Wednesday morning saw us getting started around 10 a.m., and it didn't take long for things to get accomplished. By 11:43, the trunk floor was in place and ready for welding. While Chris handled that, Craig and I were fitting the floorpan that stretched from the firewall to the rear seat area. I have to admit, I was skeptical about how this new sheetmetal was going to fit, but in the end, I had to concede to the fact that it did, and it fit well.
By 2:30 in the afternoon, the trunk floor was installed, and the cabin floor was having the finish welding done. I did get nervous, though, at about 1:00 when I saw Craig grinding and welding a pair of clamping pliers, but was pleasantly surprised when I saw the sheetmetal clamp that he made to fit over the rocker panel and secure the floorpan to the rocker. When 5:00 rolled around, Chris had the outer wheel houses and trunk extensions ready to accept the first quarter-panel, and it was time to go grab some grub and a beer--or something like that.
With the car's floors finished up on day three, and the back half of the car temporarily clamped together, it was time to focus on actually installing the quarter-panels. To do this, the trunk extensions, the outer wheelhouses, the trunk lid, and the doors all need to be installed on the car, but not welded in place. This is where a lot of clamping pliers come into play. Think about it, without having the doors, wheelhouses and trunk extensions in place, there is no way to know if the quarter-panel is properly located. By temporarily assembling all of the panels that coincide with the quarter-panels, the body lines and gaps can be set up like they need to be. By 9:30, the pieces were clamped into place, and the passenger-side quarter-panel was being positioned on the car.
The driver side was a little trickier, however, as the door striker/jamb area needed to be replaced as well. The nice thing about fitting panels on a Mopar is that there are alignment holes, and locating "tabs" that help position the pieces being installed. By 11:30, the driver-side quarter-panel was also hanging in its new location--albeit temporarily. We were really beginning to think that we might make it after all. With the back half of the car clamped together, it was time to cut and remove the Dutchman panel.
The Dutchman panel is the panel between the rear window and the trunk lid, and ours was in bad shape. Over time, water and dirt collect in the window channel, and the result is unwanted rust that creates unnecessary vent holes. It was close to 3:00, and we wanted to at least have everything clamped in place before the end of the day. Things were going our way, and when 5:00 came around, the Dutchman panel and the rest of the back half of the car had been spot-welded into place, and was ready for final welding on day five.
What I forgot to mention about day four, is that a couple of guys from the Tennessee Valley Mopar Club made the trek to North Georgia to see how things were going. Since they decided to hang out with us, we decided to put a couple of them to work. In hind sight, they might not come back since we did, but they were cool about it. Anyway, as with any situation where a bunch of guys get together, the night following day four was spent conversing and partaking of the cuisine at the local German eating establishment after we all finally found out where it was, right guys? It was a pleasant surprise to find out that they served beverages there as well--the 8 a.m. wake up time came too soon. Anyway, this was our final day to complete the job, and it looked like we might make it.
7 I have to admit, I was...
7 I have to admit, I was impressed at how well the full floor pan fit in the body of the Dart. I was ready for major hammering and tweaking, but none was needed. Now, don't kid yourself and think that any replacement panel will fall into place, and attach itself. There are too many variances built into each car for that to happen. Even when these cars will newly-built at the factory, the assembly guys had hammers.
8 When replacing this much...
8 When replacing this much sheetmetal, having the right tools is crucial. The welder that Chris is using is a pinch welder that not only makes the repairs resemble the original factory welds, it saves a lot of time. You can make do with a drill and a MIG welder, which will cost a lot less. Simply place the panel in its location, and mark the framerails from underneath. Once you have everything marked, drill holes just inside your lines, put the panel back in place, and then weld the drilled holes to the structure.
9 Speaking of having the...
9 Speaking of having the right tools, if you don't, just make them. These locking pliers were modified to aid in keeping the floor tight to the rocker panel for welding. This area of the body is too big for the welder that Craig has, but you can see the drilled holes that will be fill-welded to attach the floor.
10 Most A-Body cars have...
10 Most A-Body cars have had the jamb/striker area crack, and now AMD makes this complete jamb area to fix that problem. The jamb comes with alignment embossings formed into the panel to help you get it back in place properly.
11 Like we said earlier,...
11 Like we said earlier, to properly install the quarter-panel, you have to temporarily install the rest of the parts that attach to it. At this point, everything is only clamped together to allow for any adjustments that need to be made for proper alignment.
12 Since the Dutchman panel...
12 Since the Dutchman panel needs replacing, it's removed, and the replacement is temporarily put in place to allow for alignment of the entire rear half of the car.