Need Some Advice On Body Work

[Lunchbox]

 :wave:Well today I started to do some sort of body work on my Chally instead of just taking parts off of it and I have some questions.

As of now I know I need new Quarters, Trunk, floor, Trunk Extensions, Rear Seat Pan, and most likely Inner Fenders and Rear Seat Floor Pan.

1. What order should I do things in? Looking at things the trunk floor is welded to the frame rails and the inner wheel wells; it is also welded to the rear tail panel, trunk extensions, and rear seat pan. Of course the different pans that I need to replace all overlap each other in different ways. On top of that all the pans are welded to the frame which holds the whole car together. 

2. If I have to replace the quarters, trunk floor and trunk extension panels why not take the few remaining welds out that hold the tail panel on and put my one piece floor in so I don't have to cut it.

3. How much of the panels listed above can I take off before the car may become weak?

4. How should I support the car while I am working on it? Taking the panels out and replacing them.

5. What kind of inner fenders should I get? How is the fit?

6. The trunk extension panels I bought are pretty much bent junk. They have no provisions for holes and most of the flanges that you weld to other panels aren't bent right. Are there better ones our there or do you have to make due.


Thanks for now I am sure there will be more questions and hope fully this can be a good resource.

Lunch

[DMZ73]

Lunch,

From what I undersatnd, the car will sag if it is not supported properly.

You can support the body  several ways.

Before you remove the quarters:
Support the body/frame by the front section of the rear frame rail forward of the axle. Cut some box steel tubing, rod or what have you that will support some serious weight. Make yourself a supportive structure that will hold the rear frame rails in place- if they are solid. I would say go through or over  the tail panel and connect to the bumper mounts.  The structure that you make does not have to be fancy, it just has to do the job. Find a spot to secure them -  Tack weld them in place  where you can get to them.
You can drop your tank.
I would also advise disconnecting the axle/leafsprings before you begin your work- This would drag the frame downward
Support the back end of the car with some jackstands., just to ensure nothing moves.Then once you have the trunk pan/frame rails supported, you can clip off the old qaurter panels, xtensions and trunk pan  galore.

Since I am only doing one side, It may be easier for me. Stupid me, I forgot to disconnect the leafsprings.

I would take car to do a section at a time, as not to take too much of the structure apart at once.

Give it a shot.

Dan

[Lunchbox]

This is what it looks like now. I have the rear jack stands on the rear frame rail right before it starts to curve. Thanks for the response and ideas.

The more the better. Dont be shy 

[farmboy70]

You can remove all the metal you talked about. Supporting the rear is a good idea , but it can be done with out it if you test fit the parts as you start to reassemble.(see my post in the restoration section).
 I would work one section of the car at a time. Do all of the rear section then the front.
Once you have the old panels removed  fit and tack the trunk floor then the wheel houses, quarters, tail panel then drop extentions. Once you fit the doors  and trunk lid for fitment on all the panels you can finish weld those panels. Then install the drop extentions and fit the rear splash panel. Leave the lower quarters tacked untill you are ready for the rear splash panel.
Dave

[Lunchbox]

Farmboy thanks for the pic that gives me some more motivation to do more cutting. I found you thread last night and read the whole thing after I posted this, it was a nice write up. Would you say that it would be safe to take my rear floor under the seat out along with the trunk since they over lap each other? Or would that be to much of the floor out at once?

[farmboy70]

If you are going to replace the rear floor section I would remove it and the trunk floor with out removing the rest of the metal we talked about.
 I would first replace the floor section and repair any area that needs work under the floor and spring area before going on to the quarters.
The area where the springs,rocker and lower frame rail  meet is critical to the strength of the car.
Once that is rebuilt then I would move on to the rear sheet metal.
Here is a picture of a car we did a few years ago That car was taken about as far as you can go with out major bracing.
Dave

[Challenger6pak]

I would recommend pulling the nice stuff off your garage wall before you get any further with the Challenger.  I have ruined a few things myself that way due to  overspray, etc.  Looks like you are doing a great job. 

[Lunchbox]

Farmboy this is what my rear seat area looks like. The pan or the rear seat would go dosn't look bad but unsure if the rust creeped under and has wrecked it or not. When I removed the donor rear seat pan we weren't very nice to to the other panels when we remove them, on my car I have to be nice to my existing panels to keep them in good conditions. What would you do since the rear floor pan overlaps the rear seat pan and the trunk pan over laps the trunk section? Is it a deal were you just have to work it in there the best you can and under the rear floor panel?

Thanks  you have been great help putting this together in my mind. 

I would recommend pulling the nice stuff off your garage wall before you get any further with the Challenger.  I have ruined a few things myself that way due to  overspray, etc.  Looks like you are doing a great job. 

Thanks for the tip 

[farmboy70]

I looked over your post,could you post a picture of the area, from the pictures that car looks pretty good. Do you need to remove the rear seat area?
If the whole panel is not real bad I would replace only the section that is bad, but post a picture and then I'll have a better idea.
Dave

[Lunchbox]

Sorry about that Dave for got to upload it.

[farmboy70]

After you get it blasted you may be able to patch it, I would avoid replacing the whole panel if I could.If the areas at the base of the wheel house are OK patch it ,but if you need to replace the whole thing it will be OK to remove the floor and the trunk floor at the same time. I would still leave the other panels to do after this area is repaired.
The only area that is hard is the section that meets the rest of the floor and outer edges but you should be able to bend the edge up enough to get it in OK
From the looks of it the structure should be OK.

[Lunchbox]

I should get it media blasted so I can see the bad spots that aren't visable right now. When I get it blasted should I have it primed right away to prevent flash rusting or leave it bare?

[farmboy70]

Media blasting will remove the paint but not the rust so you will have to sand blast or chemically remove the rust when you get it back. Areas like the floor pans, can also be treated with products like POR-15 or Rust Bullit.
I use POR-15 on floors and inside frame rails and any area that won't see sunlight or be body color finished.
It is a great rust stopper but very hard to work with for top coating.
Rust Bullit is more forgiving.
On out side surfaces I acid prep all panels before epoxy priming ,after I'm sure the rust is gone.
On the Cuda thread I went longer than usually before epoxying it than normal. Usually I would remove the rusted panels, have it blasted ,treat the metal with acid cleaner then prime,then start rebuilding the panels back up.
Shop needs kept me from doing it in that order this time. As long as the metal is cleaned and rust free before priming is what counts. The epoxy dos two things it protects and stops new light rust that will come back to haunt a new paint job later and it makes it easier to see the small dents and waves for filling when it comes time to do the filler work.
Dave

[ted]

Sorry about that Dave for got to upload it.

nobody makes that piece

[heminut]

Media blasting will remove the paint but not the rust so you will have to sand blast or chemically remove the rust when you get it back.

What do you mean by 'media' blasting? I've always heard glass bead blasting refered to as media blasting, and I've been knocking rust off of parts for years with glass bead blasting. Never had any problems removing rust with it.