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Back to The
Rear
Both doors now close
properly, so it's time to continue my way to the back of the
car. In this picture, you can see the new piece (black) is bolted
into the rear wheelwell before being welded for good.
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The Fasteners
I use small nuts and
bolts as well as these self tapping screws. I use my cordless
drill to put these little guys into the sheet metal. They hold
really tight and the hole they will leave when I finally remove
them fills easily with the mig welder.
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Inside the Wheel Well
From the inside, you
can see that I have made use of every landmark I can find to
insure a proper fit. The new piece is bolted to the frame and
to the existing body.
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Another
Step Backwards
I had to remove the
lower quarter panel as I had earlier installed it incorrectly.
This particular piece has a nice lip on it for easier positioning.
I had to trim a fair bit more of the body to make it fit properly.
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Back in Place
Once I had it dry-fitted
into place, I tacked the panel onto the car with the mig welder.
I then put the rear fender on to make sure everything was in
line. The first fit was pretty close, a bit of monkeying around
should tighten things up nicely.
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Strength from
Within
...on the car that
is! I welded in some body metal to join the heater box to the
body. The door closes even better now. Notice on this interior
view that you can see the clean edge of the lower quarter panel
from the last photo.
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More Fitting
This whole process
is kind of a chicken and egg thing. You've got to put things
on in the right order and make sure that future pieces will fit
when the time comes. I put the rear fender on to test the fit
of the new quarter panel. It became obvious that there was a
bit of 'freedom' to the fit of the fender so I ultimately had
to fit the running board.
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Not Bad....
....but I think I
can do better! The fender / running board fit is not a critical
one. Thankfully there is a bit of play and the joint is more
or less hidden. The new quarter panel doesn't follow the fender
just right, so I'm likely going to have to adjust it.
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Fender Beading
Where the fenders
bolt onto the body, there is a visible gap between the two pieces.
This seam is filled with a fender bead which bolts in between
the body parts and hides the seam nicely. I've been using a short
piece of the old beading to check the fit.
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