Project "Darla" 1974 Chevrolet Nova SS - Page 6 - Lateral-g Forums

Kmelander · #51 11-15-2020, 03:49 PM

Primed and coated. Black is EW RE. Self etch on all the new steel.

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Kmelander · #52 03-02-2021, 05:02 AM

I’m well overdue for an update but what happened to all the pictures I uploaded/posted? Looks like a bunch of broken links?

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ScotI · #53 03-02-2021, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kmelander

I’m well overdue for an update but what happened to all the pictures I uploaded/posted? Looks like a bunch of broken links?

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I just did a quick run through pages 1, 4, & 5 & all the images are still there on my screen.

**Spiffav8** · #54 03-02-2021, 08:11 AM

I’m seeing all the pics as well.

Kmelander · #55 03-02-2021, 05:17 PM

I’ve done a lot of work on the car since I last posted. Following the interior sheet metal, I wanted to focus on the exterior metal, primarily the quarter panel skins. Was NOT looking forward to butt welding miles of sheet metal so I did some internet searching on different techniques. I found an interesting site where they were plug welding 1” backer strips along the seam and then stitch welding the panel on. Decided this was the way for me.

Same thing on the driver side.

Now, i haven’t welded them in yet because the back corners, especially the driver side, needs some special attention. I decided I wanted the rear tail light panel in place before I cut those corners out. I’m doing this just to keep the factory points of reference in place. This way, I can bring my replacement corners to the rear panel. I should mention that I put a trunk lid back on the car before starting any of this work to check/adjust body gaps. Once I was happy with that, I locked the quarters in place with some angle iron bracing between the quarters and the chassis.

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Kmelander · #56 03-02-2021, 05:49 PM

Next it was onto the tail light panel. This was a much bigger project than I had anticipated. The rear part of the trunk pan had sections that needed to be replaced, plus the funky hump/hole for the drop down license plate needed to be dealt with since I didn’t need that anymore. Then there was some tin work to close up the bottom area where the factory rear frame rail connects to everything.

So, when I finally got to this point, I still didn’t weld it in because I had a section of the rear window channel/upper quarter/trunk gutter on the driver side to address. Decided to do that too before welding the exterior panels in place. The back half of the car is covered with cleco pins.

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Kmelander · #57 03-02-2021, 06:17 PM

Made the patch on the car.

Had to use the shrinker to get it to lay down after welding the seam.

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Kmelander · #58 03-02-2021, 06:33 PM

Then cut out the rust and welded in the patch.

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Kmelander · #59 03-02-2021, 06:45 PM

After all that, I was ready to step away from sheet metal for a bit. Good news is, no more rusty metal left on the car!

I moved onto the engine next. Planned out the build, sold off some stuff, stripped the LQ4 down to the block. Heading to the machine shop this week.

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egoman · #60 03-03-2021, 05:02 PM

Now thats what I see when someone says Pro-touring!
Full chassis and roll cage are maybe not always necessary but the work and look are appreciated. My car is beyond this point but my build thread is not quite there yet, LOL.
Keep up the good work and lets show them how to do this stuff!