As I posted previously, the top rear mounting bracket on the passenger-side has rust. I've attached a picture. Has anyone had theirs' repaired, and if so, how; or is anyone aware of any aftermarket replacements? Thanks in advance.
I don't know how bad yours are, ie if its just the sheetmetal or not, but................... I had to replace both sides on the 70 Chevelle convertible we are working on now. Both the mounting brackets and the sheetmetal covering them was rotted and had to go. I don't know of any reproduction parts available for these pieces, so we cut them out of a rotted 69 Skylark conv we were scrapping and I had to weld them in. Depending on how much you need to replace it can be a considerable job, plus it needs to be structually strong due to the stresses from the convertible top operation. I may have a pic somewhere showing what I did. Duane
Here is a pic. If you look at the large rectangular hole you will see some sky blue paint at the top middle and lower left corners of the hole. This is where I pieced it. Of course there are no quarters or wheel houses in the pic.:laugh: Enjoy. Duane
Duane, Not sure if you can tell from my photo. The "material" that I removed from the bracket was very soft. Originally, was it1/4 inch steel? How did you find the doner Skylark? Scott
I would say the bracket is more like 1/8" thick. If you look inside where the bracket is you will see some flanges sticking out that will show you how thick it is. Mine was so bad the entire area where the inner panel attaches to the wheelhouse flange was rotten. I had to do some massive surgery here due to how bad the sheet metal was. My friends and I often get cars to scrap. Most are really bad as we live outside Philadelphia, but you should see us scrap a car. I always said we are like the "Eskimos and the whales". By the time we are done cutting up a car you can sweep up whats left. We recycle almost everything. Once you determine what you need you could put a parts wanted add here and someone will help. Those brackets/inner panels are basically the same for all 68-72 GM A-body convertibles. Someone here will be scrapping a convert. The only down side is the panels in that area are attached to everything, so it will take some time to cut them out intact, plus you need to trim them. What you are going to pay for here is mostly labor, not the price of the parts. Duane
Duane, I'll take some better photographs of the mounting points for the convertible this weekend and post here. I punched through what you see in the third photo with my trusty screwdriver, so I am unsure just how much needs to be removed and replaced. I want to media and/or acid dip the body and frame which should give me a better idea of what I have to work with. The bolt holes appear intact and solid. Recommendations? Also, as you can see, I am going to need to replace the entire floor - front to back (and under the rear seats). Located an after-market entire replacement floor on-line. The cabin frame brace as you can see, at the base, is bad as well. A long project. Scott
If it is a skylark with diffuse rot, consider parting this car and finding one with a good body. Unless it has some special importance to you, it is hard to justify spending a lot to entirely redo a Skylark. It is cheaper and faster to buy one already done.
I don't particularly like acid dipping. If the shop doesn't neutralize it correctly and get everything out of the seams it will continue to come out and ruin paint jobs. I have seen this first hand with a 32-33 Auburn or Dusenburg. You don't want to know what they had to do to save the car, or the law suits involved. Duane
There is no way I would ever acid dip this or any other car. ---------- Post added at 07:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:42 PM ---------- Scott--If you have to do the above, the body is rotten my my defintion. And once you get into it further, it will in fact be worse than it now looks with the paint still on it.
Scott, Here are 2 pics of the bracing I installed to hold my 70 442 convertible together while I replaced the entire floor with floor braces and inner rockers. If you are doing anything other then the floor skin only, you will need to do some type of bracing, or do it in steps so the body is structurally strong at every step. Duane
Here is a pic of the replacement floor after it was welded in place. I dropped it in from the bottom in 1 piece. This was an original floor pan that was blasted and sprayed with acid etching primer, there were no repros available at the time. Enjoy. Duane
Scott, Before you go any further...determine what it is going to cost to restore car now.....flynbuick, is correct...may be better off to cut your losses now then get into a complete replacement of all the metal panels/parts. I did everything your car needs to a 70 Stage1 convertible...I have the pics on the site below. I also posted a very very ruff 70 442 conv in the Junkyard Jewels section....car was too far gone to save but may have the anchor points you need....all depends on your decision to restore the car or not.
Duane, Flyn, GS, Thanks for your concerns and recommendations. I do appreciate it. I have crawled under and around every inch of the car. Literally, I could patch the floor and be 'ok'. But I do not want to do that. The metal surrounding these areas is solid and I can walk around on the floors as they are now. The floor area surrounding the driver-side brace is not. Rockers are good, quarters, fenders, and frame. Body bushings bolts were intact as well, and came out easily with an air gun. I've purchased interior/cabin braces/bars (for the door areas and across, so that when I raise the body, everything remains intact. The rear passenger-side convertible mounting point is of concern however I have time to find an A-body donor for that. The car will remain garaged for the duration of this project. I am in no hurry to be finished any time soon or within the next 3-5 years.
Scott, Please email me direct...no PM...to discuss details...need a reply tonight/Thur...thanks! GStage1@BuickPerformanceClub.com
i have them, but the big issue for me is, i sold the wheel houses out of this car for 300 a side, so i cant just wack them out, id have to drill them off and thats labor...and although the part is going to be cheap, there is labor involved and i have to charge accordingly...so heres my cell 816 315 1589..they are mint in this car..too bad someone else got to it before me, because i would have never parted the car out the panel under the rear seat is perfect too..i will slice and dice what ya want..i amswered your pm..youd be better off calling me
i totally mis understood which part you needed..i got it now...you want the intrusion braces..i couldnt understand, but do now
Mark, George, I snapped a few more pics to indicate the condition of the driver and passenger "intrusion" braces, as well as the driver and passenger convertible top mounting points. The base of each "intrusion" brace appears much wider than the brace itself. I snapped several pictures looking straight down. You can see the outline of the base on the driver-side and passenger side views. Thanks again for all of your assistance. Scott
Scott, Finally got a box for the qtr panel section...please email me direct with full name, address, home ph for FedEx HomeDelivery or Business name, contact person, address, ph Thanks!
