what part of the body makes the most sense to start on

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eccentricMagpies

eccentricMagpies

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I've been busy pulling apart a dart i picked up and it has bad floors, rockers, and quarters.
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=173729
I am placing an order for some AMD floors and quarters

My first approach was to replace the trunk pan, then the rockers, footwells and full floorpan and then come back and finish with the quarters.

But I figured since I'll be pulling all of the floors up except the "behind rear seats section" (although that will need patches) that I'd also do a mini tub on the car.

So, I was wondering, is the most logic place to start with... still by removing the trunk pan? Figured to get that out of the way so I can work on the frame rails if needed and have more room to work on the inner wheel houses too.

Or could I simply remove both quarters and trunk pan and be okay ?

I worry about alignment issues if I start to pull too many things off all at once.
... because i know i'll have to relocate a few things on the mini tubbing itself.
 
Focus on the structural areas first, level the car up on jack stands and replace the rocker panels, floor pans, trunk pan, quarter panels, in that order.

Rocker panels are pretty much part of the frame on an A-Body, unless the car has subframe connectors
 
Get your doors lined up and shutting nice before you remove the quarters. That way you know the doors fit and are lined up before hand. Use the doors as a guidline for installing the quarters. Then you can remove the doors after the quarters are on. I have seen idiots dismantle a car and install new sheet metal only later find out nothing lines up afterwards.
 
moparlover said:
subframe connectors first if they are not installed...
Click to expand...

Yeah, the other option I was considering was to 'pull back' or trim back only the floor near the rocker and do both sides. Then to remove the floor completely and finish with that.
Nice thread here I found that I'll probably resort to:
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=122045


jimbo said:
Do I have to by her dinner first

or just pick a body part and get started?
Click to expand...

=D>

...and he'll be here all week folks
:smile:
 
6 jackstands; 2 on k member, 2 at front rear spring mounts, 2 at rear bumper crossmember, leveled side to side, and lengthways by door sill. Then re-check door fitment.

and if you plan on doing more; plumb bob down, and mark floor, so you can pull the rearend back to square, if installing diff suspension.
 
4404spd said:
Get your doors lined up and shutting nice before you remove the quarters. That way you know the doors fit and are lined up before hand. Use the doors as a guidline for installing the quarters. Then you can remove the doors after the quarters are on. I have seen idiots dismantle a car and install new sheet metal only later find out nothing lines up afterwards.
Click to expand...


So I don't end up like one of those idiots :violent1:, should I reinstall the doors on my semi-dismantled Demon before I remove the rockers/quarters and check for alignment?? I also need to piece in the driverside lower pillar jam and do full quarters if I don't do patch panels. I've seen patch panels for behind the rear wheel but do they make them for ahead of the wheel??

Thanks
 
Newf said:
So I don't end up like one of those idiots :violent1:, should I reinstall the doors on my semi-dismantled Demon before I remove the rockers/quarters and check for alignment?? I also need to piece in the driverside lower pillar jam and do full quarters if I don't do patch panels. I've seen patch panels for behind the rear wheel but do they make them for ahead of the wheel??

Thanks
Click to expand...
If your doing full quarters yes, If your doing patch panels depends on how much your using up to the doors, But I would put them back on and get them adjusted and make them so they open and close good. I also drill a 1/8 hole through the hinge into the door so when I reinstall them I use a pick and get them right back in the same spot the first time.
 
4404spd said:
Get your doors lined up and shutting nice before you remove the quarters. That way you know the doors fit and are lined up before hand. Use the doors as a guidline for installing the quarters. Then you can remove the doors after the quarters are on. I have seen idiots dismantle a car and install new sheet metal only later find out nothing lines up afterwards.
Click to expand...

good idea,...I thought about doing my trunk pan first cause I gotta do this before I replace the tank,...but the doors first makes more sense.
 
Easy way to do subframe connectors is with the floors out. Kinda kills two birds with one stone....Adds structural support and keeps everything in line.
 
With the car on its wheels level lthe rocers front to rear. Align doors with out latches. Make sure whent they are in the closed position they align perfect. While they are in this position weld a brace from the top of the rear jam to the middle of the front . Do this on the inside so the doors still close.

leave the door in place while doing the rockers and the quarters and align them with the doors as a reference point.

These braces are an important step you don't want to skip. Never cut both quarters off at once unless you have another car there for references. Fit several times weld once.
 
