Patch panel fab or buy decision

Alright, it showed up today (thanks for prodding me to check in to it wild cat)!

Unfortunately the two areas that really need attention (red and blue):

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are behind latch tower (red) and brace (blue) that I need to take off to be able to get in there to work. Not a big deal really,
all in all I'm happy with my $400 purchase (except for the monstrous spot weld holes but what can you do).

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and

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Most of this summer was consumed with working on replacing the rear window corners and finishing the trunk pan work. I have piddled with it some when I needed a break from crawling around under or in the trunk.

This first surprise was that the area below and around the driver side light well was actually beat up pretty bad. The flat body line that runs side to side (red line below) was actually made out of about 1/4" bondo, it had been "caved and paved" as Chris would say. :)

I've worked that area and believe I have it pretty close back to the proper depths to the left of the light well, etc but I wasn't able to get the top edge of that body line (red line) back to a very crisp edge. It's hard to see but the area above that line to the edge of the light well is actually slightly concave and pretty close back to correct. Almost nothing flat from the factory on these tail panels.

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I also tackled the blue circled area, and have worked it back as close as possible, but until the big dent in the middle is addressed, there are stresses from that dent that need to be addressed before you can really restore the flat body lines that cross this dent. Again the area above that is slightly concave all the way across the pane.

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I've removed the trunk latch tower to allow access to the big dent (circled in red above). Still hard to see, but I believe that the metal is actually stretched in that dent. Fortunately Chris has graciously offered to have a look at the panel in a couple of weeks, so I'm going to leave well enough alone for the time being.

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One more picture that shows the big center dent and how its impacting the body line from the blue circled area I've worked on so far.

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Will post more photos once Chris has worked his magic!

Finally, here's a picture of the rear of the car where I'm trying to verify that the trunk extensions, (old) tail panel, repaired quarter panels all come together correctly before I start plug welding the trunk extensions to the quarters and trunk pan. Quite the jigsaw puzzle, and due to the frame connectors, instead of jacking the trunk pan in to place it actually has to be pulled down. :rolleyes:

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Rob came up to VA today. We managed to get the panel in line.:) He took some photos that he'll be posting at some point. Enjoyed the time with him today.
Thanks again Chris!

It turned out great, I really appreciate all the time you put in to it today. Had a great time, lot of good conversation and I learned a lot to boot. If you're on the east coast and looking for someone with the knowledge, skills and attention to detail to do the job right, Chris is your man.

I'll work on getting those pictures posted tomorrow.
 
Thanks again Chris!

It turned out great, I really appreciate all the time you put in to it today. Had a great time, lot of good conversation and I learned a lot to boot. If you're on the east coast and looking for someone with the knowledge, skills and attention to detail to do the job right, Chris is your man.

I'll work on getting those pictures posted tomorrow.
Was Chris’ assistant (in his avatar) there? That would have been an added bonus! :D

Don
 
Rob came up to VA today. We managed to get the panel in line.:) He took some photos that he'll be posting at some point. Enjoyed the time with him today.

Can't thank you enough Chris! Super nice guy (even if he does root for UVa).

All right, here we go. I'm gonna tell you what I think I learned and Chris can explain what I should have learned. :rolleyes:

Here's a shot that show's just how deep that gouge was from the rear. Also you see Chris getting it good and
warm with a industrial heat gun. Make sense metal will move a lot easier when good and hot.

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Was really amazed at how much he was able to move the metal around with an old hammer handle (i.e.
a really hard piece of wood). Perfect though because its not going to introduce sharp dents.

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Chris has a huge selection of chisels that have the edges rounded over to different radiuses, worked really well in
the areas where the metal was gouged deep.

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Probably ten minutes later and it's already looking a whole lot better (easier to tell when you could run your
hand over it.

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After getting roughly back to shape, lot of hammer and dolly work from both sides to start
smoothing it out.

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Cool "pick" style of hammer for working in that tight area with a sharp body line.

The panel beater bags are an absolute necessity. I'm ordering a couple to have myself.

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Using a body file to check for high spots.

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More dolly work using a rounded edge to come at it from behind.

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After checking this rounded channel for high spots with sandpaper wrapped around a piece of PVC,
tapping down a few high spots that were left.

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Couldn't resist getting a picture of the hammers. :)

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Pretty much all the worked areas on the panel need 1/16" or less of skim coat to finish them up.

Definitely learned a lot, Chris should make some videos. Got to see the front piece he formed by hand
for an MG he's finishing, you would never know it was made from scratch.
 
That is a great old book and it really made me look at how the damaged happened in the first place and try to work backwards from that.
Thanks for the heat gun advice too. Makes good sense that warm metal is easier to move than cold.

I have the Keys to Metal Bumping in PDF but it's a little over 5 MB so too big to post here? Anybody want it?
It's about the only way I can help pay back what this great forum has given me!
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I used the heat gun cause I was out of acetylene.:) Just a good idea to warm the metal a bit as it moves easier at 100+ degrees than it will at 50 degrees. We didn't have to do any shrinking either, which may surprise some of you. It all came out to within a 1/16 or less.
 
There is a great old book and it really made me look at how the damaged happened in the first place and try to work backwards from that.
Thanks for the heat gun advice too. Makes good sense that warm metal is easier to move than cold.

I have the Keys to Metal Bumping in PDF but it's a little over 5 MB so too big to post here? Anybody want it?
It's about the only way I can help pay back what this great forum has given me!
.
.
.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7...=sharing&resourcekey=0-jdFCVx_vPZLdUQWJvaOYgA
 
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