Slowest resto ever - Project AmsterFoose / Current subject: The roof

[Vinnie]

One thought. If your car is not a 73 you will need to weld up the holes for the bumper filler panel along the bottom going across.

My car happens to be a 73 sir ;-)

 

[Vinnie]

Finally more progress and the new rear is in sight!

I positioned the trunk corner :

Plug welding it was challenging, I can’t seem to keep the torch inside the hole:

But in the end all was good:

Rear look:

I also welded back the trunk latch bracket:

All in all a good weekend, considering yesterday when I started welding I found out the shielding gas bottle was completely empty and I had to get a new one from... somewhere...

Next I can weld the panel itself back in.

 

[Vinnie]

And there it is, the new taillight panel welded in place:





I put plug welds all around the edge, I finally seem to get a better feeling for them thankfully. The whole thing feels pretty strong too, better than expected.

Very happy about this part being done. Next are the bumper reinforcements and then the LH lower quarter and drop-off.

 

[JD79]

Well done Vinnie! Goed bezig ;-)

 

[Vinnie]

With all this awesome weather we had here this weekend I managed to get a bit more done and move on to the next project!

First I welded the bumper reinforcements back in:





And now that the taillight panel is finished I've started digging in the lower LH quarter:



Unfortunately the car got hit in its previous life and while examining the pulled out dent I found a fair bit of rust in a nasty spot:



So now I'm thinking if I shouldn't only replace the lower quarter but maybe the full quarter so that any possible rust underneath the wheel well's edge can be removed as well. Any thoughts on this choice?

Meanwhile I've started putting in the drop-off but ran out of time so I left it at this:



More in 2 weeks

 

[Vinnie]

Took out the seats today.

No build sheet :-(

 

[Vinnie]

So this weekend I took out the remaining interior; carpet, ceiling and all the trim:

Good news is no holes underneath my vinyl roof! The floor however is a defferent story.

The rear floorpans have been patched. Is it me or do these patches look bad? Thoughts?

RH rear side:

LH rear side:

In the front everything is still original but a little too crispy so I think I need to at least patch those pans:

RH passanger pan:

The LH side is only slightly better...

But all that is for later, I now need to get the quarter window and mechanism out. Anybody have any pointers for that job?

 

[MKSpeedlab]

Great build thread. Im eventually going to have to do a lot of the same stuff so enjoying the read.

 

[Vinnie]

Bit more progress this weekend.

Managed to get the LH quarter window and mechanism out:

Also figured out how te remove the weatherstrip:

Then cut around the wheel well to assess amount of rot:

Took a look at the end of the rocker. Seems surprisingly solid:

And finally cut out the patch to replace the rotted edge:

Can’t wait to have that welded in!

 

[Vinnie]

New wheelhouse edge is in. It is in the exact same spot as the old edge but when test fitting quarter patches the edge of the outer skin sits half an inch under this one. Gonna be doing lots of measuring this weekend...

 

[Vinnie]

Well, lotsa measuring turned into lotsa cutting and bending. But the edge is now pretty close to that of my quarter so next weekend I can hopefully really finish the wheelhouse and start on the quarter panel.

 

[Vinnie]

So while most people seem to have lots of time due to the pandemic, my progress has been painstakingly slow, mainly due to setbacks with the wheel house and the quarter. Third party reproductions that suck.

The wheel house is now done. First I thought about just replacing the lower quarter only to find out it was welded crooked like this:



Then I found out I needed a whole quarter and the one I bought again had the bottom welded on like shit again. So I've been recreating that and now finally have something that looks OK (to me anyway):



Finally I'm able to go forwards again and hopefully will be able to put the quarter in sometime this month.

 

[kcmash]

A couple notes.

1)  The rockers on our cars were galvanized.  So they rarely look bad.

2)  I would try to find a 1/4 panel that has the one piece lower.  They form the bottom edge like the factory had it instead of spot welding a second piece on.  Just a suggestion.

kcmash

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

The rockers were galvanized but boy do they rust. They were pretty thick compared to skins. I have a car that had Ziebart in the rockers and could not believe how the rust was inside when I cut it open. 

 

[Vinnie]

Finally, the bloody quarter panel is in... This was not an easy job (for me) but I got it done and although it looks rough and will require a bit of filler I think it turned out OK.

See for yourself:

 

[vintageman]

Great job, at this point, I would put the rear valance on and check for proper fitment. When I did mine, I did not do that and I ended up grinding out the welds at the tail panel, removing the section that goes from the quarter panel to the trunk drop off and making that piece more narrow so that my quarter panel and rear extension would line up properly and my valance would fit and have less of a gap between it and the quarter panel before welding that piece back in. 

You are doing a great job on your car and I have been following it, keep up the good work.

Tom 

 

[73429mach]

Keep up the good work! Ryan

 

[timachone]

Finally, the bloody quarter panel is in... This was not an easy job (for me) but I got it done and although it looks rough and will require a bit of filler I think it turned out OK.

See for yourself:

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That is looking really good! Great job!

 

[mach71351c]

Nice job!

 

[droptop73]

That's coming along nicely!