57 Rustbucket 1957 Chevy Bel Air

1969 Olds Cutlass Convertible Restoration
Page 5

FOR SALE


1969 Olds Cutlass Convertible

March 11, 2015

Well we've got some problems here. Both the inner and outer wheel houses are badly eaten away at the edges from rust.
Using a heat gun and a putty knife I removed a bunch of undercoating to evaluate how extensive the cancer was.

Wheel house rust Rust damage
Cutting rust Patches welded

After cutting out the rusted areas patches were cut from the new inner wheelhouse and welded in place. After some more work with the heat gun and putty knife the outer wheel well was trimmed and the welds were dressed a bit.

Wheel well trimmed Welds dressed
After it was all cleaned up a quick coat of primer to protect the bare metal.
Primed
Trial fitting Measuring

There was a lot of measuring and trial fittings before welding the outer wheel well patch.

Visible from trunk
This area of the tub is visible from inside the trunk. I carefully dressed the weld and use polyester body filler to make the repair invisible.
The structure behind the quarter panel is now fully repaired and structurally sound.
Structure repaired
Quarter panel test fit Checking fit

Quarter panels are only available for hardtop models and not convertibles. They will need to be slightly modified to fit properly.
Here the panel is just hanging loosely to check for fit. Looks good!

Template marking Cutting new quarter

Using the section I cut from the car as a template I marked out and cut the new quarter to the rough size.

Trimming panel Tweaking fit

These last four pictures represent dozens of times the panel was put on and taken off, each time slightly trimmed or tweaked to gain a perfect fit.
It's nearly ready for permanent installation.

Nearly ready Looking good

She's looking good!

Lots more to come!

Check back often.


Updates almost daily I hope!

Contact me! [email protected]