Fabricating New Tail for 79 TA

[CAMAROBOY69]

Thats turning out great! I thought you said you didnt have any talent. You underestimated yourself and I am glad you decided to do it. I really really like it!! THanks for the update.

[6'9"Witha69]

It's always good to see people step beyond their comfort zone and go for that item that will set them apart. Good job! It's going to turn out nice.

[Ralph LoGrasso]

I did not like the description of this when you first were talking about it either, but wow--that is going to look great when completed (already looks great in bare metal). Nice work, Josh.

[dhardison]

That looks good and will be sharp/unique when complete. I like the filler door as well. Nice job!

Dan

[JoshStratton]

Thank you all for the kind words!

Anyone have any suggestions or tips for improving it? I am kind of learning as I go.

[TonyL]

I think i'd recess (french?) in the fuel cap. Make a "cup" about 1 1/2 inch deep or however deep it needs to be, and leave a 1/2 inch gap around it. That way it wont look like a knob back there, (if it does.)

I'd paint the panel a contrasting color when you're done.

[Martin71RS]

Great plan, it will look very nice once finished I think!

Tony is right... you need a recessed "cup" for the fuel cap. The easy way would be to get a motorbike tank (for which the cap was intended) and cut the top out and weld it in your tailpanel...

good luck!
Martin

[JoshStratton]

You guys are right on! I was planning on frenching it, but I was going to make it just big enough to fit the filler. Do you think I should leave the 1/2 inch gap around it?

I REALLY like the idea of the contrasting color. Kind of like Bob's Cuda.

The bike idea is nice! I dont know if I want to spend the extra money though. This thing is getting expensive If I dont get a tank, I will still have about 500 bucks in this thing, including the tail lights and filler and the 69 panel I am gonna get to cut out the tail light holes.

[6'9"Witha69]

This thing is getting expensive If I dont get a tank, I will still have about 500 bucks in this thing, including the tail lights and filler and the 69 panel I am gonna get to cut out the tail light holes.

But the Unique/Wow factor is a value at twice the price!

[TonyL]

experiment with different size cups, make it just big enough to allow the hinge to operate nicely and for your fingers to fit around it. (if they need to to open it)

also, dont forget to graft a small pipe to the bottom of said "cup" to allow fuel to drain when you spill it, and for rain to have a place to go when parked.

[Jagarang]

also, dont forget to graft a small pipe to the bottom of said "cup" to allow fuel to drain when you spill it, and for rain to have a place to go when parked.

Holy crap BATMAN, thats a very important detail I would have totally forgotten if I was doing it!!

The devil is always in the details!

GREEEAATT advise Tony!!

[CAMAROBOY69]

You guys are right on! I was planning on frenching it, but I was going to make it just big enough to fit the filler. Do you think I should leave the 1/2 inch gap around it?

I REALLY like the idea of the contrasting color. Kind of like Bob's Cuda.

The bike idea is nice! I dont know if I want to spend the extra money though. This thing is getting expensive If I dont get a tank, I will still have about 500 bucks in this thing, including the tail lights and filler and the 69 panel I am gonna get to cut out the tail light holes.

$500 is not that bad at all for a priceless "one of a kind" look. Heck thats actually very cheap.

[JoshStratton]

experiment with different size cups, make it just big enough to allow the hinge to operate nicely and for your fingers to fit around it. (if they need to to open it)

also, dont forget to graft a small pipe to the bottom of said "cup" to allow fuel to drain when you spill it, and for rain to have a place to go when parked.

Wow. These are VERY good points and Kevin is right! I too would have never thought of that, at least not until I had gas all over my shoes. Actually, I will probably be doing something really custom with this as well. The filler is a little different than a car filler.

There are no hinges. The tab in the middle pulls down and then you turn and pull the center piece out. The seal is included in that center pull. I will try to get some pics of it taken apart.



Another update is that I am starting over. LOL. Last night when I was pounding the crap out of it trying to get the shape just right to fit over the bumper, it occured to me that I should have done it a completely different way, which would have made this MUCH MUCH easier. I am really glad I thought of it because if anyone else trys to do it my old way and it didnt turn out nice, I would have felt bad.

My solution: Pay someone else to do it. Just kidding!

Actually, I am going to cut out the face plate that holds the lights and filler in one big cut. Then I am going to cut and fab up the lips that go around it that will be used to bolt the whole thing to the body and then weld them to the back of the panel. This will prevent all that hammer banging and cutting and fitting. Much easier.

Its amazing what you learn AFTER the fact.

[CAMAROBOY69]

Its amazing what you learn AFTER the fact.

I know exactly what your talking about. As you might know, I recently did the entire conversion on the rear of my car for the Lamborghini exhaust and the frenched plate. Well I hated my original idea for the plate and ended up cutting everything all up again. Then I heard about the "Frenched" plate and love it. Lesson learned and I am much happier with the results now. Just like you will be with your project.

[HeadInTheClouds]

I was probably like most guys on here and wasnt sure about the idea at first. After I saw the pics Im liking the idea. I look forward to seeing it finished. Keep up the good work!

[awr68]

Looks great, I love the look!!

You might see if any members here have an old 67-68 camaro tail panel you could have, this would give you the recessed fuel door 'cup' that you could graft to your new tail panel and it would flush mount the new fuel cap....sorry but I just threw mine out this week!!

Keep up the good work!!

[71FirebirdLS1]

thats really looking sweet josh... it's starting to come together better than i thought too

[JoshStratton]

Well it would appear that plans have changed YET again. After MUCH deliberation and frustration (and probably lack of planning), I have found that this body style has a LOT of subtle quirks' that would have to be attacked before the tail panel I wanted would actually fit.

Not only did I have to hack into the lip of the tail panel, I would have to find a way to create a new bumper cover. I forgot that the 79 TA bumper had so many curves and my light panel would be REAL ugly with the curve I would have had to put in it.

Then came the debate on what to do for the bumper cover. The original bumper was made of plastic and would take a lot of fabrication to create a new one made of sheet metal. Not only that, but with the shell of the original bumper, it would weigh a TON.

So what did I decide to do? I went to town...and I think me likes it a lot.

I am going to create a deep verticle french for the license plate and i will do cut-outs for the exhausts.

What do you think of it?

[F70t/a]

Man that looks F*cking sick bro!!!!!! What size gauge metal did you use? 16 gauge? Nice work

[dhardison]

I think that looks slick Josh, especially from the side! From the back the angled plate looks large (i.e. a lot of flat surface area), but I think by frenching the license plate and throwing in some cut-outs for the exhaust it'll break up the large flat area.

I like it!