Well that looks about 1k times better than my trunk and tail lights. I'm a big fan of this mod.
BUILD THREAD “The Juggernaut”
- Thread starter Rktpwrd
- Start date
Thanks, and the closer it gets to completion, so am I. As said by a fellow member, this is a mod I’ve also wanted to do for close to 30 years now. I encourage you to go have a close look at yours in all the areas I outlined above, you might be surprised at what you find!
Thankfully most of the areas can be improved upon by just spending some time and attention to the details and adjusting.
The passenger’s side factory extension was worse than the driver’s side, it too was almost touching the lid. I had the same problem on Olds Cool, if you recall I spent a lot of time and effort on reshaping and bodyworking them to fit better.
No offence, but it’s somewhat reassuring to hear that it’s not just an affliction with these cars, but that it was also a similar story with the Malibus (and probably other G bodies) as well.
Well that escalated quickly.
Started stripping all the old paint primer and seam sealer off the driver’s side of the tail pan in preparation for welding up the quarter extension holes, when I started to notice indications of a little love tap from behind.
This area is dented in and shouldn’t be. There’s nothing in the vicinity that could’ve caused this other than the bumper itself.
I immediately began to get suspicious when I encountered body filler back here underneath the paint and primer. There is no need for any of that under normal circumstances.
To add insult to injury, all the rust pitting you see was also buried and hidden underneath the paint. Definitely a hack repair job.
All these little crease points I’m pointing to are not normal. It’s evidence of somebody having monkeyed around in there.
This car has never been hit in the entire time I’ve owned it, and I thought it never had until today. The things you find, if these cars could talk, the stories they’d have to tell.
I always thought the pinch weld in this area looked a little funny, but had always wrote it off to poor manufacturing practices back in the day.
This whole area between my fingers is bubbled and bowed out, it should be flat and straight. Classic indicators that the metal is pushed in in spots causing other areas to bow outwards.
And don’t even get me started on the rust pitting:
Nice dent here, WTF??
A look from inside the trunk at the backside confirmed all my suspicions. This area is peaked into a point where it should be a nice 90 degree corner:
Unfortunately there’s not much I can do about this here at home, this would require a frame machine to pull back out properly.
Here’s a look at the passenger’s side, note how the area in question is flat and straight. The driver’s side in this same area is anything but:
More deformity and pushed out:
The rust and pitting in these inside crevices is going to be a PITA to remove and clean up too.
I had to straighten out the trunk floor pan section of the pinch weld first before anything else, so after I drilled out the spot welds and separated the halves, I had to cut out the damaged area to access it for straightening:
This allowed me to hammer and dolly the flange to start to get things straight.
After I split the pinch welds, I started digging out the seam sealer that they had stuffed in there. Because the metal was so stretched apart, they literally filled huge gaps with the stuff, the worst being approximately 3/4” thick.
😡
Unbelievable.
This is the damaged piece I cut out, I’m going to try and save it believe it or not. After these pictures were taken I’ve straightened it out on my anvil and cut off the damaged section of pinch weld. I’ll weld on another solid piece to replace it and then bend it on my metal brake.
This’ll make for the best repair, and I can keep the factory shapes and stamping.
This morning as most of you are reading this, I’ll likely be at work sandblasting this piece. This’ll save a bunch of time trying to clean up the backside, and will neutralize the rust pitting.
Stay tuned to see how this turns out.
D.
Started stripping all the old paint primer and seam sealer off the driver’s side of the tail pan in preparation for welding up the quarter extension holes, when I started to notice indications of a little love tap from behind.
This area is dented in and shouldn’t be. There’s nothing in the vicinity that could’ve caused this other than the bumper itself.
I immediately began to get suspicious when I encountered body filler back here underneath the paint and primer. There is no need for any of that under normal circumstances.
To add insult to injury, all the rust pitting you see was also buried and hidden underneath the paint. Definitely a hack repair job.
