The Blue Door. Passenger Side before going to the bodyshop. Driver Side before going to the bodyshop.

This page and all of the pages hereafter will talk and show all the steps I have taken in working on the body of my Chevelle. I first started to do the work to the body by finding full quarter panels at the Englishtown Swap meet. I purchased two quarter panels for around $220.00 for the pair. I later found out that the quarter panels were for a hard top and not a convertable. My wonderful bodyman, Bill, did some custom work to get the quarter panels to fit on my car.

I began by sanding the high spots and the rust down with various sanders. From there I had to figure out which body panels needed to be replaced or patched. I decided that I should replace the entire panels rather than patching various sections and having to worry about the patches not holding. The two front fenders and the passenger door were replaced with panels from a 1970 chevelle. The front fenders were purchased from a junk yard in Arizona, which I found in the Hemmings Motor News, and the door was purchased at the Englishtown Swap Meet.

In the process of taking off the front end I noticed a rust hole on the passenger side of the firewall. This was a big problem since it dealt with the firewall and I could not tangibly replace the firewall like the fenders. I got some sheetmetal out and after a long afternoon of bending and forming I made myself a patch panel to cover the hole. I then sanded the surface rust off of the hole and primered the hole, inside and outside. I then put a coat of black paint on top of that to seal it. Once all the paint was dry I used pop-rivets and silicon to secure the patch panel to the firewall. This was messy but wound up working perfectly. I then painted over the panel with black paint and it looked like a professional job.

The trunk lid sanded down. The trunk at the Body Shop. The car leaving the bodyshop on a flatbed.

I then gave the front fenders to Bill to strip of all paint, smooth out, and undercoat the inside. Once he undercoated the insides of the fenders he painted the jambs while the fenders were off the car to make life easier (see pic below). The next step was to get the car to the bodyshop. I had Discount Towing out of Bridgewater tow the car to Union, where the bodyshop is. It cost me $95.00 each way, but was worth every penny. At the bodyshop the first step was to begin work on the quarter panels which would require lots of time. I went to the shop some afternoons after school to watch the progress and see how the car looks under the quarterpanels. Once the quarterpanels were in the doors and trunk lid as well as the hood were taken off the car and their jambs were prepped and painted. All the jambs as well as the car got 3 coats of paint (1 primer 2 paint) and 3 coats of a clear coat to protect the finish.

Once all the jambs were painted the car itself was sanded down to the bare metal and any irregularites in the metal were filled in under the coat of primer. Bill used a special primer in the end which helps resist against corrosion and rust, hence the yellowish color. Then it was time to paint the car! I didn't care about the interior nor the roof so little of that was masked off. The dash and windowshield were the only things masked off, as well as the engine.

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(click here to find out about the work done at the bodyshop)

The driver fender off the car. The insides of the driver door. The passenger side quarterpanel installed.




Last updated on March 13, 1999 (12:57 AM)