1967 ss/rs resto/mod

[Lynn]

"I'm running out of excuses to not [fill in the blank]. I'm apprehensive about screwing this up and am procrastinating terribly."

Isn't that the truth.

Congrats on getting over the hump.

[dykstra]

Coming along nicely Mitch!

[Too Many Projects]

Been a while since an update. Progress has been slow, as I was now procrastinating on the final fit of the NOS tail panel, when I realized it would be MUCH easier to replace the extension panel without the tail panel in the way. SO, I successfully avoided the tail panel for a while, again...
I used a cut off wheel to remove the bulk of the panel for better access to the spot welds. I removed them with the 1991 stone grinder.








And this is a California car.... a coastal car. Still WAYYYY better than anything from the Midwest to restore.











I did run the crud thug with descaler wire wheel on this and then soaked it with rust converter before the new panel was installed.








Out of the box, it was a little wide. The trunk lid to quarters gap is already wider than I'd really like, so did a little hammer forming to get this panel to fit inside.





Well, it finally dropped in, but the trunk seal gutter isn't very well shaped. Slice and dice and hammer form them too.








Got all 4 corners to lay flat with the quarters.

[Too Many Projects]

Been a long time since I had much to post about this project.
I did get the extension panel on last April. The window flange was welded but I panel bonded the seal channel and the end flanges at the quarter.





Then I got goofy and decided to attempt to replicate the brazing of the corners. I learned how to braze in HS shop class....over 50 yrs ago....and that was about the last time I did it, so not the best job, but I'll keep practicing.








In August of 2019, I drove to Buffalo, NY for an NOS RS left fender. While I was in MI for the inaugural MCACN summer show, I continued on Eastward to Marysville and bought the matching right side...





I did nothing on the car until a few weeks ago, as summer and fall duties take most of my time, along with a double hernia I had to deal with for 6 weeks.

It was time to finish fitting the NOS tail panel and I thought I had it close last April, but I still spent another 8 hours, or so, agonizing over it and making a few tweaks.





One of my biggest hangups was needing to cut out the reverse light holes and I had to just get beyond that.
There was another Granada Gold '67 featured at MCACN that really got me going again and when I got home I marked all the holes I needed to make for plug welding, stripped paint off them and the spot weld areas and welded it on.











I bolted the bumper brackets on to aid in pulling the panel tight to the floor and support panel behind it.

[Too Many Projects]

This is what got me motivated again. The build tag date is, actually, the week before mine was made at the LA plant..






When I removed the tail panel, I was "assuming" I would use my AMD that has the reverse light holes stamped in it, so I wasn't concerned about cutting thru the factory hole. Now, this is what I have to determine the correct location. The marks on the panel are from laying the AMD on it and tracing. They were quite close, but the panel must have shifted during the tracing as the left side was off by 3/8". After another couple hours of measuring and agonizing, I finally drilled the corners and made the cuts. I deliberately made the hole too small to final fit with a 2" disc sander and once that was done, I was relieved to see the lamp fall right in the backing plate holes.















Fit the tail light to see if it appeared centered.



After getting the right side cut in, which took more work, as the backer holes were off a little, I just HAD to mock it all up to see it. I haven't seen the car this assembled for over 4 years.



Not much left of the original sheet metal anymore. The right q-panel is NOS, as is the tail panel, but the extension, left skin and backer panel are all AMD, as well as the unseen 1 piece trunk floor and right trunk extension/drop.





Gas cap is NOS from Anthony a while back.
The tail panel on the car had been replaced and sectioned in thru the middle of the left tail light. The cable retainer for the cap was bolted thru the left, lower neck mounting hole and I'm wondering if that is correct, or just a handy place for the hacker to install it ? And, yes, the tail panel and right quarter panel repair were a major hack job, with much of the original panels still under the replacements that were brazed on over them.




None of the holes on the NOS panel are punched large enough for the retainer to fit thru. Hoping someone knows what the correct location was.

[Steve Shauger]

Hi Mitch here are the pics you requested. LMK if you need others. Taken on my 67 L78 survivor

[Too Many Projects]

After I got the reverse light holes made, I moved on to the trunk latch bracket. This is after a week soaking in Evaporust to soften the black paint sprayed over the spatter and the spatter itself. During test fitting, I discovered this was still twisted from the crash too and had to bend it around to fit straight.

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After shooting with SPI epoxy.

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I was able to spot weld the top to avoid welding and cleaning that in the seal channel.

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Threw some sloppy welds on the bottom, to mimic the factory ones I cut out...

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Then I cut off the rusted right rain gutter...

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Went at it with the crud thug for an hour and chewed all the rust off.

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Bought a set of Dynacorn gutters.

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Cut it down to fit what I had removed.

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Cut the flange that would have gone under the roof to fit below the existing flange for mounting.

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It fit and followed the roof very well.

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This will get butt welded after the panel bond cement cures.

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I forgot to take a pic with all the clamps on. I had 9 clamps holding it in place. It is very sturdy after curing.

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[Too Many Projects]

I have a friend who owned a body repair business for 40 yrs, who retired and sold the business a year ago. His wife passed from Dementia a few months back and he's trying to find things to do to keep himself occupied. He ASKED if he could come over and work on the Camaro. I didn't turn him down. He's been production all his life and I had to work on him to slow down and relax. This is RESTORATION work and there is no time limit. I'll just post some progress pics of the last few weeks.













The roof was a mess. It had a lot of rust popping thru the old paint and was blistered from the previous person using a disc grinder to go after the deep rust. I cleaned nearly all the rust out of the pits with my crud thug and made the blisters a little worse... There's quite a few hours in that roof here and we did more before sealer/primer. In reality, I should have replaced the roof skin, but it is what it is now.









Today, we got it in the first real coat of SPI primer/sealer and got to see all the little "stuff' we still need to do better on, but it isn't as much of a multi colored mutt anymore.

[Lynn]

I think you need to send you friend down my way. I can find things for him to do.

You made this statement on page one or two. I don't remember seeing the update.


"That turned into the usual repairs but I tried a product, new to me, that was supposed to be the greatest at stopping and sealing any future rust. More on that time consuming fail later."

I am a firm believer that you don't seal rust. You cut it out and replace it. This thread is making me tired. Also makes me thankful for the 99% rust free body on my 69 Z/28 as well as the projects I have lined up. I just don't buy rusty ones.

[dykstra]

Great job Mitch, having the car in primer has to feel good.