Can anyone give me tips/advice on removing the rear valance from my '68 charger?

[Rack]

I thought it was a bolt on part, but apparently it's welded on. How do I remove it? And what about the end caps (I think that's what they're called)?

[Hemidog]

you have to drill out the spotwelds where it connects to the tail panel, trunkfloor and crossmember.

the corners are tricky, unless your replacing quarters and trunk extension, which i did, (mine was just bondo)

[68 CHARGER R/T]

 one of these should  do the trick .   

[Rack]

Thanks for the replies.


Heh, after the last two days, I'm very tempted to try the TNT method. 


Well I wasn't confident enough to try and remove the whole valance (I'm not even sure of what area exactly is the valance. Does it extend all the way to the taillight housings?) so I just cut a couple of pieces out. The reason I wanted to remove it is cuz it was in the way when trying to mount the rear brackets for my whirly jig. Now I know why...



In the pic above you can see the crater I created by "pursuading" some of the bondo to "leave". There's a big dent there. I don't even think they attempted to straighten it out before applying the bondo. It was almost an inch thick.

Here's a piece of the valance I cut out on the right side of the car to get the bracket on my whirly jig to fit. Not quite as thick as the left side, but still pretty thick.






Oh, and here's me removing my lower right quarter panel. Know how I did it? I pulled on it. That's it. No cutting, no hammering, no nothing but pulling and it didn't take much effort.






I'll worry about the valance later. Might just get a repro one and call it a day. I think the media blaster guy might charge me double to blast this car.

[bill440rt]

Dude, is that CARDBOARD you got there?? A cardboard quarter panel?? 
Get that crap outta there.

If you're mounting the car on a rotisserie & plan on cutting off the valence, either do it first or leave it up to a bodyman to do it right. It's just drilling out spotwelds, & you'll need a hammer & chisel to help it along some.

[Rack]

I think it's fiberglass. Or fiberglass on top of cardboard.


So would it be ok to put it on the rotisserrie now, then replace the valance later?

[69bronzeT5]

All you need is one of these babys...

[Rack]

All you need is one of these babys...

I used one of these...

[Hemidog]

your car looks a lot like mine did, except the cardboard 
what are your plans? sandblasting? how does your trunk floor look?

[Rack]

The trunk floor actually doesn't look too bad, but I have to inspect it more closely cuz I thought the front floor looked good too, then I realized it had been "coated" in fiberglass.

I was under the car yesterday though, and from underneath the trunk looked solid.

[bill440rt]

I would leave the car together as much as possible if you're going to put it on a rotisserie. Depending on who you talk to, some people may disagree.

These cars really weren't designed to be supported by the very ends of the frame rails. It is a UNIBODY car, meaning one metal body part is dependant on the other. When you start cutting the car apart (removing 1/4's, floors, aprons, etc), and then placing it on a rotisserie, things start to flex where they shouldn't. Especially if you don't have the proper bracing.

Now, removing just the valence may not be a big deal, but it does tie the trunk floor to the rear crossmember, and those rear bumper brackets are also tied in together as well. The WELDED on valence connects everything.

IMHO, I would gut the body shell as much as possible, including suspension, & leave it intact. Cut out just the lower area of the valence for exposure, & any other small areas you know you're going to replace or are rusty (lower rear 1/4's, etc). Then, place it on the rotisserie for sandblasting. Get it back, & prime it. If you discover more rust when removing metal, you can always spot-blast those areas.

[Charger-Bodie]

I do 99% of the metal work before it ever sees the rotiserie.

Cut it apart , spot blast , do the metal work, then onto the rotiserie for the real blast job.

[The70RT]

I do 99% of the metal work before it ever sees the rotiserie.

Cut it apart , spot blast , do the metal work, then onto the rotiserie for the real blast job.

I agree with Brian....that's what I did. Brian (1hot68) and Leon (hemi hampton) are the pro's on here when it comes to body restoring. Look to them if you need any info. They pretty much have resto pics and info throughout the forum. Some cut the quarters, trunk and more off on a rotisorie but that seems kinda scarry to me. Don't get in a hurry and put it on a rotissire too soon....but what do I know  When you drill out the spot welds between the tailpanel & valance get a spot weld remover bit. Napa has them. Also when you drill them out go from inside the trunk then your holes you made will be smaller from the out side thus making you do less grinding on your tailpanel making less finish work....worked better for me.

[bill440rt]

I do 99% of the metal work before it ever sees the rotiserie.

Cut it apart , spot blast , do the metal work, then onto the rotiserie for the real blast job.

That's exactly the message I was trying to convey, Brian just summed it up in a LOT less words! Thanks, Brian!

You want to leave the body shell intact as much as possible, a few small exposed areas are probably OK, but don't go cutting off any major panels like entire 1/4's or something. The more you remove, the flimsier the body will become.

When I said "gut", I meant to remove everything BOLTED on in prep for sandblasting: suspension, glass, dash, etc. "Gut" the car down to a bare shell. Sorry if I wasn't more specific.

[terrible one]

Rack, the rear valance, the corners, and the tail panel are all separate pieces that are spot welded on. The valance is spot welded onto the tail panel, and I'm sure that you can see them going in a line all the way across. This is what you need to drill out in order to actually remove the valance as an assembly. . .

[Rack]

Thanks for the replies, Fellas.

I decided to leave it on for now, and just cut out the small pieces I needed out of the way in order to fit the brackets on. Nothing major. And even if I end up not needing/wanting to remove the valance, the pieces I cut out can easily be welded back in.


About the body work repsonse... I thought it was best to blast the car before doing anything so you can reveal all the spots that are going to need work? I'm new to this so I don't know either way. From what I had gathered, I thought it was best to blast, see what you're dealing with, do body work, spray build prime, block-block-block, seal, then paint. 


So that leads me to a chassis question... should I weld on my Subframe connectors before I get it blasted? What about torque boxes?

[The70RT]

Thanks for the replies, Fellas.

I decided to leave it on for now, and just cut out the small pieces I needed out of the way in order to fit the brackets on. Nothing major. And even if I end up not needing/wanting to remove the valance, the pieces I cut out can easily be welded back in.


About the body work repsonse... I thought it was best to blast the car before doing anything so you can reveal all the spots that are going to need work? I'm new to this so I don't know either way. From what I had gathered, I thought it was best to blast, see what you're dealing with, do body work, spray build prime, block-block-block, seal, then paint. 


So that leads me to a chassis question... should I weld on my Subframe connectors before I get it blasted? What about torque boxes?

We were just saying blast the areas where you put in new metal now so you will know what your welding to. I had mine blasted and primed then put it on the rottisorie. It is easier to weld when your standing up. Here is what I just did to mine.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,26598.60.html