All these little crease points I’m pointing to are not normal. It’s evidence of somebody having monkeyed around in there.
This car has never been hit in the entire time I’ve owned it, and I thought it never had until today. The things you find, if these cars could talk, the stories they’d have to tell.
I always thought the pinch weld in this area looked a little funny, but had always wrote it off to poor manufacturing practices back in the day.
This whole area between my fingers is bubbled and bowed out, it should be flat and straight. Classic indicators that the metal is pushed in in spots causing other areas to bow outwards.
And don’t even get me started on the rust pitting:
Nice dent here, WTF??
A look from inside the trunk at the backside confirmed all my suspicions. This area is peaked into a point where it should be a nice 90 degree corner:
Unfortunately there’s not much I can do about this here at home, this would require a frame machine to pull back out properly.
Here’s a look at the passenger’s side, note how the area in question is flat and straight. The driver’s side in this same area is anything but:
More deformity and pushed out:
The rust and pitting in these inside crevices is going to be a PITA to remove and clean up too.
I had to straighten out the trunk floor pan section of the pinch weld first before anything else, so after I drilled out the spot welds and separated the halves, I had to cut out the damaged area to access it for straightening:
This allowed me to hammer and dolly the flange to start to get things straight.
After I split the pinch welds, I started digging out the seam sealer that they had stuffed in there. Because the metal was so stretched apart, they literally filled huge gaps with the stuff, the worst being approximately 3/4” thick.
😡
Unbelievable.
This is the damaged piece I cut out, I’m going to try and save it believe it or not. After these pictures were taken I’ve straightened it out on my anvil and cut off the damaged section of pinch weld. I’ll weld on another solid piece to replace it and then bend it on my metal brake.
This’ll make for the best repair, and I can keep the factory shapes and stamping.
This morning as most of you are reading this, I’ll likely be at work sandblasting this piece. This’ll save a bunch of time trying to clean up the backside, and will neutralize the rust pitting.
Stay tuned to see how this turns out.
D.
Been working an awful lot of hours lately, 9,10, and 15 hour days, plus travelling out of town and living out of a suitcase so I haven’t had much time to spend in The Skunkworks lately.
But:
I did get out there for a couple of hours tonight and did a thing. Last weekend I took the damaged piece I cut out and sandblasted it after straightening it, so tonight I bent some sheetmetal in my brake and fit it in behind the repaired piece.
My Cleco clamps earning their keep once again…
From there I scribed the cut line onto the bent piece to make up the flange for the pinch weld.
From the backside:
Next I removed both pieces and cut the excess off the bent one. Now in the vise, I clamped the pieces and tacked them together:
A quick test fit afterwards, and this is gonna work.
Thanksgiving long weekend for us Canuckistanians coming up with family dinner plans on Monday, but hopefully I’ll get some free time to make a little more progress on this before then.
🤞🏻
D.
But:
I did get out there for a couple of hours tonight and did a thing. Last weekend I took the damaged piece I cut out and sandblasted it after straightening it, so tonight I bent some sheetmetal in my brake and fit it in behind the repaired piece.
My Cleco clamps earning their keep once again…
From there I scribed the cut line onto the bent piece to make up the flange for the pinch weld.
From the backside:
Next I removed both pieces and cut the excess off the bent one. Now in the vise, I clamped the pieces and tacked them together:
A quick test fit afterwards, and this is gonna work.
Thanksgiving long weekend for us Canuckistanians coming up with family dinner plans on Monday, but hopefully I’ll get some free time to make a little more progress on this before then.
🤞🏻
D.
Exceptional work as always! I'll be up your way either next weekend of the following. Let me know if you will be around and not on call. We'll have to link up for a bite, brew and shop talk.
Sounds good brother, I look forward to it. I’ll for sure be around next weekend, but the following I may have to head back down your way again for another of the customer’s maintenance shut-downs. I’ll have to see how the timing plays out with that.
