Looking good. Those corners aren't fun to recreate, neither are the tops of the jamb lol. Outstanding work.
My 78 LT restomod
- Thread starter notstock78
- Start date
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thesalboy
Veteran Member
The issue is that moisture can collect inside of the lap joint. It looks fine. I would paint it with something if you can get to it.
Nice work on all that rust repair. Kudos on sticking with your project over the years!
1978 Z/28
Veteran Member
Very nice work Camaro looks nice. You are lucky to get a girl she looks cute, I had boys had to wait for granddaughters
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Zspoiler
Veteran Member
You can find all sorts of "wonderful" things when you strip a car. But when you finish a car its better the new condition .And built the way you want it.
Oldskool62
Veteran Member
- Sep 29, 2017
- 419
Inspirational stuff. Enjoying the build.
Hey everyone, thanks for the input on the lap joint welded quarter. When I saw that I was pretty worried that the previous body guy did the same thing he did with the fenders and just slapped it under or over the original panel. I was able to get my hand in the door jam vent and I could feel that he at least flanged the original quarter so I am hopeful that there is not too much filler in there. I was able to get a can of inner frame coating in there after cleaning it up just to get it covered. I feel better about that. Thanks again for the input.
I got some time to work on the car again this last weekend and the weekend before. I started by working on the bottom of the outer wheel well. This side it was pretty rotted so I ended up cutting it out and making a new piece on the bench and welding it in. I had to bend it up and then cut it apart to make some relief cuts as it was a compound ben in the thing. Once it looked like the original and I was happy with it, I welded it into the car.
As you can see in the pictures, a part of the inner wheel well was rotted and missing too, so I cut a piece of that and welded it in too. I know this is not exactly how this piece is supposed to go but this was the best way I could get this back together without making a bigger mess of these wheels housings. I think this will still be ok though.
After that was all solid again, I moved onto fitting the new rocker. This side fit a little bit easier than the drivers side but I did still need to bed one of the tabs a little bit to fit the front of the car and cut a sliver off in the front to make it fit correctly. Not a big deal.
Once it was fitting nicely, I took it back off cleaned up the inner rocker and treated it for the surface rust that was there and got it into primer.
I got some time to work on the car again this last weekend and the weekend before. I started by working on the bottom of the outer wheel well. This side it was pretty rotted so I ended up cutting it out and making a new piece on the bench and welding it in. I had to bend it up and then cut it apart to make some relief cuts as it was a compound ben in the thing. Once it looked like the original and I was happy with it, I welded it into the car.
As you can see in the pictures, a part of the inner wheel well was rotted and missing too, so I cut a piece of that and welded it in too. I know this is not exactly how this piece is supposed to go but this was the best way I could get this back together without making a bigger mess of these wheels housings. I think this will still be ok though.
After that was all solid again, I moved onto fitting the new rocker. This side fit a little bit easier than the drivers side but I did still need to bed one of the tabs a little bit to fit the front of the car and cut a sliver off in the front to make it fit correctly. Not a big deal.
Once it was fitting nicely, I took it back off cleaned up the inner rocker and treated it for the surface rust that was there and got it into primer.
So this weekend I got some time on the car as well. I decided to tackle the rotted out door jam corner. I don't think this was rotted any worse than the drivers side but in a little bit different place. It proved to be much more work than the drivers side just because where the rot was. I think I make it in 6 different pieces all welded together. lots of compound curves.
Here I started to make it and used a kliko to hold it in place while I was making it. That way I did not loose any of the original shape that I had to work with until I was ready to weld it in.
After I was happy with the way it looked and fit, I took it all over to the bench and welded it up.
and ground it all down(A grinder and paint make the welder I aint).
Then after all the welding and grinding on the bench, I made sure it still fit on the car.
Cut out the old rotted stuff, what was left of it anyway.
Trimmed my new piece and tacked it into place.
Then burned it in and ground it smooth.
Then I cut an ground a piece down for the part that welds to the quarter and welded that in.
After that was all down, I got the rocker all welded in place. I still have a little bit of welding by the back seat where the rocker meets the inside of the car and a little more in the wheel well and some grinding to do, but for the most part the rocker is in.
After I finish up the rocker, I can move onto the fender, then get it into epoxy and put the car back together. With a bit of luck, I will be driving it again this spring.
Here I started to make it and used a kliko to hold it in place while I was making it. That way I did not loose any of the original shape that I had to work with until I was ready to weld it in.
