Progress Thread The "grátis" 1966 Coupe - final sheet metal repairs

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Very true...due to the grain and the knots if nothing else....still 300lbs snapping a 4x4 sounds like it was compromised in some way, rotted, cracked, etc. I would build a metal rotisserie for sure if I had some way to store the thing for years between uses(any excuse to pull out the welder for me). The length of time the body will be on the rotisserie and the elements its exposed to also play a big factor. You make a good point though in that wood is really inconsistent in strength and failures are far more dangerous, metal requires fatigue before snapping(not like the weight of a car is enough to cause most tubing to fail anyway), anyway, my apologies for sidetracking the build thread.
 
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Very true...due to the grain and the knots if nothing else....still 300lbs snapping a 4x4 sounds like it was compromised in some way, rotted, cracked, etc. I would build a metal rotisserie for sure if I had some way to store the thing for years between uses(any excuse to pull out the welder for me). The length of time the body will be on the rotisserie and the elements its exposed to also play a big factor. You make a good point though in that wood is really inconsistent in strength and failures are far more dangerous, metal requires fatigue before snapping(not like the weight of a car is enough to cause most tubing to fail anyway), anyway, my apologies for sidetracking the build thread.
No worries. No work is happening right now.

I did schedule a week of vacation for the first week in February. Planning to get the driver's side trunk floor and the rest of the tail panel area put back together.
 
I'm off this week and got a jump start on the trunk floor and tail panel this weekend. Driver's side trunk floor is in.

Old trunk floor out and rust proofing for the inside of the frame rail that was (again) clean as a whistle inside.
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Some fitting was required, but it was easier than the passenger side.
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I also got new trunk lid mounted so I can fit the tail panel properly. It didn't take much effort to get the gaps looking nice.
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With the trunk floors done, I got started on rebuilding the rusted areas at the ends of the quarters. I made good progress on the driver side trunk channel.

This is honestly turning out much better than I ever imagined it would. I used a combination of duck bill pliers, needle nose vise grips, and hammer/dolly to get it to closely match the shape of the original trunk channel.

It got dark, so I'll finish tomorrow. Then it's tail panel time.
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Looking good man, this car is going to be killer. Purely just my opinion and not stated as a matter of fact or to tell you what/how to do what you are doing-cause you are light years ahead of me in car restoration/ body repair, but in my personal experience, if you are getting splatter from contaminated metal, try adjusting your shielding gas a little to help with the impurity’s
 
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Looking good man, this car is going to be killer. Purely just my opinion and not stated as a matter of fact or to tell you what/how to do what you are doing-cause you are light years ahead of me in car restoration/ body repair, but in my personal experience, if you are getting splatter from contaminated metal, try turning your shielding gas up a little to help with the impurity’s
No worries. I haven't touched the gas in a while. I'll check it tomorrow. I have been having issues lately even with clean metal.
 
I finished up replacing the rusted flanges on the quarters today. The gas was at about 50(!). I turned it down to about 35 and the welds look pretty good to me.

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I then got to work on the tail panel and extensions.

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After some fiddling around and fitting, I need advice from @horse sence

The extension bracket is looking good on the passenger side.
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The problem I'm running into is the end cap isn't wanting to sit flush on the end of the quarter. And even if it did, it wouldn't be flush with the trunk. I remember that this side had a bunch of body filler on the end which I now know was there to help it sit flush with the trunk.
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Well, I'm not going to do that. I've seen someone elsewhere that fixed a similar issue by making a cut along the edge of the quarter, spreading it apart, and then welding it back together to bring the end cap flush with the trunk. I may do something similar.

The other issue I'm running into is on the driver's side. I mentioned earlier that the bottom flange on the quarter looked to be sitting up higher than it should. Well, I really can't move it down. If I do, the outside of the quarter moves inward and then the end cap is sticking out too far. The way it's pictured, the end cap sits pretty nicely. However, I don't have a flange on the bottom. I'm thinking I can make a cut in the existing metal and move it down a bit to make a flange? I feel like this is going to cause a fitment issue with a valance later on.

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Overall, I'm happy. I think I have an idea of how to proceed, but I want some expert advice before I do.