sorta new

[ct71rr]

I’m moving on to replacing my left rear frame rail and trunk pan. At some point in my cars life, it received damage to the left rear. This impact caused the left rear frame rail to bend slightly and the trunk pan to pucker.

Damage to rail:

C9D0DFC9-EAFF-4F9A-81EB-019C0F03053A.jpeg (119.8 KiB) Viewed 218334 times

This damage has caused the back half of left rail to be approximately 1/2” lower than the right rail.

Damage to trunk pan:

4B916D39-728D-44BA-8224-E1A8F8EB9E31.jpeg (212.11 KiB) Viewed 218334 times

You can see in this photo how the left side of the trunk opening is pushed in slightly (between the arrows):

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Trunk pan out:

34F008CF-020C-403C-9F8D-BB3AED255D56.jpeg (259.04 KiB) Viewed 218334 times

A better look at the damage to the rail:

48480E13-AB41-46D9-910B-62C7AF6CB769.jpeg (141.21 KiB) Viewed 218334 times

Next, I have to remove the rail .

[71Beeper]

Man ct - quite the buckle on that frame rail.
Looks like somebody put something awfully heavy in the trunk at one time....

[ct71rr]

Man ct - quite the buckle on that frame rail.
Looks like somebody put something awfully heavy in the trunk at one time....

It’s funny you should say that, after looking at it, I’m starting to think the same thing. I’m wondering if something heavy was dropped in there. I can’t find any signs of damage on the tail panel.

[ct71rr]

I got the rear frame rail out and the donor mocked in:

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[sdweatherman]

Awesome work! Your car most likely took a nice solid bump to the rear end at some point - that crumple zone in the rear frame rail did exactly what it was designed to do. Great that you were able find another rear frame rail. I dismantled a 71 Sebring Plus several years back and have a nice set of rear frame rails just waiting for an ultimate 71 RR or GTX save in the future.
Scott.

[ct71rr]

Thanks Scott! I got some more work done over the weekend. I started blasting the right rear frame rail and surrounding attachment points in preparation for epoxy. I built an enclosure around my car to help contain the giant mess media blasting makes:

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[71440 gtx]

good job

[ct71rr]

Hi all, I’m still plugging away. I removed both quarters which I knew needed to be replaced when I purchased the car. I also knew that the passenger’s side outer rocker was a bit messed up but didn’t know the extent of the rot . The quarters were a giant PIA because of the PO who decided to use pop rivets, bondo, brass brazing, wood and metal screws and a bunch of poorly made and fastened patches.

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[ct71rr]

A few more pics:

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[ct71rr]

I’ve been making some progress: I replaced the rotted sections of the right side outer and inner rockers. The outer rocker toward the rear was pretty much toast and a small section of the inner. I also had to replace a small section on the top of the outer rocker that has a raised area to accommodate a bolt that passes through the inner rocker. Since the section of the outer rocker I need to replace isn’t made, I hade to fabricate one. I have limited (no) metal working tools and not much skill but I went ahead with it. I used a section of an outer rocker patch panel I purchased several years ago, I can’t remember from where. I believe it is a Sherman piece as the quality is not like AMD. I re-bent the angles to match as close to original as possible. This section is tricky as it jogs down in two places: where the quarter is leaded into the rocker and again about 8” from this area. It’s not 100% but 100% better than what was there. You can see several hammer marks where I beat the panel into submission.

72E0A84B-3B9A-4E11-B079-6054C6A50CDD.jpeg (282.03 KiB) Viewed 217973 times

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47340BAF-7219-48A5-BB5F-91434A51AA41.jpeg (147.93 KiB) Viewed 217973 times

Thanks for looking!

[ct71rr]

This weekend I replaced the section under the right side rear window. A PO carved out the center of it, for what I can only guess, to allow better access to remove/install the glass. I purchased a donor panel a long time ago with the intention of patching the missing section in. I decided to remove it in one piece and use the entire donor. I sand blasted the donor with glass bead and sprayed it with epoxy, then welded it in. I also cleaned up the surrounding panels and sprayed them, as well.

Original:

7039E988-4E34-43EF-8988-0B1C3E055F17.jpeg (147.62 KiB) Viewed 217944 times

Donor:

C8F5D1CE-0031-475C-8646-47AB0B3EFB20.jpeg (160.43 KiB) Viewed 217944 times

Before blasting:

597354FC-1F9E-4492-87D8-21AC54447D98.jpeg (231.87 KiB) Viewed 217944 times

After blasting:

BC083605-1F2E-4603-8615-3E9FE65AC73F.jpeg (214.32 KiB) Viewed 217944 times

Test fit:

197B32CD-934B-4F01-BEB4-34C31DD46E90.jpeg (135.4 KiB) Viewed 217944 times

[ct71rr]

And welded in:

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AC864CD3-8234-4E0B-94EC-0B4F16F45105.jpeg (139.91 KiB) Viewed 217944 times

I had to add a strip at the bottom of the donor because it was missing:

D10DC0F3-87E6-4FA1-83D0-39E119CD93D6.jpeg (175.82 KiB) Viewed 217944 times

[71440 gtx]

[sdweatherman]

Excellent work!! You certainly aren't afraid to get your hands dirty. Good thing because this car has needed a lot of love! Keep going!
Did I send you that inner piece? I think I remember sending a chunk like that somewhere - and that looks like my kind of OCD packaging!
Scott.

[71440 gtx]

Do you doing the most awesome job and I respect and I'm watching you you're saving an old toy awesome