Need Help> 68fb Installing Quarters And Tail Panel

[68 Fstbck]

Ok. I measured. The back of the trunk (nearest window) quarter from floor height were identical. At the tail panel the drivers side trunk was 3/8" to 1/2" lower than the passenger side.

What is the tolerance?

I could maybe get a little more height by moving the rain gutter on the drivers side to get a little more rotation to the quarter panel (raising the tail of the quarter panel slightly)

 

[horse sence]

will the pass. side lift at the rear .if it will clamp it in place .
i cant remember the exact measurement there but it seems like it is 12 3/4
inches .my papers are in my shop.
how does the door gap look, and the rocker were the quarter meets?

 

[horse sence]

i took some new measurements of my 67 this morning , the tail panel is exactly 12 inches to the top from the top of the trunk brace. the quarter is 14 inches measureing from the very outside edge of the trunk floor and 2 inches from the end where the end cap sets
yeah i know its dirty ,they are grinding up orange trees from a grove they riped out next door. every thing is covered in dust out here

 

[68 Fstbck]

Cool. Thanks for the pics. Looks like we are measuring from the same place on the trunk floor. I am measuring to the top of the end of the quarter panel as I do not have the "Corners" in place.
Drivers Side: 13-1/2"
Passenger Side: 13-7/8"

Maybe "Split the difference" and bring the Passenger side down and the Drivers side up? I think the drivers side could stand to go up a little as the quarter seems slightly lower than the panel below the window. I have already "Massaged" the inner wheel well opening and the gutter guard to try and get a little rotation out of it...

Any estimation to what the height to the corner of the quarter panel would be? (if the corners weren't in place)

See the pics:

 

[horse sence]

my end caps are on and the trunk corner is in so i cank get to the very end ,but it appears to be 13 3/4 inches at the very end. so if you can get it to 13 3/4 for both sides should do the trick

 

[68 Fstbck]

I give up. Those damn things only go on ONE way, there doesn't seem to be any adjustment. The Drivers side actually dropped to 13-1/4" ... after I had rolled the inner fenderwell more AND pounded the B pillar back (To try and rotate the quarter CCW).

Three possible solutions I can think of:
1. It is the way the car is sitting and with all of this loose the body is torqued? ...Reposition the car.
2. Put a jack between the fender and trunk floorboard and force it (then weld in place ).
3. Light the torch and cut inner structure until the quarter has full range of motion???

It does appear the drivers quarter is rotated slightly clockwise because:
1. The sill at the rocker panel is looser at the door than at the front of the wheel well.
2. Also, the quarter panel lines up slightly lower than the panel below the window.

I haven't been able to figure out what to pound out of the way to allow it to rotate CCW...maybe the front of the inner wheel well? (I have moved the top and back of the inner wheel well a lot).

 

[horse sence]

the car should be level ,if you have a twist in the body it will stay that way after welding. i would level the car in at least three places ,radiator support crossmember ,through the doors at the rockers and at the rear frame rails .
it is very possible one fraim rail is slightly bent down. was there any rear damage to the car?

 

[68 Fstbck]

I have:
1. Levelled the car - no improvement.
2. Pounded the inner fenderwell out of the way (Rolled it). - 1/4" improvement.
The drivers side is now at 13 1/2" to the top of the quarter panel (without the corner thing in), the Passenger side is 13 3/4". Ironic this thread started with the Passenger side as the problem.

Only one last thing to try is move the B pillar back slightly...thinking the rotation of the quarter is being stopped there. Maybe that will allow the CCW rotation of the quarter bringing the back up. It is very close. That is the last thing that could be stopping total freedom of movement of the quarter.

If the tail pan is pulled back to between the quarters I have big gaps between the quarters and the panel beneath the rear window. Do I weld up the front half of the quarter all the way to the panel beneath the rear window (With no gap) then try to force the tail pan into place? (The quarters appear to need the tail pan amount of spacing because the trunk lid is perfectly placed when the tail pan is "in"....)

...no damage to the tail of the car. A small hit in the C (quarter) of the passenger side was all the damage I found.

 

[horse sence]

did you by any chance replace the outer wheel tubs ?
can you clamp the quarter to the tail panel and set it at the correct height.
also how does the rear jamb look compared to the end of the door are they parallel? an even gap?

