74 Challenger Canadian Restoration

[anlauto]

Are you going to weld the wheel well in place without test fitting the quarter panel ?

[daaboots]

Are you going to weld the wheel well in place without test fitting the quarter panel ?

I tested with the quarter panel, I even put the valance back in to make sure I wasn't way off there either, but I can't seem to close the gap between the wheel well and the quarter lip. I must have tried for a good hour before giving up. Unless you have some suggestions, I was just going to get it as close as I can, cut the lip on the wheel well, and then just make a new lip that will fit to the lip on the quarter. Does that sound reasonable? Honestly, I've never done this before and I have no idea what I'm doing at times 

[jimynick]

Usually, when you've got both parts off, you can work them so that you get where you need to go. It may involve tipping the wheelwell or lifting the 1/4. How does the 1/4 fit the door, do the trim lines meet? If the trim lines meet, then you've got less wiggle room. Optimize the trim line fit to give you the closest fit you can, then, remember my story about the AMD guys and my wheelwells? Without clamping the WW in, get them inside the 1/4 and see if you can get them to come together, period. IF you can, them it's a case of noting it's new position and altering it's attaching points to the rest of the car. It may not fit in the exact place that the old ones did, but that's life with these things. Don't be afraid to use some "arm-strong" adjusting and sometimes a little work with a 2X4 and a BFH can prove beneficial to work two flanges towards each other. Don't give up- remember, it took me a dozen times to work out the kinks and you can do it too. Good luck!  Ian

[daaboots]

Thanks for the info Ian. I'll give it another go. My quarter panel lines up perfectly with the door line and fits very nicely into the trunk gutter and rear light panel, so it seams like the quarter is in the right place. Take a look at my new video near the end and you can see the gap between the two parts. I just can't seem to be able to pull the wheel well down enough to meet up.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLIrdxt_ulU

[Buddhascuda]

nice so far but i found its the quarter panel wheel thats a little different i went through the same thing

[twalker]

Dave, from the video it looks like you could get by with replacing the last half of the frame rails, these are a great set I used on my build - http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=200584012647  after you blast the rear sections there it looks like they will be just like mine were. Sigh

You can see how they went in on my build thread on here.

[jimynick]

Dave, I see  what you're saying here. It almost looks like the wheel house has "bunched" up a bit. To the best of my knowledge, the car they came from wasn't hit, but I never specifically asked the guy either. I'd want to get the trunk extension mocked up and see where that leaves the extension/quarter gap at the rear of the WH. If the WH is shoved up, you'll make yourself a real headache if you cut and patch the WH in and THEN find it won't fit the trunk extension. I'd also put in the trunk floor before the 1/4's as it'll give you more maneuvering room if you need it. Putting the trunk in with the rear body panel still in a wee "challenge", too. I just remembered, you have a 2 pc, so that shouldn't be a problem so much, however. remember that the trunk goes under the rear body panel and you may have to re-do the rear flange to go inside. Feel free to call if you wish to. Ian

[daaboots]

Thanks for the advise Ian. I spent many hours yesterday trying everything I could to make it fit, and I couldn't even get it close. I don't have my trunk extensions yet - I probably should have bought them before I started working on my wheel wells. I think I will tackle the trunk before I finish up with the rear quarter panel. I'm just a bit nervous about removing the entire tail panel section. I'm in way over my head with all this body work... guess that's the only way to learn 

[jimynick]

You're a smart guy Dave and I think your plan to get the extensions is a good one. Once you have them, you can see where they fit and how they match up with the inner WH's and THEN do what you've got to do. It's a puzzle and they're tough to do when you don't have all the pieces. Keep the faith, you'll get there. 

[daaboots]

So the tail panel is gone!










I need to temporarily move the car out of the garage on the weekend, so I'm adding some caster wheels to the bottom. I made the stands and then welded them to the frame rails.






It's a family project 

[jimynick]

That's a pretty cute helper there Dave and I see he's taking his first lesson with a BFH as well! 

[Ifixmycarmyself]

Hi, looks like we are more or less at the same stage of restoration and desperation. A small hint from my side would be to leave the right panel as reference point and use a lot of selfdrilling skrews, align everything and then  weld it together. Hard to see but from the video it looks like the wheelhouse is somhow tilted and not in the correct position. Try to reposition it before you cut it up. Keep up the good work and let us se what happens. Thanks for your  Pics!!
Anders

[daaboots]

That's a pretty cute helper there Dave and I see he's taking his first lesson with a BFH as well! 

Yeah I took your advise and beat that wheelhouse with a big hammer... still couldn't get it lined up... oh well. It was funny, she was just going nuts smashing her little plastic hammer on the outside of the panel while I was working on the WH. Good time for sure 

[Dr. Feelgood]

Just gotta say I really admire your persistence, patience, and can do attitude with this project!

Subscribed to your Youtube channel!

[daaboots]

Just gotta say I really admire your persistence, patience, and can do attitude with this project!

Subscribed to your Youtube channel!

Thanks Dr. Feelgood, that means a lot. You certainly need a good amount of patience working on something like this, and be prepared to deal with problems when things don't go exactly as planned. I keep my eye on the end goal and I know if I just keep working away slowly at it I'll arrive someday