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 5 At this point, the rear...  5 At this point, the rear tray was also removed to assess the damage and replace it. The spot welds holding the Dutchman panel in place are located under the panel and were drilled out. We will cover replacement of this piece in a later installment. Meanwhile, the rest of the rot for our window-channel problem was carefully removed, leaving the inner metal to support the new pieces.  6 With the metal cut out,...  6 With the metal cut out, we used an air chisel to knock the remaining pieces off the inner structure of the window channel.  7 Remember, a clean surface...  7 Remember, a clean surface is vital. We used a Twinfiber wheel to make this go quickly without doing any damage to the raw metal. You can use whatever you have handy.  8 Here is the replacement...  8 Here is the replacement YearOne corner placed against the original location before the cutting started, and again once the old metal was cut out. The production variances in this car made the stamped angle of our replacement piece off by a small amount.  In our case, we will not need...  In our case, we will not need the whole thing, so the trimming begins. You can see the higher area where the rear tray fits has already been cut off the new piece.  9 After measuring, two alignment...  9 After measuring, two alignment holes were drilled to temporarily hold the new corner piece in place. The larger hole on the B-post is for the chrome trim that was removed with the vinyl top.  10 Before anything else was...  10 Before anything else was done, the replacement parts were again measured for exact fit. From the underside, you can see the corner of the new piece is lower than the corner of our cut edge and will need to be "tweaked."  The new rear Dutchman tray...  The new rear Dutchman tray and support were partially installed to give a good base to attach the inner tab of our corner.  11 To change the angle of...  11 To change the angle of the new corner, a cut was made to both corners of the replacement piece except at the center upright edge so it can flex but not become two separate pieces. It can then be adjusted to fit exactly.  12 Using the old piece of...  12 Using the old piece of removed metal as a template, the corner piece was adjusted and marked.  13 The gaps were carefully...  13 The gaps were carefully welded up. to prevent heat build-up, we worked slowly to "sew" the metal together.  14 With the new piece held...  14 With the new piece held in place with our Cleco pins (if you don't have Clecos, use sheetmetal screws), an exact template of the rest of the cut-out metal area was made, using heavy paper and trimming it to fit.
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