71 'Cuda restoration

[Tunis]

@RUNCHARGER  Thank you Sheldon for the tips! I will gladly take as many of them as you have. Would it be better to have the other quarter there before I put the trim in and do them both at the same time or would you do one side at a time?

Thank you all for helping me out! There is a lot to consider when doing body work and since this is my first time I think I will miss a bunch of crucial steps...

[Tunis]

Earlier this week I finished the quarter to roof section on the right side.



And welded it together.



Got some work these last few days and hopefully I can do more work tomorrow and Monday. Decided to wait with the taillight panel and focus on the left quarter panel first.

I was afraid the drip rails and roof would be equally bad on this side as well, but I was so pleasantly surprised when I removed the seam sealer.


No nasties there! 

Quarter panel removed except by the door. I need to replace the hinges and then reposition the door before I can remove all of the old quarter.



With the quarter removed, the inner structure and the damage to it was revealed.



Cut out the bad metal.



First piece of the puzzle in place.



Inside after welding. It's going to be difficult to grind this down. Maybe I can sell this picture as art... 



The damage extended up and under the roof, so I had to cut that part out. It was rusted and had to be replaced anyway.



It took a few hours to complete and it is not perfect smooth, but it will not be seen so I will not grind it further. Now the only thing left is to plug weld it.





Plug welded and ready for paint and weld through primer.





Tomorrow I will paint it and change the door hinges and prepare the quarter panel for installation.

Per

[Cuda Cody]

Love looking at your photos and following along as you make fantastic repairs.  Nice job my friend! 

[303 Mopar]

You are doing amazing work, very envious since I have not body work skills at all.     

[Tunis]

Thank you guys!  Didn't get much work done today. Was to tired.. Hope I can get something done tomorrow.

[RUNCHARGER]

It's looking like a car. Yes, try that window molding on the right side now so you see what I am talking about. No need to use the clips, just place it by hand and eyeball it to see what needs to be done. You will most likely have to slice the quarter parrallel to the window and splice in a piece so you end up with a nice metal shoulder that butts up against the window molding. You can't have filler beside a molding if the sheetmetal doesn't match perfectly. Nothing that you can't do, it just takes time. Also, maybe it is perfect and my eyes are buggy but usually some form of metalwork needs to be done there anyway.
There's a lot of fitting at this stage and it's all really important. The quarter has to match the door, the dutchman has to match the quarters, trunklid and window. The quarters have to match the window etc.
That's why you're going to be so proud of it when it is all done.

[Topcat]

Enjoying your resto thread.

Nice work.

[Tunis]

Thank you @Topcat !

@RUNCHARGER Man, you are a blessing! I did what you just described and the molding is maybe an inch (very crudely measured) further in at the bottom corner of the opening. That was about the time I left the garage and went indoor for a cold one.

So should I cut the quarter where the profile changes towards the window openinge. I mean the small surface that goes around and eventually matches up to that if the dutchman. If that makes sence..

Thank you both for the fine comments!

[RUNCHARGER]

Hmm: Okay, hard to say without pics but thinking about what you have at the moment, maybe the next step is to lay the rear window (on top of duct tape to cushion it) into what you have there and see how it fits as well. You want a nice even gap all around the opening from the window to the sheetmetal opening (I can't remember now I think it is about 1/4" all around). Also the window should sit flat on the shelf all around as well. So with the window laid in and also checking molding fit as well you should see where it is uneven (you are checking two plains vertical and somewhat horizontal).
I hope I am explaining this clearly enough. Don't panic if it needs tweaking, it's just you have to make sure the fit is right and you could have a quarter issue that can't easily be repaired once you weld the dutchman to the quarter. As I recall with a Cuda there is a body line on the lower part to midway up the window that contributes to the mess as well.
This one came out great and it was about 15 years ago when quarters weren't available, I used pieces of a  big block timing chain cover as lower window corners to make everything fit, you should have it easier.
Especially with the window sitting there, you can use masking tape to hold the molding in the opening and step back and have a look.

[Tunis]

Today I put the old rear glass in. Are the repro glass correct in every way or should I assume that the fit as good as the aftermarket metal?





The glass has maybe 3/8" on each side and if I put a 1/4" spacer between the dutchman and the glass, there is maybe 1/4-3/8" between the glass and the roof.

The bad news is that the inner structure doesn't quite reach the glass as can be seen from this picture. When I did the repair, I followed the rusted out metal so it shouldn't differ that much. Should I cut this and move everything up so it touches the glass everywhere around?



I laid out the molding as I assume it should lay. Please tell me if its wrong so I only have to do this once.





I have started to cut up the roof part on the right side. It was rusted on parts and had some pitting, so I thought some fresh steel will do it good. I can now follow the molding with the roof line, if it is correctly laid on the photos above..

[RUNCHARGER]

That's looking good. You are on the right track, just build that new piece to match the trim and you're good. The window fit is fine so just do what you are doing to match the molding.

[anlauto]

You might want to adjust it during fitting the quarter

[Cuda Cody]

Looks like you're doing great.  Make sure to use spacers on the bottom of the window to get it about centered (from the top roof to the dutchman).  The glue to make the window sit up taller too.

[soundcontrol]

Tunis, what do you use for a seam sealer? Looked at the Eastwood kit from Verktygsboden, its very expensive though, gotta be something cheaper available here.

[Tunis]

@soundcontrol I haven't figured that out. But I will let you know when I know what I will use.