The work continues fitting the replacement back half to the original body.
This shows some of the work going on inside the trunk. The outer wheelhouse braces are a two piece design, so we were able to connect the replacement brace to the original brace just like it was originally. You can also see the work being done to match up the wheelhouses.
The trunk floors were also seperated at a factory spot welded seam, so that we could connect the two back together just like it came from the factory. The original convertible upper deck panel skin was removed so that we could repair the rust in the rear drain channel. All of the spot welds were drilled out so it could be removed in one piece without tearing it up. Since this is an area that is prone to rust we decided to coat the lower part of the structure with some Zero-Rust coating.
The two panels are now spot welded together. We opted to butt the two panels together instead of flanging the panels and overlapping them.
The panels will be oxy-acetylene welded with a Henrob torch.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Keith
// Dec 12, 2009 at 11:44 am
Steve, your pics are outstanding. I had a ‘65 convertible hit my door yesterday. Its not too bad except it came from Wisconsin. Rust pitted bottom 1/3 all around. Are there any parts any where?
2 Steve
// Dec 13, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Keith,
From what I have found there isn’t anyone making repro sheet metal parts. For other parts check with http://www.oldbuickparts.com
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