Gregg's 69 Camaro

Gregg asked us to remove the remaining quarter panel and roof sections and then replace all the metal with new pieces he has already purchased.

The car does not have much rust at all, some bent pieces but basically it's in great shape. A really strong candidate for a restoration. 

The floors are maybe the worst part of the car and even at that they are not rotted out. However, we will be replacing them.

First, a jig is built to hold the car in factory original specs, this is a mandatory step in doing this level of work.

Next I built an extension for the cherry picker and an "H" bar to do the lift on the body. Not much problem getting these two tools built and up went the body.

Here set on the jig, the car is ready for a fine tune setting of the factory measurements.

Here all is set and in to place, the car was only a hair off from original, nothing we can't fix.

The floor will now be removed and replaced, the plasma cutter we just bought (and will bill to Gregg lol) made short work of this.

Here the old floors are gone and the new are being test fitted and aligned. I don't mean to make this sound to easy, it was a pain to remove the seat perch and center brace intact as they will be reused.

Now welded in but still needing grinding, this is how it will look. The fit is good after some gentle persuasion with a large hammer. If all goes well, it will be hard to tell that they were replaced.

The roof was removed and the left front corner needed to be repaired as well as a push to the entire roof to get it square again. Then a generous coating of POR will be applied to keep the rust from ever returning.

The dash needed to be replaced as it has rusted where it met the windshield. Not at all uncommon for these cars to rust like that.

Here is a test fit of the left quarter panel, the inner fender has been welded in and the roof is only resting on top, as is the rear deck panel. So far all looks good.

The right rear had been "kissed" at one point and the metal badly distorted, I welded in a replacement piece and attached the trunk extension. Next I will grind and prime the area. Then the car will be completely ready for the outside metal to be fit and attached.

Vice grips are my friends. here they are holding the quarters in place while I take about a thousand measurements. The aftermarket panels are good, however, they are not original and do no fit perfectly and will need hours of fitting to get the gaps right. This is a long frustrating process, but the end justifies the journey. 

The sail panel has been spot welded into place and the roof ready to be set down for fit and finish.

A view of the finished rear section of the car. The gaps are not quiet perfect due to the aftermarket metal, but we will get it very close.