1967 ss/rs resto/mod

[Lynn]

"I'm running out of excuses to not [fill in the blank]. I'm apprehensive about screwing this up and am procrastinating terribly."

Isn't that the truth.

Congrats on getting over the hump.

[dykstra]

Coming along nicely Mitch!

[Too Many Projects]

Been a while since an update. Progress has been slow, as I was now procrastinating on the final fit of the NOS tail panel, when I realized it would be MUCH easier to replace the extension panel without the tail panel in the way. SO, I successfully avoided the tail panel for a while, again...
I used a cut off wheel to remove the bulk of the panel for better access to the spot welds. I removed them with the 1991 stone grinder.








And this is a California car.... a coastal car. Still WAYYYY better than anything from the Midwest to restore.











I did run the crud thug with descaler wire wheel on this and then soaked it with rust converter before the new panel was installed.








Out of the box, it was a little wide. The trunk lid to quarters gap is already wider than I'd really like, so did a little hammer forming to get this panel to fit inside.





Well, it finally dropped in, but the trunk seal gutter isn't very well shaped. Slice and dice and hammer form them too.








Got all 4 corners to lay flat with the quarters.

[Too Many Projects]

Been a long time since I had much to post about this project.
I did get the extension panel on last April. The window flange was welded but I panel bonded the seal channel and the end flanges at the quarter.





Then I got goofy and decided to attempt to replicate the brazing of the corners. I learned how to braze in HS shop class....over 50 yrs ago....and that was about the last time I did it, so not the best job, but I'll keep practicing.








In August of 2019, I drove to Buffalo, NY for an NOS RS left fender. While I was in MI for the inaugural MCACN summer show, I continued on Eastward to Marysville and bought the matching right side...





I did nothing on the car until a few weeks ago, as summer and fall duties take most of my time, along with a double hernia I had to deal with for 6 weeks.

It was time to finish fitting the NOS tail panel and I thought I had it close last April, but I still spent another 8 hours, or so, agonizing over it and making a few tweaks.





One of my biggest hangups was needing to cut out the reverse light holes and I had to just get beyond that.
There was another Granada Gold '67 featured at MCACN that really got me going again and when I got home I marked all the holes I needed to make for plug welding, stripped paint off them and the spot weld areas and welded it on.











I bolted the bumper brackets on to aid in pulling the panel tight to the floor and support panel behind it.

[Too Many Projects]

This is what got me motivated again. The build tag date is, actually, the week before mine was made at the LA plant..






When I removed the tail panel, I was "assuming" I would use my AMD that has the reverse light holes stamped in it, so I wasn't concerned about cutting thru the factory hole. Now, this is what I have to determine the correct location. The marks on the panel are from laying the AMD on it and tracing. They were quite close, but the panel must have shifted during the tracing as the left side was off by 3/8". After another couple hours of measuring and agonizing, I finally drilled the corners and made the cuts. I deliberately made the hole too small to final fit with a 2" disc sander and once that was done, I was relieved to see the lamp fall right in the backing plate holes.















Fit the tail light to see if it appeared centered.



After getting the right side cut in, which took more work, as the backer holes were off a little, I just HAD to mock it all up to see it. I haven't seen the car this assembled for over 4 years.



Not much left of the original sheet metal anymore. The right q-panel is NOS, as is the tail panel, but the extension, left skin and backer panel are all AMD, as well as the unseen 1 piece trunk floor and right trunk extension/drop.





Gas cap is NOS from Anthony a while back.
The tail panel on the car had been replaced and sectioned in thru the middle of the left tail light. The cable retainer for the cap was bolted thru the left, lower neck mounting hole and I'm wondering if that is correct, or just a handy place for the hacker to install it ? And, yes, the tail panel and right quarter panel repair were a major hack job, with much of the original panels still under the replacements that were brazed on over them.




None of the holes on the NOS panel are punched large enough for the retainer to fit thru. Hoping someone knows what the correct location was.

[Steve Shauger]

Hi Mitch here are the pics you requested. LMK if you need others. Taken on my 67 L78 survivor