My 78 LT restomod

[notstock78]

After I go the rocker all welded in it was time to put in the patch panel that I made for the quarter panel and the door jam. I cut out the old rusted metal carefully and fit the new steel. Then welded it all in. I am pretty happy with this too.

Here is the old rusted stuff I cut out of the car.

 

[notstock78]

Next I moved onto the drivers side front fender. I knew there was rust on the bottom of the wheel opening and a little bit where the fender meats the door/rocker. I took a strip wheel and did not like what I found at all. I also knew that there has been work done to the car bac in 1993. They put quarter panels on the car and they told my parents that they replaced the bottom of the fenders. Well....I found the work they did and was not exactly excited about it. By the wheel opening they cut out a square and did not put anything but filler back in.

On the back side, you can see where they just gobbed the filler on and squeezed it all the way between the support brace.

Finding that was a little disappointing but I continued on. I noticed that there was a fair amount of filler so I kept going stiping the bottom of the fender and found the filler was caked on pretty thick towards the center of the fender.

So....I kept going and found that the previous shop did put in a patch but did not replace the bottom of the fender like he said. Instead, he cut the brace out in the back of the fender and put a piece of steel behind the skin and what he left in for the brace and spot welded it. Then covered it in filler.

Now that I have that all uncovered, I am not longer just going to be putting in a couple of little patches. I am going to have to replace the bottom of the fender and fix the brace that this guy cut out. I ordered a fender patch from Ricks Camaro's. They said that they use 18 gauge to make their panels. I am going to try only use the patch below the body line and go from there. We will see how that turns out. If it does not work very well, I might have to look for some different/new fenders. I assume the passenger side will be the same thing as that is rusting in the same places.

 

[notstock78]

I started on the drivers side fender repair this weekend. I got most of it done but not all of it. I started by working on making a repair panel for the previous body work. I used a piece of angle iron that had laying around for years to make a homemade/redneck break to shape the flat part of the 18 gauge sheet metal. For the curved parts, I clamped a pipe to the bench and used that to press against.

Next I made a piece to go on the sides for the flange and welded it on. I left it long and cut off what I needed to after it was attached.

Then I cut off the bottom of the fender where I was going to replace. This revealed the brace under the fender that was cut out and never replaced.

I used some 16 gauge steel that I had to patch in the brace.

I still need to clean up and paint the brace and trim the top of the patch and weld it on but here is what it looks like with the patch just klikoed on.

 

[Oldskool62]

Loving this build. Thanks for the details.

 

[notstock78]

Thanks Oldskool.

I had some time to work on the car again and got some more done. I was able to get the fender all welded up and back on the car. I was not too happy with the gap where the door meets the rocker so I had to cut my new fender patch, bend it out and add some metal. But after that I think it turned out pretty good.

 

[notstock78]

Next step was to get this into epoxy primer. My plan is to drive it this summer in primer and then next winter get after making the body straight. My welding spots will need a little bit of filler but not much at all so I am pretty happy with that since I have never done this before. Anyway, I got the car and fender all masked off and sprayed the epoxy.

 

[notstock78]

I got new interior rear quarter panels to replace the old cracked up ones. I got those all panted up to carmine like the rest of the interior. It took quite a few coats to change the black panels to red.

 

[notstock78]

After all that was done, I flipped the car around and started to strip the paint on the passenger side. It looks very much the same as the drivers side. The lower quarter is in a little bit better shape than the drivers side was and I might be able to save more of the metal in the fender but we will see once I start digging.

There was a fair amount of filler in this fender. This one was done the same way as the drivers side. They just put a patch in behind the fender sheet metal and filled it in with body filler. I will have to fix this one probably the same way as I did the drivers side.

The door jam corner had filler squished into a hole. There must have been a hole there and instead of filling it in with steel, they just filled it with filler. I will make this patch then cut it out and clean out all the filler before I weld the new patch in.

This part of the quarter seems to have less rust than the drivers side did. I might be able to treat the rust around the trim holes. I will know more once the rocker is off and I can see the backside of this part and make a decision then.

 

[notstock78]

I got some time in on the Camaro the weekend. I got the fender off and stripped the bottom just like I did the drivers side. I don't think I need to make the complete bottom of the fender this time. I think I can get away with a few patches and be good. The previous body guy did the same thing on this side, cut the rusty part and the brace in the back out, and put a patch in from the back instead of butt welding it. That is one part that I will be addressing. Once again he did not fix the brace so I will fix that as well on this one. Here is what I am up against with this one.

 

[notstock78]

Next I got after the rocker panel. Took the door off and started to drill out all of the spot welds.

I had to cut this one into pieces too like I did the drivers side. This one fought me a bit more than the drivers side. Although this side looked better from the outside, once I got it off it told a different story. The rocker was really thing almost everywhere. The paint covered a lot! There is also quite a bit of rot above the rocker in front of the rear wheel. I will need to address all of that before I fit the new rocker.

Here is the rot that I need to fix before I put the new rocker back on. I think I can reach this part from the rear wheel well if I pull the wheel.

Here is the pile of rocker panel.

Here is a shot from under the car looking up into the quarter panel. You can see where the previous body guy welded the new quarter on. He did not butt weld it to the car. He lap welded it. Does anyone know if this will cause problems? I always thought it should be butt weeded together? I guess it has lasted this long, done around 1993 or so.

Here is the door jam corner that I need to recreate as well.