After the trunk was roughed-in, the 1/4s came next. The LH side was removed first by cutting through all the original spot welds. With the panel removed, it was confirmed that the outer wheel house needed to be replaced too. So a reproduction outer wheelhouse was purchased from the Parts Place, trimmed, clamped, and welded in place. While the old 1/4 panel was removed, all the inner panels were sandblasted and painted before the NOS 1/4 panel was installed.
Are the trunk and innners going to be replaced after the quarters are in place and the car is on a rotissery?
The same basic process was repeated on the RH side: remove 1/4, sandblast all the inner panels, replace outer wheelhouse, paint everything inside to prevent rust, install new 1/4 panel. It looks and sounds easy here, be this took many hours.
One thing I forgot to mention, before replacing the 1/4s, the doors were removed so the door hinges could be rebuilt (new bushings). The original doors were actually not good enough to reuse (rusty), so they were both replaced. The rebuilt hinges were placed on the replacement doors, and rehung onto the car and aligned with the old 1/4 panels. Then the old 1/4s were removed and new 1/4 panels were attached so that the door gaps were nice and even. If you attempt to do this with old, worn-out hinges, then if you ever rebuild your hinges later, it may be difficult to get the gaps even again. So, rebuild the hinges first.
WOW. its almost like I am looking into the future besides the whole replacing the roof thing. Lucky for me I dont have to replace that.
What a great thread! You guys certainly do amazing work. The photos with the roof cut off reminds me of Sheriff Buford T. Justice's cruiser. :laugh:
Gary, Looks like a good job so far! Not to get side-tracked, but do you have any close-ups of the Keystones that were on it?
Gary, The progress you've made with your GS is fascinating, and very helpful, as I'm working on a similar project, to save another '70 Stage 1, not quite as rough as yours, but still needs major repairs (roof/windshield & rear window channels/1/4 panel(s)?). I'd rather not cut into the framework (A-pillars & side 1/4 supports), as you've done, if I don't have to, to just replace the roof & 1/4 panel SKINS, instead. I'm not as confident to be able to get it perfectly lined up for the windows to fit correctly again, so I won't take that chance. Your pictures show good references, though, as I (among many other GS owners who are restoring their cars) will be attempting similar repairs, as well. Good luck, keep us posted, and THANKS for sharing!:beers2: Link to my '70 GS Stage 1 project, if you're interested: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=218316
I want to be clear, it's one guy doing ALL this work, and it isn't me, it's my 62 year old dad. He's a one man operation and when he restores a car he does everything himself except chrome work, engine machine work, gauge repair, seat belt restoration, tops (vinyl or convertible), and some upholstery work (like stitching seats). He doesn't get on this bulletin board or spend much time on the computer. Maybe that's why he gets so much done! You are right this thing with the roof cut off looked like Sheriff Justice's cruiser! I love that movie! Here are the only 2 close-up photos I have of the old wheels. They were in very rough condition. I think my dad gave them to a neighbor. The wheels had locking nuts on them, but we opened the glove box and surprise, surprise, the lock adapter was still in the car. Much easier than cutting them off! Thanks for the compliments. I enjoy visiting my dad each week and seeing what he has done to the car. The inner structure on this car's roof was too rusty so he decided he needed to replace everything. He actually enjoyed it because it was something new that he had never done before. I believe he measured everything about 10 times before he made any cuts! Your car certainly is similar to this one. Triple borwn was the most highly produced combination in '70 according to the Daily Car Reports from GM. I can't imagine that buyers picked that color combo, I think dealers just had them on their lots. Your car appears to also need some attention, but will be a great project. Just plan on it taking about twice as long, and costing twice as much, as you plan. Having the original engine is a real bonus. If our car still had the original engine the car would have been restored back to original. But since ALL the original drivetrain was gone, and also because it was a rust bucket, this seemed like a car that could be modified with a clear conscious. Of course all of the deviations from original will be minor and most will be unnoticed to the casual observer. Good luck with your project, and post photos as you progress along. Thanks, there will be lots more coming. It will probably take another year to get it completed. One big hurdle is that the engine still has to be built (most expensive part of this restoration $$), but the money that would have gone toward the engine was used instead to buy this '72 Stage 1 convertible last month, http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=219829 but the car was too cool to pass up!
Gary, Wow!!!!! Your Dad sure likes to take on a project. Good for him. Tell him he's doing a hell of a job. I'm hoping my convertible doesn't look like that when I finally decide to restore it. Keep us posted and visit your Dad often. Lon
Believe it or not, this really isn't the roughest, or rustiest (is that a word?) car he has restored. But it is the first car that he's had to replace the roof. He likes knowing that he saved one from being parted out. There's almost always something hidden in a car that you won't discover until you take it apart, but if your car was really bad like this one, you would know it without taking anything apart I usually go to his place every weekend, so I keep close tabs on the progress. Oh, here's a photo of the '69 Chevelle SS396 sedan (the only year Chevy made a Chevelle SS sedan) that he's restoring for a friend. As you can see, it required some serious metal work too!
After getting the major panels roughed in, the body was then strong enough to mount onto his rotisserie. While on the rotisserie he will do all the sand blasting, finish work on the welds, make and install small patch panels for the miscellaneous rusted areas (lots of these!), do all the body work, and paint everything. So here it is ready to roll over:
As expected there are many smaller areas that need metal work to repair rust. We were amazed that a car with such a rusty roof and rusty trunk, didn't have completely rotted floor pans to match. Still plenty of metal work to do however.
So at this point he started at the rear of the car sandblasting and worked his way forward. He blasted every square inch except for the outer body panels. This takes lots of hours. Nothing glamorous here, just dirty work. Lots of areas were thin and had holes after being blasted. All of these areas got small patches as needed.
