1971 Camaro Body Panels - World Tour: Goodmark Camaro, Part 3

The floorpan was about what you'd expect for a car like this, and is destined for replacement. However, the lower portion of the door is in nasty shape. In this photo, the door is slightly open, revealing the bottom flange, where the outer panel folds over the door frame. This area is always susceptible to rust, especially if the drain holes on the bottom of the door are plugged, and water isn't allowed to drain freely.

With a pile of assorted parts in the foreground, disassembly was a "methodical free-for-all," as the Camaro was stripped to the bones.

Obviously, the quarter panel was sliced off before our photographer had a chance to catch the action. Notice the roof seam that was previously joined with the sail panel portion of the original quarter. The edge is merely rolled, to make an indented flange, so the new panel butts right to it.

Craig continued by grinding, cleaning, and prepping all the areas where the panels are mated. It's a good idea to wear ear protectors, as air tools and sheetmetal can make for a really noisy working environment.

As you can see by this pile of scrap metal, the air tools were singing their noisy song for quite a while.

Material on the inside of the gutter is left in place. Oftentimes, this piece is not part of a new quarter panel. But even if it is, it's best to leave it in place to help verify your proper alignment of the new sheetmetal.

Craig's cutting arsenal is shown here. Besides the chisel-type flat blade on the left, the forked-tip cutter (right) is probably the body man's favorite attachment.

The most important cut was made near the sail-panel-to-roof joint. The forked cutter makes a nice slice, and removes a small amount of material in the process.

You can see how Craig cut downward with the chisel, removing most of the panel, while leaving the lock post and pillar areas, which require more careful trimming. Those areas are easier to trim properly when completely exposed.

The edges of each wheel opening need careful trimming, as that's where the flange of your new panel needs a perfect mating surface. With that in mind, Craig left the wheel opening lip in place.

As we mentioned the importance of trimming critical areas carefully, this photo shows how these spots can be worked properly when both sides of the piece are visible. Don't forget, not every piece of metal needs to be removed. Some pieces need to stay in place for your new panels to be mated to.

In this photo, the wheelhouse itself is shown to be in salvageable condition, although Goodmark supplies them, also. Here, a final piece of the original wheel opening lip is being removed.

This close-up reveals how Craig trimmed the roof panel joint. The old material serves as the lip where your new panel will mate to.

Next came the trunk floor. If you're not as experienced as Craig, examine the original panel carefully, to determine where (and where not) to cut. Also be sure that everything is properly supported (notice the floor jack underneath).

In this photo, the new Goodmark trunk floorpan is clamped in place, with finish welding to follow.

With the new trunk floor being the first of many new panels welded in place, the remains were hauled to John Patterson at Black Mountain Sand Blasting. The plan was to blast the surface rust from all of the vehicle's inner construction, so the new sheetmetal would be mated to fresh surfaces. A fine silica media was used to strip the rust from the Camaro's inner construction areas.