Just spent 14 hours repairing the rotted metal around my driverside taillight. Sounds like I went through hell, but I actually enjoyed it.
here are the pics of the process.:hick: The peice I used to weld in, is from Bird Brains '87 bird. Thanks Ron! A peice of your Car lives on in mine. :birdsmily:
Welded in, and ground down, then sandblasted some surface rust off and prepped:
This is what took the longest, I Blocked it out and re-filled the low spots at least 8 times, until there was no low spots anywheres. I wanted it PERFECT. How did I do?:D
That reminds me... Does anybody have a parts car with the same section as that, on the pass. side that is good that they would like to sell? I need another repair panel for the other side.
Looks like your car already had some bondo in that spot.
I have an 87' XR7 parts car that I will be tearing down ASAP. Body looks pretty good. the body is one of the few parts I'm not going to save, since it had a skirt on the car originaly. I'm down in SW, Ohio though.
And that part of the panel will not fit his car.
yeah, not sure why though, there is no dent or rust in that area, so I dunno. You can see that entire panel from behind, so that is how I know.
Nice work.I wish I had a weldwer.Perhaps someday when the car is a little further along I'll invest in one.Man,I'd have a blast with one of those.Again,great work.
Lookin Good. Keep up the good work.
Looks fantastic.
Wish you woulda asked about that piece long ago - the parts TC I crushed was perfect in those places (it was the typical lower quarters and rockers that were bad). Fact is, I've never seen one of these cars rust there.
As for the bodyfill, it's probably factory. My '87 Sport had it in the same place - it wasn't uncommon for manufacturers to slap a bit of bodyfill on a wavy or wrinkled panel before selling the car. Just picture it - the car is finished, it's going through final inspection, and the inspector notices something wrong with the quarter panel. He puts a mark on it and sends the car to the body shop, where it's repaired, repainted, reinspected, and sent off to the dealership's lot. Twenty years later...
yeah, my buddy works in ford and says he sees that kind of stuff ALL the time. From careless workers banging into the sides, to just defects in the stampings. about 50% or more of new cars will have some bondo in them, garanteed.
Like you said..... Think about it... Who would buy a brand new car, with a dent in the side? Or a warped quarter panel.
ME if that means its cheaper!
That parts car have a good trunk lid?
Cool. :D