1974 Challenger Restomod

[Dmod1974]

Is the 1/4 lip at the door/1/4 lower 90' from the face of the 1/4? Sometimes they can get bent in and then they'll contact the lock pillar prematurely while eating up the clearance you need for the proper door-1/4 gap. If it is, then you'll have to take a block of wood and set the lock pillar back the needed amount. If you have access to one, a bodyman's jack would make a good push to the lower corner pushing the 1/4 back to get a decent gap. If you can't get any more movement at that upper area, you could make a couple of narrow (1/8") pie cuts in the flange to allow the panel to curve to where you want it. They're easily welded up afterwards. Looks like you're getting there! 

I ended up making some cuts in the pillar flange and quarter along with reworking the wheelhouse flange to get it fitted up.  Additionally, I ended up moving the striker outward.  I would have thought that would have made the flushness issue worse, but it did the opposite!  Figure that one out!  The only thing I can think of is that the door latch was not fully latching despite feeling otherwise before.  Now it locks up tight and like the other side with no play at all.  It let the door get sucked in more and after all of that the two panels were almost perfectly flush and the gap even top to bottom!  I'll probably scoot the door and fender back a bit eventually to tighten it even more, but I'm not bothering with that until I replace the door skin and probably screw up the work I just did today, LOL.







I still have work to do with the trunk extension - that's my next task on getting this stupid panel hung and moving onto hopefully easier things.  The quarter needs to come in more but it can't since there is a spot on the rear of the trunk extension that I need to massage a bit.  I can see it with a light through the side marker hole but couldn't get my phone in there to get a good pic.

After that, we'll see where the valance mounting points line up.  Thanks everyone for the advice and words of encouragement! 

[JS29]

Body line is there, gap is even.  Good job. 

[RUNCHARGER]

Yes: Good job, that's so much better.

[YellowThumper]

Great to hear there is positive progress.
Help is what this  is for...

[anlauto]

Looking good !

[Cudakiller70]

For fit up, do you add any weight in the door for possible sag?

[Dmod1974]

For fit up, do you add any weight in the door for possible sag?

Yes, the doors still have all of the guts in them - glass, regulators, etc...

[soundcontrol]

Thats weird with the striker, I have mine all the way in and it seems that it should be in even more to get the door flush, but now I will try to move it out again to see if mine does the same as yours.

[RUNCHARGER]

I've been fooled by the strikers before as well. It has to click twice.

[Dmod1974]

I've been fooled by the strikers before as well. It has to click twice.

Yup!  I was both relieved and extremely pissed when I realized that was all I needed to get the panels to fit right.  I don't want to even think about the amount of hours I spent messing with it... 


I got the tail panel welded in today.  When I first started welding on this car I was spending tons of time grinding down my welds after...  And blowing through, or not getting enough penetration since I didn't drill big enough holes......  A few thousand plug welds later and I think I'm getting decent!  Most of these required no touch up from the grinder since they were flush or slightly convex.

I didn't do the welds across the trunk extension since I want to have some wiggle room when I hang the quarter.





Tomorrow morning I'll probably weld/glue the quarter panel in finally.  I could still do it today, but I'm totally dragging my feet since it's an exterior panel and I only have one shot to make it look good!

[Dmod1974]

I finally manned up and hung the quarter for the last time.  All of the welds are in and the epoxy is setting.  Other than needing a hundred clamps, the epoxy was relatively uneventful.  I ended up epoxying the wheel house lip, rocker pinch weld, 1/4 to trunk gutter rail, 1/4 to door jamb pillar, and the 1/4 to trunk extension joint.  Everything else was plug welded.  In a day or two I'll yank and fill in the screw holes and remove the clamps.









My trunk lid hinge bracket is loose since some of the welds are separated on that side, but I have clearance despite the pic above.  I only set it down roughly to make sure the 1/4 bent fit it well.  I have room to adjust the gap still.

I did NOT weld or bond the decklid filler yet since I will be removing it to repair or replace.  Another example of horrible factory quality: I was able to separate the decklid filler from the package tray lip where the bottom of the rear window sets without ever having to cut a spot weld.  The 1/8 pilot drill bit was all that was needed to break them loose; I didn't even have to seam split anything!  I'll take the easy removal though....

This was a royal PITA, but I think the other side will be easier since it was never smashed and I have some 1/4 panel experience now.

[soundcontrol]

Nice! Did you use screws to clamp the quarter to door jam pillar? The 3M Panel Bond is expensive here in Sweden, 80 bucks for a tube, how much did you use for 1 quarter?

[Dmod1974]

Nice! Did you use screws to clamp the quarter to door jam pillar? The 3M Panel Bond is expensive here in Sweden, 80 bucks for a tube, how much did you use for 1 quarter?

Yes, I tried to avoid it but there is no reasonable way to clamp that joint adequately without them.  Not a big deal since I'll just fill them in with more epoxy once removed.

I used an already opened and slightly used 200ml tube.  If you buy one of those you should have more than enough, provided you are using it in the same areas of course.  If you glue the entire panel in, it'll likely take an entire tube.

[jimynick]

It's coming along, coming along. I think you made the right call as to where you bonded your 1/4 and you don't have to worry too much as to it's setting up. As you know, it's 2K and it'll be harder than Chinese arithmetic inside a couple of hours. As for the 1/4 to rear valance gap, welcome to E body-land! I've seen gaps in factory cars that are 1/2" all the way to an 1/8th". If you can't get to split the difference on the rt 1/4 then you may be into sectioning the valance and I'd do it in the slot for the bmpr grd, it's shorter and virtually flat. Hell, you'll be able to get a part time job in a bodyshop by the time you're done!     

[soundcontrol]

I've been fooled by the strikers before as well. It has to click twice.

Btw, I also tested to move the striker out today...jackpot!

Thanks!