welding in a '67 coupe battery tray, 1 question

[slepe67]

the battery tray itself is in good shape, but after I had it media blasted, I decided to weld in a new piece. The part where the battery sits is the bad spot. The side are in great shape. I have the new tray all ready to go.

I COULD make things easy and drill out all the spot welds, put new holes in the new tray, and weld it in. BUT, the VIN number sits on top of where the old tray would be cut out (if cut out in 1 piece). Could a guy cut out the VIN number, and weld it to the tray, or would I be getting into legal matters?

Should I just cut out the rot, and replace only what I need to? I'm going to take a pic and see if I can remember how to post...thx in advance JL

 

[slepe67]

View attachment 305282

I jsut cut out the bad area...the VIN # is at the very top horizontal portion of the panel...

 

[zookeeper]

Since the car has several vin spots, I don't think you'd be tossed in the clink for removing the inner fender panel with the vin stamped in it. I also doubt there are 3 DMV workers on the planet that would even know where the vin's were stamped when the car was new. The biggie (as in DO NOT EVER MODIFY) is the one on the dash. A freind of my brother got his '68 Camaro impounded after he cut the dash out ( and the factory vin) to pro-street it.

 

[Red5oh]

The 67s didnt have it on the dash... that started in 68. Mine was on the left (drivers side) and on the AC tag... thats it.

I would probably cut around the vin area (LARGE area) and replace the whole fendor apron. Weld both sides, grind it down and you should not be in any trouble. Also, document it with pictures before and after and you should be in good shape.

Good luck.

 

[slepe67]

The 67s didnt have it on the dash... that started in 68. Mine was on the left (drivers side) and on the AC tag... thats it.

I would probably cut around the vin area (LARGE area) and replace the whole fendor apron. Weld both sides, grind it down and you should not be in any trouble. Also, document it with pictures before and after and you should be in good shape.

Good luck.

mine doesn't have the dash tags either. I've got 2 on the drivers side, and one on the pass side.

this seems the better of 2 evils. thanks for the replies...I'll DEFINATELY take pics of the before and after process. thanks again. JL

 

[slepe67]

The 67s didnt have it on the dash... that started in 68. Mine was on the left (drivers side) and on the AC tag... thats it.

I would probably cut around the vin area (LARGE area) and replace the whole fendor apron. Weld both sides, grind it down and you should not be in any trouble. Also, document it with pictures before and after and you should be in good shape.

Good luck.

mine doesn't have the dash tags either. I've got 2 on the drivers side, and one on the pass side.

this seems the better of 2 evils. thanks for the replies...I'll DEFINATELY take pics of the before and after process. thanks again. JL

 

[TOM B]

I think you done the right thing to leave the vin number where it is, BUT
I also think you made it harder than you have to.
I hole you cut will be hard to get a pane to fit correct.
I would cut across to the shock tower and down to the frame and take out the whole lower half then you will have less seam grinding and filling to do.

 

[NasaGT]

I agree with Tom B. - replace the bottom half of that panel, it'll be much easier. Drill out the spot welds on the lower half and remove. Only one line to weld and grind smooth.

 

[slepe67]

god I'm an idiot...I tried looking at that thing for about 30 minutes, and couldn't think of a solution...that will look a lot better, thanks again.

 

[BarnStang]

THat's a great solution to keep the vin on top. WHen the attery apron is completly rusted, rusted through at the overlap, I cut the whole panel out, and cut out a large rectangle where the vin is, grind off the rough edges, put it in a ziplock bag and return it to the customer. Of course, this is on the run of the mill metalrepair, not on specialty cars like Boss or SHelby's of course...fixing those and preserving the vin can be challanging and time consuming. I've also patched the battery apron withe a bottom patch exactly how your pictures shows-and the last time. Royal pain-takes too long. Doesn't look any better than cuting the panel in half. AN that's way faster too. Good luck!

 

[slepe67]

cool, thanks for the tip...it didn't LOOK that easy, either....