body and paint
 

Looks like im doing my own body and paint...cant afford the shop price.
New trunk lid... left quarter panel...tail panel..rear glass filler panel .
Im getting good at drilling spot welds.

Good luck.

Youre a brave soul ,good luck.

You know how to sharpen the bit just for drilling spot welds?
Looks good. I just ended that saga on mine.

I feel your pain! I'm almost done with the sheetmetal on mine. I found for me the best way to get the spot welds out was the spot weld bits from harbor freight and/or just using an air hammer with a really sharp chisel bit.

more metal removed
 

Removed most of the bad quarter panel
Underneath is just surface rust...should clean up ok and
get treated with rust killer and coat of epoxy prime
The package tray is a different story...looks like im gona replace it.
Ordered new from ss396/ground up.
The shiping calculator on the site said 37 bucks...should be interesting.
Im still bummed about all the rust damage..it was all because of a bad rear
glass install that i didnt notice was leaking.
And leaving the car sit out in the florida weather for 4 plus years didnt help.LOL.

update on the torture
 

been pluging away at the car.
got the quarter test fited and temp screwed on...it needs a little tweek to get
the trunk gap a little smaller but its close.
Right quarter lower patch is in progress...and some home made patches for the
upper quarter to glass track.
Trunk filler is test fited and screwed.
Im waiting on the package tray complete repair panel and outer wheel housings
a few pics.

few more pics

Youre not wasting any time ,looking good .Im not that brave or talented .

Look very good. Best way to take care of the rust is to sand blast it down to bare metals and then expoy prime it. Just killers don't work. Only kills the rust on top.

Decided to shave the drip rails.
Needs a bit more work yet but i sprayed some primer to get a better look.

My package tray repair panel showed up...yippe.
So time to cut out the old one and say goodbye to the rust and pinholes.
Came out real easy...A little clean up and test fit is in order.
Or just leave it out and have the only 70 that sleeps two with a matress in the back...lol.

Dusters had that. Package tray was there but the rear seat folded down and made a nice bed area

Package tray repair panel was a real PITA to get in.
Took me two hours for the test fit...but looks like it will work.
Taking it out was another story...decided to remove the left part of the tray
and out in two parts.
Right quarter patch is cut and fitted.
Also got outer wheel housings delivered...just useing the rear part of them.
pics to follow.

Wow that looks just like mine did. I was beginning to think I was making a career out of fixing that area on mine.

Did a little blasting in the driveway useing black diamond from tractor supply
A little messy but clean up with the shop vac was easy.
Got rid of some surface rust and the rust on the hinges.
Also the rear panel down to primer...that saved some sanding.
Next up is some epoxy primer on the inside of the replacement metal.

Fixed both my outer wheel housings at the rear..new metal.
Replacement panels scuff sanded with 220 grit and epoxy primed
Also shot the trunk and inner quarters.
Im starting to like the devilbiss finish line gun i picked up.
Next is punching a billion holes for plug welding....lucky me.

Looks great. I was glad I was able to start with a rust free car. Didn't have to do all the work you are doing.

Lots of welding done...things line up quite well
a bit more and some spot putty and seam sealer will make it look fine

Good Job. Looking like a car again.

Coming together nicely

little more done today.
SMC metal filler on the roof to quarter gap after welding
ruffed in with 36 grit then some 80.
welded the filler panel to the quarter...(frowned upon by the purists)
And continued my quest for the shaved drip rail look.

Looking good, better get a move on before it's too hot a humid to safely paint.

Paint this year was probably a pipe dream.
If i get the body in epoxy prime before may itl be a miracle.
I still need to do the doors...fenders...remove engine trans and frame.
and on and on.

It took me a year longer then I thought it would to get mine done. Don't rush it, you will be glad you didn't.

Mine has become the proverbial "seven year itch." :( I hope it is everything I expect when finished. I'll be pushing it into the work shop in a few weeks to prep it for a complete repaint. I was going to fix a few spots, but started to realize it would just be better/easier if I redo the entire car. Lots of bumps and scrapes from being shuffled around over the past few years.

It was 7 years before I got to drive mine again, so I know the feeling.

Quick update
 

Still going at it.
Most of the major dents are gone.
The roof and right quarter are striped and in epoxy.
The custom drips got a 1/8 metal rod welded on the edge to give em a nice feel
The hood is in the parts showroom (my front living room) and the doors and fenders are off...Found a local media blast place that will take em down to bare metal.
The lower cowel is rust free on the outside but inside i dont know yet.
Anyway a few more pics

Awsome looking work. You Da man.

Dropped of 2 doors 2 fenders and the inner fenders at the blaster.
They use a dustless wet system and coat with oxpho when done
Its costing $300
Will post pics when i get em back.

Hope its not soda blasting????

Got the parts back from the blaster.
They look good to me...and no they dont use soda.
Now its clean and epoxy prime.

OH joy to the world.
Look what i found....how lucky i am....lmao.
Its fun for mick with pain time again....Dick n jane aint here .
Hmn...parts are ordered....i will start cutting when new metal arrives
The wife saw that and asked....mick are you ok....i was a tad wtf omg.
Wife says....carry on....its only money...and at least you will fix it right.
Will post more when i sober up.

I usually can read between the lines and figure things out. But boy you must have had a few. lol

I think he said Rust Sux ,not really sure though.

update on my project
 

Finaly got back to the chevelle.
The cowl panel would not fit in its welded together form.
So i seperated the two parts.....now its geting there.
The so called weld thru primer that the part came in was not under the welds
Perhaps thats what they do in taiwan....weld first ...weld primer after...lmao.
Anyway the drop downs are looking like they will work with a little body hammer work.
At this point at least every thing gets finished so rust wont come back in my
lifetime.
a few pics

Geting hard for me to get things done in the heat.
I instaled a canopy tent in the driveway to give a little shelter from sun
and hoping to turn it into a spray booth when the time comes.
Anyway i sandblasted the inner and outer firewall and lower piller area then shot
some epoxy.
Picked up a quart of semi gloss single stage to cover the primer with.
A few pics.

Looking good.

The semi gloss is a bit more glossy than i wanted so the paint store put some more
flatening agent in it today.
Good news is what i sprayed cant easily be seen...all inner structure panels.
Now its time to mock it up again and grind where the welds will be and spot with
weld thru primer.

more progress today.
the lower part of the cowl is welded in and the upper welded on top of it.
Then i ran out of gas.
All parts have epoxy primer and single stage matrix paint on them
Where the plug welds are were taken to bare metal in each individual location
and hit with 3M weld thru primer.
3M brushable seam sealer is the next step before it gets the side pannels