I was reading the post about how people thought it was a slow forum..... So I have a simple question. You guys can post all the responses you would like!!!

I have a 69 that I am restoring. I am new to the car deal but really want to do it myself. I am 28 years old and have wanted a car like the one I bought since I was 14. I know the quick answer to this will be have a body man do it but I want to get the know how.

I have already bought the rear quarters and am about to cut out the old ones. What should I expect to find behind them that will also need to be replace. I know this is a broad statement but if you could give me examples of theor nightmares that are hidden behind the quarters that would be great! Also the trunk pan is mint so there is no problem there. This was a Texas car born and raised. Thank god ot was not a minnesota car born and raised otherwise I would have bought myself a cowl tag and that would have been about it, on a nice minnesota car maybe a steering wheel also!

 

Ya, your right. Pretty broad question but what the hell

What to expect. Expect the worst, that way everything you find will make you feel better. Rust in the front lower region. Crash damage that was poorly fixed. Bad rear frame rails you finally notice. Inner fenders that are rusted. The fenders you got are "tweaked" and will need some help to fit correctly. A rear tail section that is off it's keester.

But I commend you for wanting to do it yourself. Nothing wrong with that. My quick advice? Sit down, figure out how much your going to spend restoring your car. Everything, price it all out. When you come to a final figure. Multiply that figure by three. That is a realistic number.

Time wise. Ask yourself how long your going to take to do it. Then figure for every three months after you start you'll work on it about 20% less then the previous three months. Then you'll get past the halfway point and become motivated again and the final stretch will come fast. But wait, as the final stretch comes slow down. Really slow down and make sure it's all finished right so your not screwing with it all the time. Or unhappy.

When I rolled my 69' on the trailer the day I bought it the wife asked "How long before you take me for a ride?" It was August of 00'. I told her, "Next fall it'll be good to go." Two kids, a morgage, and spring of 06' it was on the road.

Good luck man, let's see some pics!

 

Awesome post, Willie.[8D]

 

I have to start by saying that is the best post I have ever seen!!! I like all the realistic views. I hope the wife is as calm about this as yours was. She is already less than impressed. I drove 1900 miles to get this car. I left on friday night after work and was home sunday evening. After not sleeping for 3 days (other than when my buddy drove his 100 miles to "help me out") the 1st thing she says is she wants me to take it back.

Now I have this dream of what this car will look like hopefully before my 7 year old graduates high school. I was out looking over the car tonight and will dive into this dealhopefully Sunday. I have a couple neighbors that are wanting to help but am I killing my dream by doing some of the panel replacement myself? I will have a pro bodyman do the final touches and fix the mistakes that I am sure I will make.

I have never done this before but know I have to start somewhere!!!

Wish me luck and keep posting your suggestions and if you feel real generous.... let me know how I post some pictures.

By the way-----THANKS WILLIE-----

 

I have to say that if you have never taken on this endeavour and you are building this as your dream car, have a pro hang your quarters. it is crucial when you cut off the old quarters that you leave enough old metal to hang the new ones on. if the quarters are not hung perfectly, ALL of your bodylines will suffer immensely.

if you think about it, your quarters have to line up with your roof, rear cowl, trunk, upper and lower rear valence panel and door jambs.

now after all that is lined up perfectly, you need to make sure it is tied into your trunk, inner wheelhousings and rocker panels.

as you can see, this isn't really anything for beginners that are looking for perfection. if you were doing your floors over, I would say have at it, but tothis I say no way.

one thing to remember is when you start tearing the car down, you must LABEL EVERYTHING!!! I don't care what anybody says, as simple as those bolts and brackets look, you will not remember where they all go when you are putting it back together. put them all in bags and also it is wise to put a picture in each bag too of the area still assembled

 

As 69' mentioned. Since your a virgin to the whole restoring car thing it would be a good idea to have a pro hang the rears. Not saying you couldn't do it, but man. I remember my first time and it was a mess, parts sliding everywhere, nothing fit in the right spot and when I was done I felt like I accomplished something but didn't do the job quite right. Oh...and hanging the rear quarters was hard the first time too.

Seriously though. It is cool to start your own project. If you have a bunch of buddies coming over to help keep the "I'm in charge" attitude and hope they are cool with that. Buddies are always there at the start but it seems the interest fades over time since it really isn't there project. You can't blame them for that. Just make sure you have plenty of beer(if you all drink) on hand this Sunday since you'll spend most the time bull****ting about cars then actually doing manual labor.

And as 69' mentioned (dude knows his stuff) keep records and label everything. Digital pictures, film, skeetch things down. Heck, I even video taped pulling stuff off a friends race car because there was no manual to put it all back!

Your wife will warm to it when it starts to look like something. Mine had this look of disgust I've seen when I drag my **** in at 2am after a night of pounding suds with the buds. The day I fired off that nasty big block at the shop I made sure to do it the day she was stopping after work. Straight headers from 500HP will make any woman shake at the knees. Now that it is finished she is scoring me Camaro stuff for the garage to help decorate it properly. Clothes buying has shifted also. Now she looks for the stuff that screams "My hubby has a Camaro". She just scored me a sweet t-shirt that has the hood emblem on it. Looks real bad ***. She likes the Camaro more then my other toys.

Your not killing a dream by having a pro do it. I've helped many a friends on their first projects and they appreciate it(I'm no pro-builder, but I've bloodied my knuckles for 16 years on fixing and restoring cars). What you might want to do is look in the little black book for that old friend who does body work. Or start hitting up the local car gurus to find who is the guy that could hook you up with a shop that likes doing resto's and would hang the panels. Might have to pay them good money but it will be well spent.

My suggestion for the Sunday attack. Pull off anything but body panels that are welded on. Tear the front off. Nothing big about that. Yank the interior, pull the motor and trans but leave a rolling chassis to take to the body man if you do actually go that route. Doors could vacate also. Another question? You in a big city or rural small town area? I ask because if you are going gang busters on a resto and parts start accumulating in the rear of the garage, outside, neighbors get pissy, ordinances start getting quoted and the next thing you know someone is knocking at your door telling you to clean your stuff up. Thankfully, I don't have that issue. Small town, everyone knows how far you can stretch the rules. Like doing burnout contests in the parking lot, cops get called but since he was there watching he phoned in that it was taken care of

 

Thanks for the kudo's also guys. Just like helping car guys out.

 

100% true. you need to know your limits and try to stay within them. the one thing you always need to remember is that no matter how much help you get/need, it is still your vision that you are making happen

 

Can you repair the damage with panels instead of an entire quarter?[/align][/align]I agree, hanging the quarters are the most challenging task and on these unibodies the quarters tie in too many critical components. My drivers side (Good Mark) quarter fit extremely nice but the passenger side was a real bear! I waited five months for the panel and when I did receive it, it was so out of spec. that not much matched up.[/align][/align]But if you do replace these, a little trick I would share is to use self tapping sheetmetal screws to secure the quarter before final welding. By using screws to prefit the panel you are able to easily adjust the quarter before final weld. When you have the panel properly placed tack it and then remove one screw at a time and weld the hole shut.[/align][/align]Good Luck![/align]

 

A coupe of more suggestions:
1) Use (Ever Coat) Metal to Metal filler where the quarter meets the top
2) Use 3m Weld Thru primer on the contact surfaces (between the two mating surfaces) before welding.

Let us know how it goes...