I like to start with the ta-ta's myself.

But seriously, oldmanmopar is right about the braces. We use 1x1 square tubing for braces.
 
The floor and trunk panels are very easy to do and should be done last. Focus on what the above members were saying, IMO, a good move.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
With the car on its wheels level lthe rocers front to rear. Align doors with out latches. Make sure whent they are in the closed position they align perfect. While they are in this position weld a brace from the top of the rear jam to the middle of the front . Do this on the inside so the doors still close.

leave the door in place while doing the rockers and the quarters and align them with the doors as a reference point.

These braces are an important step you don't want to skip. Never cut both quarters off at once unless you have another car there for references. Fit several times weld once.
Click to expand...

Was that supposed to read "level the rockers front to rear"?? I'm thinking of putting my Demon on a rotiserrie, how will that affect things?? I was thinking that it would be easier to blast the bottom as well as replace the rockers/trunk extensions that way. Is there anything special I need to do to keep alignment of things while on a rotiserrie & should I have both doors on to do this?? Thanks, don't mean to hi-jack this thread.
 
A buddy wanted to put his 69 Charger on a rott... He had the door braces, but didn't want to use them. I talked him into installing the sub-frames first.

It worked, but I was sweating it.
 
Dusterbingthepeace said:
Easy way to do subframe connectors is with the floors out. Kinda kills two birds with one stone....Adds structural support and keeps everything in line.
Click to expand...

thought about doing it that way but the thing that bugs me is you now lost the exact drop in your floor and might have to do some cutting in order for the new pan to fit.

I plan to weld mine in under the floors as 132068Dodge has done in his rebuild under the restoration thread. Then pull the floor, weld in new floor, then pull rocker and prior to weld, make sure doors fit properly.

Newf said:
Thanks, don't mean to hi-jack this thread.
Click to expand...

no worries... it's all applicable
 
Oldmanmopar said:
With the car on its wheels level lthe rocers front to rear. Align doors with out latches. Make sure whent they are in the closed position they align perfect. .
Click to expand...


Sorry for some dumb questions here, but i'm a little confused with some of these steps.

I don't know how to align doors without latches.
- I installed the doors back in place to ensure they close properly after placing the car on 4 stands.

when in closed position they align perfect.
- well, I have replacement doors and I dont' know what perfect means on a 40 year old car. I'd like them to be perfect. They don't seem to have any, if much, wobble in them when open. Below are some photo's showing the gaps between rear quarter and rockers...

Passenger: (it is a tight looking fit on the bottom corner where the quarter/rocker/door meets.. no issues closing door)

wed026.jpg


wed027.jpg


wed028.jpg


driver:

wed031.jpg


wed032.jpg


wed033.jpg



If anything, on the driver side, the door does set 'out' from the rocker a bit, as if it's bowed out or maybe the rocker is just in that bad of shape. Not really visible it seems in the photo i guess.

wed038.jpg
 
Passenger door looks low to me....the body lines on the door look lower then the quarter....
 
I always start with a kiss then just to rub then kiss the boo... Oops thought you talkin about...nevermind. Any way I start with the quarter panels, then tail panel, then door forward.
 
It would be a whole lot easier to start with a car that has no rust issues. There are lots of them in Nevada Arizona and California. It would save you a whole lot of hassle and would last quite a long time.
 
Heres is how we would handle a job like this at my shop, We would jig the body on a table, But I know thats not some thing everyone could do. So I would suggest 8 jack stand. All the same. You can pick some at Harbour Freight for cheap. Get the car leveled up on the stands. Get the door fitting pretty good.( Looks like you have done that) Cross brace both door openings and also cross brace from side to side in the rear seat pan area.
Pre drll alignment holes in the upper and lower hinges. 2 per hinge.Remove doors
Remove quarters,remove trunk pan and inner and outter wheel housings.
Trim new trunk pan for mini tubs.
Modify inner wheel house for mini tub and tack to new trunk pan
Clamp outter wheel house to tack inner and test fit quarter to outter wheel house.
If very thing fits up nice and snug weld every thing in place. When both sides are done move to the rockers. When installing rockers tack in place. re install doors using pre drilled holes in hinges to make sure you lower door gap to rocker is spot on. adjust as needed.remove doors and weld in place. then front floor pans the rear pans if needed and under seat pan if needed. When done remove bracing . reinstall doors and your ready to start body work.
Piece of cake.
Tim
 
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