After I was happy with the way it looked and fit, I took it all over to the bench and welded it up.
and ground it all down(A grinder and paint make the welder I aint).
Then after all the welding and grinding on the bench, I made sure it still fit on the car.
Cut out the old rotted stuff, what was left of it anyway.
Trimmed my new piece and tacked it into place.
Then burned it in and ground it smooth.
Then I cut an ground a piece down for the part that welds to the quarter and welded that in.
After that was all down, I got the rocker all welded in place. I still have a little bit of welding by the back seat where the rocker meets the inside of the car and a little more in the wheel well and some grinding to do, but for the most part the rocker is in.
After I finish up the rocker, I can move onto the fender, then get it into epoxy and put the car back together. With a bit of luck, I will be driving it again this spring.
thesalboy
Veteran Member
Nice work!
Thanks thesalboy,
I got a little bit of time to work on the car last weekend. I finished welding up the quarter to the rocker and started on the fender. Wow, did I find a mess there. The 2 braces on the back side of this fender where in really bad shape. They where rotted badly and very thin. I would not have been able to weld to those. So, I started by making the corner of the wheel well and getting that burned in. I still need to so some trimming but pretty happy with it.
I also built the little corner bracket that goes behind there.
Then I started looking at the old patch that was done previously.
I ended up cutting out what was left of the brace behind that part of the fender and just making a new one. I will need to weld that in before I finish up the welding on the skin.
I then made a panel that would replace the old repair and cut out the old stuff.
I will still need to trim the new skin to fit but it is getting there. I will also need to recreate the bottom of the fender where the bolts go in and the side that buts up against the door as there is not much left of those either.
I got a little bit of time to work on the car last weekend. I finished welding up the quarter to the rocker and started on the fender. Wow, did I find a mess there. The 2 braces on the back side of this fender where in really bad shape. They where rotted badly and very thin. I would not have been able to weld to those. So, I started by making the corner of the wheel well and getting that burned in. I still need to so some trimming but pretty happy with it.
I also built the little corner bracket that goes behind there.
Then I started looking at the old patch that was done previously.
I ended up cutting out what was left of the brace behind that part of the fender and just making a new one. I will need to weld that in before I finish up the welding on the skin.
I then made a panel that would replace the old repair and cut out the old stuff.
I will still need to trim the new skin to fit but it is getting there. I will also need to recreate the bottom of the fender where the bolts go in and the side that buts up against the door as there is not much left of those either.
I got some more time to work on the Camaro last weekend. I was able to get the fender pretty much finished up. I might have to do a little bit of hammer and dolly work on one of the welds but for the most part I think it looks pretty good.
I got the brace welded in and got a coat of paint on it to help keep the rust away.
Next I got the the outer skin fitted and tacked in.
I ground it all down and put the fender back on the car.
I ended up having to take off the fender a few more times tweaking the new panels a bit here and there to get it to fit with the structure of the car behind the fender. I did not have much to go by with that inner brace as most of it was cut out by the previous body guy and the rest was pretty rotted and flimsy so I was kind of shooting from the hip. But I got it to fit.
As you can see, the new patch did not fit quite right, it hung down to far and the gap was not quite right when it transitions from the door to the rocker. So, back off of the car and make some pie cuts to get the bottom corrected. Once I was happy with that, I fixed the gap. I ended up cutting the face of the panel and moving the gap tighter like I did the drivers side. Then just welded it back together.
My Camaro is officially rust free! Next it to get everything cleaned up and ready for some epoxy, get the trim back on and clean and put the interior back together.
I got the brace welded in and got a coat of paint on it to help keep the rust away.
Next I got the the outer skin fitted and tacked in.
I ground it all down and put the fender back on the car.
I ended up having to take off the fender a few more times tweaking the new panels a bit here and there to get it to fit with the structure of the car behind the fender. I did not have much to go by with that inner brace as most of it was cut out by the previous body guy and the rest was pretty rotted and flimsy so I was kind of shooting from the hip. But I got it to fit.
As you can see, the new patch did not fit quite right, it hung down to far and the gap was not quite right when it transitions from the door to the rocker. So, back off of the car and make some pie cuts to get the bottom corrected. Once I was happy with that, I fixed the gap. I ended up cutting the face of the panel and moving the gap tighter like I did the drivers side. Then just welded it back together.
My Camaro is officially rust free! Next it to get everything cleaned up and ready for some epoxy, get the trim back on and clean and put the interior back together.
