, if it doesn't turn out okay, you could cut the back end off, and put it in your living room, like a sofa.:thumbsup:

After that floor pan job, that came out so nice, we want pictures of what you're doing.

After that floor pan job, that came out so nice, we want pictures of what you're doing.

It looks a little butchery at the moment. Maybe I'll pretty it up a bit first, add a centerpiece or some drapes.

Hey Andy when you come over to get that yard cowl section I have wating for you , you could weld it to the back trunk section then you will have a cool beer drinking sofa....:beers:

Hey Andy when you come over to get that yard cowl section I have wating for you , you could weld it to the back trunk section then you will have a cool beer drinking sofa....:beers:

why do the goofballs only come around when I post a thread??? :clonk: :D

Andy - I personally think you will have more hassle to do it that way than if you just cut out the 1/4. If you need to replace it all anyway, why not just do it all? You will have alot more room to work on the part at hand, you can make sure all of the parts go together and fit like they need to (They don't fit like factory most of the time, and sometimes you might need to tweak your INNER even to get the quarter to fit right!), and on top of all that, there is all those nooks and crannys in between that you just can't fix without removing. IMO if you are gonna spend the money on new parts, why use part of it when for the same effort (almost) you can have a product that will probably hold up betterin the end (you can't clean rust from seams that are still spotwelded together). By the time you cut, measure, fit, cut some more, prep, and weld in the bottom 1/4 of that inner, you could've had that old one out and the new one welded in, which clean seams in between them. If I were you, I would do it one side at a time, make sure doors are on and closed to further brace the body, then do what you need to do (rough cut the majority of the quarter, remove wheelhouses, trunk repair), and then fit the new quarter, trim fit some more etc and be done with it. Oh, and I will take a guess and say that your trunk dropoffs more than likely will not be worth using, from the sounds of the things around it, it is also more than likely rusty, either in/around the flanges or the inside surface of it.

Sometimes it's better to cut and patch, but if it's not much more work, I always prefer to just replace. It almost always results in a nicer job, better corrosion protection, and the chance to eliminate more rust and rust hiding spots. JMO though, take it for what it's worth. Let's see some pics when you get around to it!

The inner wheelhouse is rotten ALLLLL along the bottom where it attaches to the rest of the car, from front to back, and the outer wheelhouse is rotten along the lip.

How is the pan under the rear seat and inbetween the seat back framework? If they're ok, I might approach the inners with the 1/4 off then,but if those areas need work too like mine did,I replaced the inners with the trunk out

Also, I beleive the inners are different for a convertible and are not available?

same with the outers,you must cut down the h/t wheelhouses



Sound like a game plan or would it be easier to just remove the quarter, inner and outer wheelhouses, dropoffs, and just replace the whole sheebang at once? I'm thinking that might be an alignment nightmare doing it that way, not to mention the car collapsing around me.



Thats what my concern was,mine was such a rustbucket, I was afraid something would get "tweaked" if I cut out too much at a time. Are you still doing this with the body on the frame?

my sig has a bunch of pics of how I did the trunk/inners

Good one Brad.

Just a favor if you could Andy, if it really looks bad and butchered up, shoot us some pictures, then we can be happy we aren't in your shoes.

:)

Hey Andy, I just finished up the passenger side of my 68 Vert and I am not looking forward to the drivers side.
This is what I found, first off all my floorboards were shot from toe board to tailpanel. My Inner W/H were bad only around the flat panel over the rear so I fabed up some sheet metal and replaced them from the horizontal bead down kinda like GravyD did. Next I replaced the Rear Seat pan and both Trunk drop-offs. This put some strength back in the body and Yes it did need that.From there I moved to the right Qt. panel. I removed it from the Tail Panel to the edge at the Door Gap and scored the top 3" down from the top body line and cut it off for a lap seam, the 3" is a great spot to cut. My Outter W/H needed replacing and thats where the work starts. The Hard Top W/H do Not fit at All !!! you will need to make a template from the shape of your Inner W/H and tranfer that shape to your new Outter W/H.Slice the Flange but don't cut it off you can later bend it in to match the correct shape and weld it back on at the top side of the W/H. The W/H must go back on in the correct spot or the Qt Panel Will Not Fit. I worked on it for 3 days straight to get them fitted up right and 3 more to put them on. The W/H was the problem.To answer your concern about cutting everything off, I don't think you should take off the Inner,Outter and Quarter at the same time. The top of the Qt at the Pinch weld was pretty weak with just the Outter & Qt off my car and the Door Post was a bit shaky as well.
My advise is to save your Inners that way you know where you have to mate everything up to. The W/H's are compound curves, a hammer alonewon't do.

Tony