Basket case
Well-Known Member
reread your own thread....look at the level of work you have been doing. now go weld that quarter and feel great about it. and if it doesn't look good enough, do what the other guys here have done and do some tweaking.
69 Coronet 440 project
- Thread starter BigBlock61
- Start date
451Mopar
Well-Known Member
You have been doing great work! Really inspiring to us who need to do the same. I just had a screw-up yesterday making holes for my vintage air A/C install. Made the holes too big. For now, I'm just going to put put some sheet metal over it with the correct size holes, then when I get to the Body work point in a year or two, I'll fix it the right way (weld it up.) For now I just want to get everything fitted. Right now I have so much aftermarket stuff on the car, I have had to hack alot of the car.
BigBlock61
Well-Known Member
I know what you're saying, and I think for never doing this before, I'm doing pretty good. It just never quells the fears of the unknown.
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Thanks for the kind words 451, And it's good to know that you have a workaround until it can be fixed right. You'll get there.
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Well I'm on the other side now or at least mostly on the other side. I've got the quarter tacked in place for now.
I figured out really quick to remove the panel clamps as soon as I had a weld near them or else they would get stuck. I'm running into a little bit of warping. For you guys that have done this before how do you deal with the warping? I've already started taping things back into place with a body hammer while it's still hot. before I get much further I want to recheck my measurements and retry my end cap to make sure everything stays in place.
In this pic you can see a dip in the panel in a spot that I can't easily get to. Any thoughts?
Weld a bolt to it and pull.
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Also quench your welds with a wet rag.
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Also quench your welds with a wet rag.
BigBlock61
Well-Known Member
I always thought quenching made the welds brittle?
BigBlock61
Well-Known Member
I decided this evening to do a little research on welding deformation and how to control it. I found two pretty decent sites that explain what it is and how to minimize it, so I figured I'd share them.
weldingdesign.com
www.lincolnelectric.com
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Oh yea and by the way, I talked with my boss at the DMC today and she wants to bring me back. I'm really happy about that, but to start off it's going to be 2 days a week. She has work to be done but still doesn't have a way to pay for it, so that part sucks, but it's better that nothing which is what I have now. So all in all I'll rate today as a good day.
weldingdesign.com
www.lincolnelectric.com
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Oh yea and by the way, I talked with my boss at the DMC today and she wants to bring me back. I'm really happy about that, but to start off it's going to be 2 days a week. She has work to be done but still doesn't have a way to pay for it, so that part sucks, but it's better that nothing which is what I have now. So all in all I'll rate today as a good day.
Quarters!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's gotta feel good to be putting those on. Wish I could help on the warpage but my only secret is slow and steady spacing them all out at least an 1" and I don't quench.
BigBlock61
Well-Known Member
Feels good putting them on? More like scary as hell putting them on LOL. Your secret on controlling warping seems to be pretty close to what most of the web sites are saying.
BigBlock61
Well-Known Member
Finished my long weld this evening and it looks like minimal warping but I am going to have some bodywork to do.
Basket case
Well-Known Member
looking good!
roadrunnerman
Well-Known Member
I'd say that looks pretty darn good and it looks like the tail end is lined up still as well. From what I can see, it looks like the spacing by the door is even as well. I hope mine looks as well as yours does when I get to that point.
BigBlock61
Well-Known Member
Yea the tail end is going to need some slight modifications to fit flush and I haven't even really looked at the door opening yet. So far so good though
roadrunnerman
Well-Known Member
What did you use to cut the old 1/4 off?
BigBlock61
Well-Known Member
Blair spotweld cutter for all the spotwelds and a plain old B&D jigsaw to cut the long line at the top. I used the new quarter skin as a guide to make the cut across the top.
BigBlock61
Well-Known Member
The Coronet officially has a name now, it's going to be known as Scar, and Scar is trying to kick my *** with this quarter that I welded on. What I originally thought was minimal warping was me kidding myself. It's more like a wave, it starts out high at the tail light panel, dips down towards the middle of the trunk opening, goes high again at the end of the trunk, then finally low towards the end of the side window. My body hammers are really getting a workout with this problem and I already broke one of them haha. I knew the quarter was going to be a lot of work but I wasn't expecting this, what an eye opener. Now don't get me wrong I'm not giving up, I will beat this quarter into submission and Scar will not kick MY ***!
Right now though, it's time for a fire, a few beers, and relax for the night, for tomorrow I battle! :headbang:
It's a little hard to see the wave in this photo but it is there. Slowly but surely she's getting straight.
Right now though, it's time for a fire, a few beers, and relax for the night, for tomorrow I battle! :headbang:
It's a little hard to see the wave in this photo but it is there. Slowly but surely she's getting straight.
Basket case
Well-Known Member
if GOOD bodywork was easy, anyone could do it. Take the night off, and you'll kick that quarters *** tomorrow!
Coronet66JJ
Active Member
have you considered doing bodywork for a living? restoration is profitable and in demand also no lay-offs
BigBlock61
Well-Known Member
I ended up taking the weekend off and hopefully I'll be able to get out to the garage to work on Scar today.
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I consider it every day, but reality is, that I don't have the room with a single car garage and low ceilings. Maybe someday.
That sucks to hear, to be honest that's one of the reasons I bought full quarters that and my trunk opening was pretty rough. Sheetmetal work is not my strongest suit for sure. Good luck
BigBlock61
Well-Known Member
Yea I was considering going with a full quarter on this side at first, but for the most part the passenger side looked salvageable. A skin is a whole lot cheaper than a full quarter and that drove my decision making. Now I just have to make it work. The plan now is to get rid of the wave and grind down the weld till it's close to flush. I'm going to put a full quarter on the other side, so once it's on, I can match the passenger side to the drivers side and make it symmetrical. I will figure this out, I'm too thick headed to give up now! :blob8:
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