Hay D I keep going back and staring at the gaps and alignment. I like the way the fillers lineup to the edges of the tail light and I think the decklid needs to come back couldn't you just cheat the rear window filler back from the glass and roll the glass side down into the trunk sill a little bit? That way you don't lose lose 3 4 mm on each taillight and have the bezels protruding. Strech the deck lid lol
BUILD THREAD Project Olds Cool (Recognition!!)
- Thread starter Rktpwrd
- Start date
Thanks for the suggestions fellas.
Hutch, it was an option, and it was even suggested early on by Mike, but it really wasn’t the right way to go about fixing the problem. Not to mention it would have added a bunch more work that I really wasn’t anticipating. Factor in the amount of welding required, the possibility of warping, the additional bodywork, and it becomes less and less attractive as an option.
Like I mentioned before, a ton of other things down stream of the back window filler panel have to line up with the trunk lid. With the trunk lid moved as far back as I had it, I had large gaps between the lid and the license tag housing that didn’t look right.
But what bothered me more than that was the obvious difference in angles between the quarter extensions and the taillights when viewed from the side.
This picture illustrates what I mean. It doesn’t look all that bad in the pic, but in person it looked a lot worse.
I wasn’t happy with the way the top of the taillights appeared to sit in further at the top than the bottom. This actually has nothing to do with how the taillights are mounted, it’s actually the angle that the extensions mount to the quarters that throws off the look. Yeah, I suppose I could’ve shimmed the taillights to match as well, but again it would’ve been a half measure that didn’t address the actual issue, and then they wouldn’t have lined up with the trunk lid on the inside edges of the taillights.
Really, the only way to go about correcting the situation was to address the areas that were causing the problem in the first place.
That means going back in and correcting the angles that the extensions mount to the quarters.
Thanks Eric, I’m glad you like the way it’s starting to come together.
As far as your suggestion about “cheating the filler panel back from the window”, that’s not really feasible either. That would’ve left a big gap between the lower chrome trim (it attaches to the filler panel), and the window itself. The bottoms of the side pieces of chrome trim have to sit in the corners of the lower ones, so you can see how this would quickly become a compounding problem. As it stands now, the window filler panel lines up nicely with the sides of the quarters, so I really don’t want to roll it down at the front.
I won’t actually be losing any material from the back edges of the extensions, because the material I need to remove has to come off in a taper. I’ll actually just be pulling the tops of the extensions in and lining them up much better with the angles of the taillights.
Make sense? I’m sure it’s probably clear as mud by now...
Lol
Maybe these pics will clarify what I need to do: I’ve already modified the angle quite a bit, but it still needs just a bit more removed from the top, but not the bottom. The masking tape line shows the material I still need to remove to get the angle perfect:
If I do it right, the taillight bezels won’t protrude any more than stock, it should all look the way it’s supposed to.
Good looking out for me guys, thanks. I value and appreciate your input and suggestions. It’s always nice to have options provided to you especially when they’re ones you might not have thought of.
D.
This thread needs to become its own sticky-archive - How to Resurrect a G-body - The Right Way...
Lol
Thanks for the vote of confidence Quinn.
I don’t know if it’s necessarily the right way or not, but I know it needs to satisfy me and I won’t rest until it does...
🙂
I got ya D I didn't realize they lined up on such an angle with the taillights in previous pictures it looked even to me. Your solution is perfect maybe I should just keep my mouth shut and watch it unfold lol that's hard for me I'm surrounded by assassins in the shop I work in
It makes me so happy to see this, he is human after all🙂. I do see what you mean Donovan, I am sure it will be 400 hours of work but perfection and look amazing.
I have been following this build and your doing a great job and I like that your taking your time and thinking things out.
Yes, yes I do.
Lol
It’s weird, but when it really counts I can lay down a beautiful glossy paint job with nary a run, but in stuff like primer I have a terrible track record. Not an excuse, but I was under the gun (no pun intended) to get as much product on the car as possible at the time.
Once mixed, the high build has a really short pot life if you factor in the flash time between coats and I wanted to get three good thick coats on before it became unusable.
I had cranked open the fluid nozzle and was laying it on pretty heavy. Unfortunately it was a bit more than the surface could handle. At least it’s only primer, it’s all gotta be block sanded anyways.
Absolutely Christian. I’m only human and f%*k up just like anyone else. I guess for me, it just about fixing my screw ups as I go along and making it right in the end.
Hopefully it won’t take 400 hours...!!!
🤔
The further modifications I have to make to the quarter extensions are my fault as well. I didn’t have the taillights or trunk filler panel installed during the initial alterations to the extensions, or I would’ve caught the difference in angles right away.
So now I get to go back and make it right.
👎
Hey, thanks a lot man. I really appreciate the compliment.
And thank you as well for your assistance and knowledge on the posi unit. It helped me make an informed decision and I was able to act quickly on it.
🙂
As others have said Donovan, I'm glad that your friend Mike will be OK. I hope he has a quick recovery.
Nice work on the filler panels! They look really good to me.
Nice work on the filler panels! They look really good to me.
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