My GY8 '71 Road Runner

[poconos_power]

Wow, that patch looks good to me! I suspect I'll be doing some firewall repairs, and like you guys, I'm new to metal working too. I've been slowly gathering the pieces from garage sales while I finish up my shop. Got lucky and found an old school brake that weighed a ton for pretty cheap, but I think I'll need a bead roller. Do you like the woodward fab one?

 

[ct71rr]

Wow, that patch looks good to me! I suspect I'll be doing some firewall repairs, and like you guys, I'm new to metal working too. I've been slowly gathering the pieces from garage sales while I finish up my shop. Got lucky and found an old school brake that weighed a ton for pretty cheap, but I think I'll need a bead roller. Do you like the woodward fab one?

Thanks! The Woodward Fab bead roller is very easy to use and well built; heavy and solid! It also got a lot of good reviews which sold me on it. I got mine from JB Tools. They had the best deal at the time I purchased it.

https://www.jbtools.com/woodward-fab-wfbr6-18-bead-roller-kit/

Amazon now has it for a little cheaper:

https://www.amazon.com/Woodward-Fab-Bead-Roller-Model-WFBR6/dp/B01GWFBJE2

 

[Nxcoupe]

Man, doing a very nice job. I find putting everything together with self tappers really helps get it all lined out, then I skip around welding to keep warpage and distortion to a minimum. I've always wanted another one of these. I had a 440 six pack auto car that I sold off years ago. I traded a 73 340 4 spd with air challenger that ran and drove for the basket case road runner from Ken Papa. Wish I'd have kept it.

 

[ct71rr]

Thanks for the compliment! Self-tappers are a must. When I was a kid, one of my uncles had a ‘71 440/6, blue with white interior and air grabber. I loved that car.

 

[ct71rr]

Hello all, it’s been a while since I’ve worked on my car and been on this site. Family, life and work get in the way. A few weeks ago I received my delivery from SPI. Today I worked on what I hope is the final tweaking of the quarter panels. Next I hope to get the inner structures of the wheel well/roof structure areas blasted and in epoxy primer. Then I can get the insides of the quarters stripped, primed and coated with lizard skin before I weld them on for good.

 

[blue69runner]

All the stuff you need to get her done.

 

[71Beeper]

Keep at it ct - progress is good!

 

[ct71rr]

Hi all, I had some time today to get a few things done on the bird. The left side rear inner wheel well (say that three times fast) was a little short where it meets the trunk pan flange. I made a small patch to extend the wheel well. I inserted a piece of poster board in between the wheel well and trunk pan and traced the shape I needed. I then cut this out and traced it on a piece of sheet metal and then cut that out. After test fitting and adjusting several times, I tacked it in place. I will weld it in completely when the wheel well is off for the last time. That way, I can planish the weld as I go.

I then addressed the area where the rear trunk gutter meets the side gutter, specifically on the right side. The angles didn’t quite line up so, I made a slice in the existing rear trunk gutter, heated it up and hammered it closed. I then put a few tacks on it to hole it in place for now.

The only other spot that ‘s giving me trouble is part of the lip on the left rear outer wheel well where it meets up with the inside of the quarter panel. The lip appears either to be too short or pressed at the wrong angle. It’s only in a small area. The rest of it fits good with the quarter. Once I take it off, I’m going to try to correct the angle. If that doesn’t work, maybe I’ll add some more metal to it. We’ll see...

It was hard (that’s what she said) to get a good pic of what I’m talking about. It’s the area marked with the silver sharpy.

Thanks for looking!

 

[T2R9]

Very nice work!

 

[ct71rr]

Hello all, I started the process of putting the rear end back together. I started with the right side. I decided to remove the existing inner wheel well so that I could weld it to the AMD outer and install it as one piece. I thought this would be much easier to weld the two together and to repair sections that got chewed up when I removed the original outer wheel well. There was only about 12 spot welds holding the existing inner wheel well, so removal wasn’t that bad.

After removing the inner wheel well, I replaced a small section of the lip and welded up any holes and tears I found. I also had to repair a section at the bottom rear of the inner wheel well. This section has an offset on it. I used my bead roller to recreate this offset before welding the patch in. I then sanded the lips on both pieces and spayed with copper weld-through primer. I also ran a bead of seam sealer on the lip prior to spot welding the two halves together.

I then welded the trunk extension and wheel well back in. I sprayed the sanded areas with a little primer I had laying around for protection.

Making progress, slowly but steady.

