gonna get serrious

[The Ghoul]

So I got the replacement section a while ago and I pussy fotted around a bit but i decided that it would take way more work to take all the individual sections off the good clip and put them on the car than it would to just replace the whole section....
tomarrow ... high noon... Im gonna give it a shot.
eather it will all go well and it will be a nice little write up on how to do it.
or every thing will go to shite and it will be a nice little write up on not what to do ...
eather way its gonna be fun 

[BigBlockSam]

oh my. good luck

[The Ghoul]

ok here is 3 hours worth of work.
I started by putting a jack under the rocker pannel and a 2x4 between the floor of the car and the roof to keep it from collapsing.
after it was shimmed up I cut a foot wide section out of the center of the pannel so I could get to every thing better.
Then I marked off where I wanted to cutt in the top section.
then went to town... It was a pain to work around every thing but I think it turned out well.
I then started to work on the lower side... I had orrigionally wanted to keep the rocker rail in tact but it quickly became apparent that the area was too tight to do this.
so I cut that out too..
next step is to use the old clip as a template for the new pannel 
oh, and I found where all the insulation from the rocker pannel went... apparently a mouse had a sweet little set up in there... just wonder where he got all the peanuts from.
onece I got to cutting I was glad I went this rout... that is some rusty metal!!

[The Ghoul]

Man, its nice to acutlly have some time to get work done on this car!!!
I missed it when I was away at school, and over the winter..
Well I chopped appart the old pannel (more than it was) and made templats of the old metal.
Transferd those templates from the old metal to the new clip and then got to cutting.
It looks like the car this clip came off of was wacked in the front fender at one time because the bottem of the clip is a bit mangled... so I need to streighten that out and then I can start the fine fitting... and then on to dimming the lights in the neghborhood  , or at least my house.
Ill post yall when I get to welding (hopefully tomarrow)
and trust me on this one, the new clip looks far more rusty than it actully is.

[The Ghoul]

Ok, I did more trimming and fitting.
go figgure the pannel isnt sitting right.
here is where Im going to need another thought on it.

there is about an inch gap around the a piller area


The fitment around the upper door mount seems fine


The lower front of the rocker seems a bit ferther forward on the new pannel than the plate on the body it mounts to.
This picture is from inside the wheel well looking out at it. so the ferther plate is the new section.


My thought on the subject is that I didnt trim the rocker area enough
So if I trim it back a little more it should rock the a pilar area back enough to get a better fitment.
The big gap you see in that upper corener is because the origional rocker metal (black) is bent in a bit more than the new one.


so what are your thoughts... I think if I trim the rocker more it will bring the lower front into line and close some of that a-pilar gap.
I think I might tack the firewall to clip section back in and get a better idea of how the firewall plays into all of this..

[Silver R/T]

you have to do butt welds on rocker

[The Ghoul]

Your on the right track for repairing it, but you need to install a backing to your metal also for strength, like Chip Foose would do in this case. You always need to have an extra support when doing what you are, otherwise you'll lose structure there even if you do a great weld job, it'll crack back up on your later on down the road.
Mark

are you saying, get some sheet metal and cut a piece that spans the seem to weld on the back side?.


butt welding the rocker?
dosent that mean butting the two pieces next to each other and weld them togeter with no overlap? In which case thats what Im doing. If not please explain.

ok now you guys are shaking my fath in this poject...
What I intended to do was to cut the new clip to size. on all the surfaces that dont show (inner structure, back side of the rocker) I was going to lay down heavy beads. On the extirror surfaces that show (outer rocker, door jamb ect) I was going to build up tacks all in a line so nothing would over head and grind smooth.
no metal overlapping, just the body metal pushed up agenst the new clip and flush.
Should I cut an access pannel into the rocker so I can weld in a thick plate to the inside of the back of the rocker, and then tack the  access pannel back in once its welded in place?

How should I do this?

[The Ghoul]

Im trying to learn....
I dont have access to a body guy or the funds to hire one. My thoughts appon jumping into this.. Im sick of looking at the car sitting wating for me to have the money/time/knowlage to get it done. I have the welder (wich I have been praticing with on verrious types of scrap metal) I have the compressor and all the air tools to do it so. I figgured if all went realy wrong it would be encouragement for me to finaly buy a clean shell of a friend that parts these.

so all and all
help me.
I have always been told that a good weld is stronger than the surrounding metal, so I thought that If I have good welds on all the metal than it will be as strong as it was orrigonally.
I have not taken away any of the orrigional supports.
What would you suggest???
It seems you think I should put some sort of support in it... How? Where?

[The Ghoul]

Ghoul, yes, make some scratch pieces out of metal just as thick as what your working with and make them at least two inches larger than what your butted parts meet and overlap them behind the area where you are welding up. Make since yet? It does and take your time, don't rush it. You'll want to hang you door also and check to make sure it lines up with your fender also as you go about all of this retro fitment. Trust me, its not a easy job, you will need a hand from a friend also, you always need more than two hands to align parts together.
Mark

thats what I was looking for.
thank you
I have plenty clean sections of the old clip with the same contours so making backing plates should be no problem.

