70 base Challenger, 383 4-speed, F8, restoration

[Ifixmycarmyself]

Some photos of the trunk and rear quarters.Trunk floor has had some surface rust so after removing that i used self etching primer.

[cuda hunter]

Great thread!  Very impressive! 

I will be following this thread for sure.

Do you happen to have retained the video of the "oil canning" on the roof work?

[Ifixmycarmyself]

Great thread!  Very impressive! 

I will be following this thread for sure.

Do you happen to have retained the video of the "oil canning" on the roof work?

Thank you! Yes, I think so. There are 3 parts. The dent repair, oil canning and ther lead soldering of the quarter panel seam to the roof and the repair in the same area. I had several problems with the videos. My computer memory was full so I used an external harddrive but that really slows everything down and so on. I will try to upload them. Also had to delete some movies because of the radio playing music in the background and youtube.....

[usraptor]

You've got some great skills there.  My Cuda also needed rear quarters, trunk floor and extensions and dutchmand panel.  Fortunately the wheel wells and rockers were okay.  I don't mean to be stupid, but what do you mean by "oil canning?"

[moparcar]

Great work! You've got some serious metal working skills being able to fabricate the panels. I'll keep watching. This will be nice when completed.

Wes

[cuda hunter]

  I don't mean to be stupid, but what do you mean by "oil canning?"

[73440]

Happens on metal panel roofs at times.
Installers have you acknowledge that it is possible and not a defect, they say.

[cuda hunter]

That sucks when standing seam does that.  Costly replacement! 

[Ifixmycarmyself]

Great thread!  Very impressive! 

I will be following this thread for sure.

Do you happen to have retained the video of the "oil canning" on the roof work?

Here are the 3 parts I have made so far:
The dent repair movie: https://youtu.be/bPwwfz1aXEQ
The "oil canning" repair: https://youtu.be/M8BSmmym9Y8
The lead soldering repair of damage: https://youtu.be/eJ0MzgVdbDQ

Have additional material on the lead soldering of the seam between the roof and the quarter but that is rather basic so I don't know how interesting that is. Of course these repairs are also pretty basic for professional but my idea is to show that it can be done also with rather simple tools and that people perhaps should have confidence to try themselves and like me having great fun doing it.
Photos from before the quarter panel replacement. Before striping of all weld, lead and 1/2 inch of bondo.

[Ifixmycarmyself]

You've got some great skills there.  My Cuda also needed rear quarters, trunk floor and extensions and dutchmand panel.  Fortunately the wheel wells and rockers were okay.  I don't mean to be stupid, but what do you mean by "oil canning?"

Thank you for your comment. Perhaps there are better wordings for this phenomena or pain in the a.. as I would describe it because its not that simple to fix. Perhaps it is for professionals but not for me. The upright arch is kept by a tension and if damaged, someone sits on the roof e.g, or a previous crash then tension is lost and the metal becomes all wobbly. If you look at the video you se: https://youtu.be/M8BSmmym9Y8

[1 Wild R/T]

You've got some great skills there.  My Cuda also needed rear quarters, trunk floor and extensions and dutchmand panel.  Fortunately the wheel wells and rockers were okay.  I don't mean to be stupid, but what do you mean by "oil canning?"

Thank you for your comment. Perhaps there are better wordings for this phenomena or pain in the a.. as I would describe it because its not that simple to fix. Perhaps it is for professionals but not for me. The upright arch is kept by a tension and if damaged, someone sits on the roof e.g, or a previous crash then tension is lost and the metal becomes all wobbly. If you look at the video you se: https://youtu.be/M8BSmmym9Y8

Oil canning is the accepted term... basically the metal gets stretched & when you push on it the metal acts like a spring, it flexes in, the springs back out... When your tying to block a panel & it has even the slightest oil canning going on you can't block it...  Big panels like the roof of my wagon are the worst... You've got to shrink the metal to get it as tight as possible, another thing you need to do is make sure the panel is straight when your cutting with 36 grit, cause on a panel like that when you go to 80 or higher the panel is gonna move....  If your pushing down at all hard on the sanding block the metal will flex... Light steady pressure, like the paper do the cutting.... Don't be cheap, replace the paper often..

[Ifixmycarmyself]

Time to take care of the fenders, rusted in the usual places and a lot of dents. Are they even worth repairing..? complete teardown of the whole fender. some photos.

[jimynick]

Here, you'd probably not patch them as new replacements are available, if not cheap, but where you are and with your abilities, I'd say go for it. What have you got to lose? One question if I may? Why didn't you knock out the two dents in the firewall before you painted it? Just curious. 

[Ifixmycarmyself]

Here, you'd probably not patch them as new replacements are available, if not cheap, but where you are and with your abilities, I'd say go for it. What have you got to lose? One question if I may? Why didn't you knock out the two dents in the firewall before you painted it? Just curious. 

Yes, guess I would to if were sane... Cost is one issue over here, but not the only one. Have a lot of replacement parts i bought for my next restoration project, 70 V-code, but I can't make up my mind to use them or not. Wile boxes pile up in that garage I see a common issue... made in China. Nothing wrong with that, probably the easiest way to get your money back. Smack it together, a nice paint job, sell it and you double your money. But... is it still an American car or is it a Chinese/Taiwaneese car that looks like an American muscle car from the 70'. Perhaps a philosophical issue that deserves a topic of it's own on the forum. like.."my father replaced the handle on my grandfathers axe and i replaced the blade" is it still my grandfathers axe??

About the dent on the firewall. Easiest explanation would be to say i forgot it... But...In some places I left small signs of the cars previous life, no rust or other bad things, just small signs like the two dents there. In my mind the car has a soul of some kind but I don't know were it is. In respect of that i would not want to erase the cars entire history or soul and until I've found out were it is I would leave some minor signs of previous life. In my mind the cars history is what makes it really unique, not the odd options on a fender tag or build sheet. Some would argue that the build sheet and tag is the most important piece of history and the rest can be replaced, and I respect the argument but I don't share it at this time. Perhaps this also deserves a new topic here on the forum 

[RUNCHARGER]

I like what you're doing. I would have fixed those fenders as well.