 

[ct71rr]

Making progress. I got the rear trunk panel welded in and the quarter panel extension on the right side. Hard to see from the pics, I put the quarter back on (100th time) to make sure everything was fitting. I then started working on the left side. I was having trouble getting part of the lip on the outer wheel well to sit correctly on the lip of the quarter panel (left side). It looks like the lip on the outer wheel well was bent/struck incorrectly. After taking a bunch of measurements, I found that a section of the lip was about 1/8” or so short. I decided to slice this area out leaving an extra 1/8”. I then hammered and dollied the extra 1/8” flat and then welded in a longer lip. I then test fitted this to the quarter and it fits much better. I also finished welding the piece I had to add to the inner wheel well so that it sits right with the trunk floor pan.

Problem area:

Tacked in to test fit:

Fits much better:

Welded in:

Extra length to inner wheel well:

Trunk panel in:

 

[blue69runner]

Where the wheel well meets the drop down had a gap where the drop down was suppose to meet the well. Had to bend the drop down tap straight and make a piece to go in their. Yes this after market metal has a lot to be desired. I had bought a 4X8 sheet of metal just for this. The rear valance panel was not long enough either. Too much to be desired on the fitment of these part's. Look's like your getting it done and you are really deep into the car shell. That rear window gap is one that got me in the end. One person told me his buddy cut the lip off the quarter's and fitted them in so he would have window clearance. Are you using new quarters and roof. Thinking that what you ordered is all good with shape and size is not true as you are finding out. Had to have a custom made rear window made for mine to plug that hole. This is what happened to the new amd glass after it sat for two hour's of being installed.

 

[JC Boatguy]

It looks like a great project, if it were me, I would not get hung up on details too much. I would get her goin asap! Lol Heres a look at what you may have if put back to orig.

 

[ct71rr]

Where the wheel well meets the drop down had a gap where the drop down was suppose to meet the well. Had to bend the drop down tap straight and make a piece to go in their. Yes this after market metal has a lot to be desired. I had bought a 4X8 sheet of metal just for this. The rear valance panel was not long enough either. Too much to be desired on the fitment of these part's. Look's like your getting it done and you are really deep into the car shell. That rear window gap is one that got me in the end. One person told me his buddy cut the lip off the quarter's and fitted them in so he would have window clearance. Are you using new quarters and roof. Thinking that what you ordered is all good with shape and size is not true as you are finding out. Had to have a custom made rear window made for mine to plug that hole. This is what happened to the new amd glass after it sat for two hour's of being installed.

I knew going in that the replacement panels wouldn’t be exact fits. To be honest, I think they are better than I expected. And, they are far better than nothing. I’m not replacing the roof. How did that rear window break? From the opening being too tight?

 

[ct71rr]

View attachment 1187054 It looks like a great project, if it were me, I would not get hung up on details too much. I would get her goin asap! Lol Heres a look at what you may have if put back to orig.

Yeah, sometimes I can be a little OCD. You have a very nice Satellite there!

 

[blue69runner]

Too tight in the hole. Revel clips where hitting the glass. Paid two thou for a one off too be made. But it is what it is just to finish the car. Your back window is a bit different for sure. Mine is a 69 runner. Wish you the best. Take your time it will all come together.

 

[hunt2elk]

Hello all, it’s been a while since I’ve worked on my car and been on this site. Family, life and work get in the way. A few weeks ago I received my delivery from SPI. Today I worked on what I hope is the final tweaking of the quarter panels. Next I hope to get the inner structures of the wheel well/roof structure areas blasted and in epoxy primer. Then I can get the insides of the quarters stripped, primed and coated with lizard skin before I weld them on for good.
View attachment 1174012

I really like SPI epoxy primer and have used it quite a bit. Never sprayed it on exterior body panels, but pretty much everywhere else. One nice thing about the black primer (not sure about white and grey) is that it has UV protectors in it so they claim it technically doesn't need top coating. I always spray some single stage over it just for piece of mind though.

 

[ct71rr]

Today I got the left side wheel wells welded together and welded into the car. I also welded in the trunk pan extension. I still need to grind the plug welds down.

Wheel wells welded together and test fitting:

After getting the wheel well in, I put the quarter back on, again, to make sure everything was fitting correctly.

I then welded the wheel well in:

I also hosed the inside of the roof bracing with Eastwoods frame rail coating (hard to see in image). I did the same to the other side too.

Hopefully I’ll have the quarters installed by December...

 

[ct71rr]

Today I got the left side quarter reinforcement panel welded in. I decided to add a small angled piece to the area where it connects to the trunk floor extension. It was overlapping only by about an 1/8” toward the bottom.

Welded on:

I still need to finish sanding the welds. I also started fixing the areas that got a little chewed up when removing the quarter panels.

Fixed:

I also made a small patch for the area where the trunk floor met up with the left side trunk floor extension. There was a small area that didn’t quite match up:

Patch:

Welded in:

 

[blue69runner]