[The Ghoul]

Were you cut your old metal out from the cars post area, thats where you'll need to reinforce it so it won't be weak in that area. From the back side is where you'll install metal to help make it stronger, tack one side in at a time and then fit your new/used part. Rememebr, its a unibody car and where your cutting up and welding a part in, you will need some kind of extra strength now that you've cut it open. Damn, my fingers are getting hammered from all this typing, haha......If you but weld it like Silver r/t said, you'll run into problems after you've assembled it and then you'll be pissed off!
Mark

makes sence.. and thank you for being patent with me. 
so lets recap.

- trim and fitt pannel better.
- temporarly tack into place.
- hang door, and make sure every thing is good there
- cutt and access pannel into the outter rocker area, fitt a plate on the back side of the underbody area of the rocker
- weld patch in that covers the seem between the patch and the body metal.
- Weld the seem from the underbody side.
- wled the inside of the a-pilar area, including the support post.
- grind down a-pillar welds and fit patches
- weld a-pillar patches
- weld extirror of a-pillar area and grind smooth
- weld exterrior rocker pannel and remaining seems and grind smooth.
- weld firewall seem, grind smooth, patch backside of that seem
- weld bracket that attaches the front rocker to the lower firewall..

something like that?
do you think I will just need to patch the back side of the rocker, and the a-pillar post area?
Or do you think I should also put support patches on the back side of the firewall too?

[The Ghoul]

Yes, patch backside of pillar post, rocker and firewall areas. That will make where your cut outs are stronger when reapplied back together with new/used part.
Everything you typed in above about welding and grinding down, is correct. Your finish work should be smooth after words so you can apply body filler to cover up your welds.
No problem helping you out here.
Goodluck and keep us informed with your project.
Mark

great!
thank you very much.
I will keep posted on how it goes.
I hope to have the panel fit better tonight and maby get some tep tacks in to align the door.
thank you very much for your help.

[The Ghoul]

I am so glad you suggested hanging the door. Thats something a rookie like me prolly wouldent have tought of untill it was too late.
I hung the door and the body line seems consistant throughout (except the lower corner where the last owner tried to repair rust. .
Well the pannel is where it is supposed to be... the best I can make it at any rate.
I tacked it into place where it met up with the body metal perfectly..
I must admit the fit is not nearly as clean as I was hoping. It seems at the pinch welds every thing lines up perfectly but as the metal moves out from there the new metal starts to stray away from the body metal. That and there is still about an 1/8 in gap above the door switch.. but the door hangs right and I can always make a patch if need be out of extra metal.
I figgure if I take my time and line up the panals perfectly before tacking them together bit by bit it should be all good.
heres a couple of pics that show the door fitment... the one seem you cant quite make out what it is is looking down the 1/4 pannel at the back edge of the door. Wont take any prizes but it ant bad for a rookie. I just hope it dosent shift too much when I weld it.

[The Ghoul]

one more

[The Ghoul]

Well I had today off so I got a bit done.
I laid on thick welds on the back side of the rocker, and the back side of the a-piller area.
Like my first girlfirend, it looks like hell but it should get the job done. LOL *geeze that was mean of me, its ok tho, she cheated on me*
I tack welded the firewall section of the new clip back on , that seems to be lookin good.
I laied the tacks on all the seems but got too lazy to grind them all down.
pics and more progress commin.

[69 OUR/TEA]

Look forward to seeing your pics!!!!

[Silver R/T]

you have to do butt welds on rocker

So wheres the strength in a but weld on a rocker??  There is none.
It must be reinforced to be sturdy, if not, then it will weaken over time and crack. Unless you've got a good background in autobody repair, maybe you should have it looked at by a bodyman before you get to far ahead of your restoration there on the post.
Mark

you have to use backer plate on butt welds on rocker and any other structural body panel. Especially on unibody car like Charger

[grek]

The Ghoul

Not to change the subject however I thought I had a project on my hands when I had to replace my door jam and the entire quarter (NOS piece) on my 69 Charger.  I sweated alot on the fact of what had to be done to my car and fortunately I had a great body man doing the work for me.  It looks like you're doing a great job.  Keep up the good work.  I will gather my pics and share with everyboby however I have question about posting pics.  What file size do the pics need to be to post them on this site?  Also, if they are a large file, how do I down size the file. 

Grek

[grek]

The Ghoul

Not to change the subject however I thought I had a project on my hands when I had to replace my door jam and the entire quarter (NOS piece) on my 69 Charger.  I sweated alot on the fact of what had to be done to my car and fortunately I had a great body man doing the work for me.  It looks like you're doing a great job.  Keep up the good work.  I will gather my pics and share with everyboby however I have question about posting pics.  What file size do the pics need to be to post them on this site?  Also, if they are a large file, how do I down size the file.  

Grek

[doctorpimp]

Way to go G !!!

I have rust damage on my '73 in the same spot as yours.  http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,12275.0.html
It seems that it might have been common in 3rd gens
I'm not as hard-core as you though, I'm going to fork out the dosh and have a body guy do it when I take the car for paint

Oh well, keep up the good work!