70 unibody gets new metal

[oldgold69]

i would like to know how you lined up the body line on the quarter panel without the door on   and if you did put the door on how was the body line  i will use a patch panel like yours  do you cut off the door jamb edge and then line up your body line   your work makes me feel more comfortable about my ability to finish my car   

[The70RT]

 

[Hemidog]

My hat goes off! 

[Fred]

It's a true labour of love isn't it?
Oh and the satisfaction it brings...................mind blowing! 

[Domino]

i would like to know how you lined up the body line on the quarter panel without the door on   and if you did put the door on how was the body line  i will use a patch panel like yours  do you cut off the door jamb edge and then line up your body line   your work makes me feel more comfortable about my ability to finish my car   

- While the doors were on and aligned and I scribed marks on the leading edge of the original quarters
- the leading 2" or so of each quarter with the alignment marks was maintained since I butt welded the skin.

If you replace the leading edge then you'll need to have the doors on (with new/rebuilt hinges) and align your quarters to the doors.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each way.  I would probably replace the leading edge if I did it again, but both ways work...

[oldgold69]

did you do it the way you did to leave the factory spot welds intact  or just thought it was easier than plug welding in the jambs  what did you do with the rocker edge    thanks for advice

[Domino]

did you do it the way you did to leave the factory spot welds intact  or just thought it was easier than plug welding in the jambs  what did you do with the rocker edge    thanks for advice

Primarily it was for maintaining original door gap alignment. 2ndly for stock appearance of the door jamb.
Both of those concerns can be addressed.

plug welding in the jamb shouldn't be a problem, certainly easier than butt welding.

The rocker transition is at the factory location overlapped with plug welds. 
From the top: I connected the vertical butt weld seam with a horizontal butt weld seam ~2" wide and about even with the bottom of the door. from there is AMD's version of the rounded corner down to the rocker flap.
I worked this corner area: made a bridge with a little triangle of sheet metal + build up some weld, then die grinder to smooth it out.
Also, progressively welded up the flap at the rocker transition.
Rough it in with all metal filler and final skim with body filler.

[Domino]

Metal work phase is winding down, although this hood structure is proving to be a good challenge

Blasted the hidden areas and started cutting out bad areas.   Even though there are only a few pin holes visible from the outside, once separated, there are several large areas that had deep pits.
Starting with the front x-member where the latches mount.  I took angle measurements at various places on the support frame to compare back to.  Also, took combination square meaurements to some marks so that the height is set right.  So if the height it right, and the angles match, it should be good to go.





Everything is butt welded and smoothed out.  I spent some extra time welding the seams on the inside too so that with epoxy primer I shouldn't have any future issues.
I also made an inner reinforcement channel (like OEM) with welded rectangular nuts to accept the latch hardware.  That's the machine screws visible.

[Domino]

Oh, one more thing...should I remake the 4 support crimps along the front or leave it smooth? 

I think there was some discussion about daytona hoods vs '70 hoods, can't recall if there were smooth '70 hoods late 69 or something like that.  Someone have that info or a link to it?

[matrout76]

Domino,

Great work!

How do you bend your patch panels so the bend radius matches the original part?

I need to make a patch for some pin holes under the battey tray and and trying to figure out how to best match the bend radius.

Thanks!
Matt

[Domino]

Domino,

Great work!

How do you bend your patch panels so the bend radius matches the original part?

I need to make a patch for some pin holes under the battey tray and and trying to figure out how to best match the bend radius.

Thanks!
Matt

I made that patch too...You can probably just bend that by hand over the edge of a bench, maybe with some clamps, a piece of wood and a mallet.  To increase the radius of curvature, you can also make several small angle bends moving the bend location a little each time.

In general, I don't own a brake, shear, shrinker/stretcher or any other sheet metal tools.   So I use snips, jigsaw, vise, hammers, dollies and improvise the rest...

[nh_mopar_fan]

Wow. NO way I would've guessed you were doing all these by hand.

Amazing work! 

[Domino]

Wow. NO way I would've guessed you were doing all these by hand.

Amazing work! 

To be fair, I did make a few bends at a fully equipped shop early on (the rear inner rockers, and rear window track), but it was a PITA to travel 20 mins each way back and forth.  I realized I could improvise and get done quicker.

[winghawg]

any progress on the charger? very impressive metal work

[AKcharger]

You dissassembled the hood/frame    I've NEVER known anyone to do that before!

Best metal work I've seen...EVER!  

P.S. What do you do for a living??

[Orange Bird]

I bet he is a TV repair man.

[Orange Bird]

Excellent work by the way

[RIDGERACER383]

How is the charger coming?Any updates?Looking great so far.

[winghawg]

any new up dates on your charger

[ACUDANUT]

Yea, what happened ?. I love following this story.

[nvrbdn]

 

[Charger-Bodie]

Id love to see how this Charger is progessing.

[Cncguy]

Now that's how you fix a Charger! Way to go!

I was wondering if you had any tips on repairing  the rear Dutchman panel ( between the sail panels). I would like to keep as much of the original as possible.

[hemi-hampton]

First time I seen this post. Interesting thread. Wonder what happened?   LEON.

[Domino]

Hi guys, didn't realize there were replies here. 
I've been rebuilding my boat, so my shop is full of fiberglass dust.
I have pics of that, but that's for an entirely different forum!

Ill continue posting pics on this when I pick the charger project back up.

B-mail if you have any questions for your project, I'll try to help ASAP.