The Drivers side rear tail piece was rusted out. The quarter panel is in great shape so I cut out the rust and as you can see above on the floor - I hand fabricated a new tail piece. I just need to weld in the trunk extension then the piece I created. This is the final bit of metal work on this old girl. It will be great to know that I removed all rust and body fill and replaced it all with new galvanized metal. The latest color choice is orange with black stripes up the hood and trunk lid. It changes daily and I am still liking the yellow so who knows???? I guess I won't know until I get to the Paint Store and pick it out. Stay tuned - body work is next then paint.......

Now that the hinge mounts are completed and the drivers door is hung I only have one more spot to fix and the metal fabrication is complete. See the next post for this final trouble spot.

I just completed building and welding in new hinge mounts on both sides. I had to use 18 guage steel as this point is under stress with the weight of the hood. They turned out great and are ready for paint.

Both fenders are solid and are ready for installation as soon as the hinge mounts are replaced.

Justin helps

Justin helped me remove the fender and he even took some of the pictures. He is asking allot of questions and is a great help. Thanks little man.

See the hole where the hinge mounts. It was rotted out like the other side. Now it will be easily repaired with the front clip removed.

I removed the other fender and front bumper etc to expose the inner fender and the hood mount.

The hood and hinges are excellent and need only a quick clean up, sanding and refinishing. It was nice to see they are all 100% rust free and in perfect condition.

The floor and trunk were cleaned up and repaired. They are now in excellent shape and rust free. New carpet quote and rear trunk mat quote just came in. Now I will order it.

Headlight bucket meets new fender

The fender I bought is also from the US and is rust free. I had to weld in the dual headlight bucket because the blue fender is from a 66 and has a single headlight bucket originally.

Cancer

This is the piece I cut out. It is double layered causing it to rust over the last 40 years. It will be easy to replicate this and weld into the existing spots that were drilled out on the car.

The hood was removed so I can replace sheet metal that the hinges mount to. More welding next week. Iwill also remove the other fender and fix that inner mount location as well. The Mopar cars B-Body are all known for the hinge mounts rotting out. This is because they are built by overlapping raw metal. It is a manufacturer defect because moisture sits between the layers of metal and rust forms. The replacement part will be galvanized for protection.

The doors

This is the new rust free door. I found these from a guy that brought them up from New Mexico. Rust free and solid.