Rear Body Seams

[Camaro Zach]

Well it is time to start welding down the quarter panels, upper body panel and the tail panel on my 68 Camaro. I'm not building this car to stock I am going to be "customizing" just about everything, but i'm not sure wether or not to weld up all the seams between the Upper body panel and the quarters. Also wether i should weld up the seams between the tail panel and the quarters. If i dont weld them up then i am going to have to re-shape them because the panels arent close to lining up perfact.
Sorry for the long post.
Thanks,
Zach

[Tom Welch]

I believe that welding them would work but any filler would probably crack due to stress from flexing. Maybe reinforcing the structure under the seam would help that?

[parsonsj]

Let's hear from a real body man, but I think you'd be fine.

It will crack if you don't weld it up, but I don't think it would be a problem if the seam was fully welded.

jp

[BRIAN]

weld em up! Why would you think it would be any different than any other 2 pieces of sheetmetal? Actually the v-groove will give you a stronger weld than but welded pieces after they have been ground down. If you are welding to existing rear panel and upper clean out very well or don't expect to be doing any mig welding to them panels.

[Camaro Zach]

Yea there is no way i'd havlf @$$ it and fill it full of bondo.. not the way i work. I wasnt wondering if it would be structuraly ok, but i was wondering if it looks alright? i just wasnt sure how it'l look with the lines shaved.
Thanks,
zach

[Andrew McBride]

I welded mine smooth. Of course body filler was needed

Like John said: I wouldn't recommend body filling the entire seam without welding.
You will have some time spent in doing this, if you want to really have a good smooth look. a mig welder and a good grinder and you can have a nice smooth finish in no time.

all try to post a pic of my seamless rear panel.
well...it's not letting me post a picture and my space is still available. Zach, all send you a pic if you post your e-mail.

Andrew

[Camaro Zach]

[email protected]
Thanks Andrew

Yea i can weld and grind here is some rust repair i did the other day

[rocketrod]

Weld them and fill as needed. I have all three seams welded, on each rear quarter, and filled on mine. It makes for a really clean look.

Rod

[MuscleRodz]

You could get creative like the second guy that had my car. After I got it home I noticed the window channels looked a little funny. He had filled half of them up with bondo! Well long story short when I got to the back of the car he had resculpted the tulip panel seams with about 3/8" bondo and simulated panel seams in the bondo! How about that for a custom touch. Thank god it is now in the hands of a true metal worker.

Mike

[Camaro Zach]

You could get creative like the second guy that had my car. After I got it home I noticed the window channels looked a little funny. He had filled half of them up with bondo! Well long story short when I got to the back of the car he had resculpted the tulip panel seams with about 3/8" bondo and simulated panel seams in the bondo! How about that for a custom touch. Thank god it is now in the hands of a true metal worker.

Mike

HaHaHa yea exact same thing with the rear panel on my car, it had about 1/2 inch of perfactly straight bondo with some "V"s cut in it. Found that and some other hacked up stuff so i decided to replace all the rear sheetmetal. Well thanks for the ideas and hte pics, looks like i will be welding them up solid.
Thanks guys,
Zach

[68protouring454]

you could use structual glue on the rear seam, at the flange that is made to be spot welded, then use a factory type seam sealer on the seam , that would be great corrosion resistance, with the correct look of the 1/4 to tail panel seam, goodluck, although welding and skimming with bondo is fine to
jake

[BRIAN]

By the way the idea is to weld correctly and then barely require grinding. Try some panel clamps you will be amazed at the difference in your repairs. Just like structural repairs when you grind down sheetmetal welds you weaken them and the surrounding metal. Next time you are done grinding down hold the piece up to the light after a few raps with a hammer, you will then know what I am talking about.The panel clamps give you perfect seam that you can run beads not what I call popcorn connected spot welds. There will always be some grind with a mig type weld but it can cut your time in 1/2.

[Steve1968LS2]

You could get creative like the second guy that had my car. After I got it home I noticed the window channels looked a little funny. He had filled half of them up with bondo! Well long story short when I got to the back of the car he had resculpted the tulip panel seams with about 3/8" bondo and simulated panel seams in the bondo! How about that for a custom touch. Thank god it is now in the hands of a true metal worker.

Mike

Tell me about it.. Here is what the guy from here did on the 69 I bought.. I guess "full restoration" meant buttering up huge rust holes with bondo then sanding it down and painting..



that hole was litterally filled with bondo. the only way to tell was by either removing the headliner or grinding. Needless to say this prompted us to check the rest of the car and to just replace the entire roof panel. The things people do still amaze me.....

[MoeBawlz]

wow... and i was surprised when i saw the 1/2" of bondo on my rear quarters... I thought the guy before me really hacked it up, seeing what you guys delt with makes me really glad that thats ALL i had. Well that and the fact that the previous owner cut a HUGE HOLE in the roof for a sunroof...