 

[horse sence]

i was looking at the rear door jamb on my 66 ,and with the quarter off i cant move it .the top will flex a little but not enough to cause any problems . i would see if you can eaqual out the heights of both quarters at the end and go with that ,it should be close enough . within an 1/8inch of the correct measurement should be fine, if you can get a good gap at the door and quarter. these cars were never very exact . you may have to move the tail panel in or out to to get it to line up where you want it. just check it all with the trunk lid to make sure it works with the rear window panel and the end of the end caps, bolted on the quarters.

 

[68 Fstbck]

figured it out!!!

The floor pans were not level. checking to the ground, dead on. Started welding & the lid fits...welded the top part below the window and then forced the quarters apart at the back. The lid gap narrows as it comes back on both sides but the fiberglass lid should be easy to work.

THANK YOU so much for helping me horse sence!!!

 

[horse sence]

thats great glad to hear it. you can force the ends of the quarters over ,just dont force to much or you may buckle the quarter .
65 -66 quarters are this way ,the driver side usualy fits with the trunk lid but the pass side turns at the end of the trunk lid and they are hard to force out

 

[68 Fstbck]

To spread the trunk I ended up notching a 2X4 on one end and cutting an angle on the other. Placed the notch on one side of the trunk while working the angled end as far down as I could onto the other side (at the tail pan). I then cut another flat just beyond where I could work the 2X4 down and then forced the 2X4 in. That held it apart while I welded the tail pan in place.

It needed a little more but I was a little too chicken due to the buckling concern. At least the lid closes without hitting. What a relief to be putting it back together finally. I have a hella lot of plug welds to grind...

 

[horse sence]

i bought one of Harbor Freights spot welders ,get the 220 unit dont waist your money on the 110 .it works great for tail panels ,around the bottoms of the quarters and front radiator support to aprons.it will handle 18 guage easily but not more. saves a lot of grinding and looks like origional when done. not to mention it welds as fast as you can pull the triger.

 

[68 Fstbck]

Wow. I wish I had read your post about the HF Spot welder before. It took two solid days of aligning, welding and grinding but I got everything done. A 100 little things to do but the main part is done. Only one issue, it looks like the panel below the window slipped a little...gotta figure out what moved and move it back. Anyways, here are some wrap up pictures showing the gaps. Thanks Horse Sence!!!

Passenger Side:


Back:


Drivers Side:



Pass Side Trunk Gap:


Drivers Side Trunk Gap:


The Slip....


Just a cool picture during wheel well welding:


Closer on the Passenger side:


Closer on the Drivers side:


...Thanks again!!!

 

[horse sence]

great job .that looks very nice .now you see that you can do it your self
the lower window panel ,i dont think sliped.i think it must be the quarter because the last three i did looked the same.i thought it was the lower window panel but it doesnt look like you changed it ?so it must be the driver side quarters are not quite correct in that spot .well done

 

[68 Fstbck]

I did not change the lower window panel but it does flex and move, especially since I left the trunk lid on so I could check alignment periodically. Moving the trunk lid moves the panel some. Good to know you see the same...so you are thinking maybe a Dynacorn issue?

...need to figure out a way to isolate the bad angle. I am thinking a level and a protractor, measure the angle from level on either side of the joints? Maybe one will differentiate itself enough? <Maybe it doesn't matter, just fix it?>

2 fix solutions:
1. cut the end of the quarter panel with a thin blade on a reciprocating saw just inside the trunk opening, move the corner down the distance of the kerf of the blade then weld it back up.
2. Weld the trunk drip channel up on the side innermost to the trunk, then cut the welds between the two panels, force the panel below the window up with a jack and re-weld. <Need the weld at the trunk drip rail as I am afraid the tension in the system will pull a giant gap if I just cut and re-weld>

Thoughts?

 

[68 Fstbck]

Ok. So I measured using a flat bottom, round faced dial that has a dial that points down:
Drivers Quarter: 15
Drivers side Small Panel: 16.5
Drivers Center line: 17.5
Passenger Center line: 17.5
Passenger side Small Panel: 16
Passenger side Quarter: 16

What I found: the Driver's side Small Panel is actually bent down, not flat like the Passenger side (The dial would not sit flat on the drivers side). I have to assume that is my answer.

Will fix it this weekend.