Tearing it apart.

[areibel]

OK, I'm ready to start on my '69, it's been sitting in the garage way too long!
Overall it's not bad, I'm not seeing huge problems with the body but a few of the standard Charger problems are there- I need to replace the trunk floor, the passenger side quarter skin/ trunk extension/ outer wheelhouse along with the tail light panel, rear valence and the valence end caps.  Other than one section of the front floor pan and the dutchman panel that's the worst of it!
I've started soaking down the bumper bolts and misc. fasteners with some Blaster, I'm going to get the gas tank, taillights, back up lights and bumper out of the way, but is there a better way to get it all apart than just hacking away?  I have a friend's portable shear to cut off the skin, but for bulk removal does anyone have any tips or tricks?
And with one quarter skin removed along with the tail light panel, is that enough room to get the one piece floor pan in and out easily?  I'm not 100% sure what shape the driver's flor extensio0n is in, it's pretty well buried in undercoat.  I'm going to scrape it off to be sure, and the driver's quarter looks like it may only need two patches (but that could change too!).  I don't want to cut much of the driver's quarter if I don't have to, I'm hoping the trunk floor can get in and out easily without disturbing it.
Thanks for any help!
Al

[NHCharger]

Sounds like fun. I just replaced the trunk floor, floor pans, rear valance and caps on my 68 last year. Yes a one piece floor will slide in and out with just the rear valance removed. When i bought my trunk floor the supplier insisted that a one piece wouldn't slide through the valance area so I bought a two piece. It was actually easier with the two piece since I was working by myself and had the trunk floor in and out a dozen times working on the fitment.

Make sure you bag and tag all your nuts, bolts and fasteners.

You will have a fair amount of spot welds to drill out when removing the sheetmetal. I estimated around 300 when I did my bodywork.

[Brightyellow69rtse]

i didnt drill out any spot welds when i did the trunk. i used a air chisel to just break the metal off the framework. it actually worked really well. i didnt wanna go through all that crap and have to fill like 300 holes in and grind them flat again.

[areibel]

Thanks, it's good to hear from someone that's been through it!

A friend has recommended an air chisel to get the floor sheetmetal off.  It looks like once the reare valence and tail light panel are removed you could use a wide flat chisel and separate the pan from the frame rail flange.  It looks possible, but you'd still need to grind off the flange and I'm a little nervous about damaging the flange.  He said he's done (in a Rustang) but I don't want to risk anything.

[areibel]

OK RTSE, you're good- answering my question before I posted it!
Thanks!
Al

[NHCharger]

Yes an air chisel will be your best friend for removing a lot of the metal. If your careful with the spot weld cutter you will only drill through the floor, not the frame. You need to be careful with the air chisel as well. It can chew through the flange on the frame just as easy as the metal your trying to remove.
All I'm saying is I took the car apart trying to inflict minimum damage to the parts that were staying on the car. I was 90% successful