1967 buick special wagon

[gottattooz]

I cut out and patched the original fuel filler door. I used a flange/ punch tool to recess the top and bottom sheet metal to position the patch flush with the quarter panel. Then I drilled out 2 holes to accept the clips for the side molding. It's not perfect, but that's what body filler is for.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I bought a rear bumper for a 64 el camino because the 67 bumper didn't look right with the cadillac tail lights.

There was a bit of sheet metal in the center in the way of the bumper sitting snug under the tail gate. I made a template of the shape of the bumper and traced it out under metal and cut it off.

Josh

[gottattooz]

And here's a few fitment pictures. I like how the bottom of the new quarter panel hangs below the bumper. I think it'll made a decent valance below the bumper all the way across. I have another rocker panel i want to mount to the bottom of the bumper and maybe run the exhaust tips through, or just behind.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I spent the day messing with the rear bumper setup. Trying to make brackets to attach it to the car, only to see those brackets are in the way of the exhaust. So I pulled the bumper off, reverse the middle brackets hoping to make more room for the exhaust tips. Swapping the brackets moves them outward about 2 inches.

I found a solid plate of steel that was already powder coated black with a hole in it that was the perfect size for the battery cutoff switch. I trimmed and mounted the plate behind the hinged license plate frame and modified the switch lever to fit inside a fuel cap and found a longer screw to tie it all together.

Then I notched the top corner of the backing plate to mount the jumper cable quick disconnect terminal.

With the bumper back on the car, the exhaust tips still hit the bracket. I'll probably cut the dual tips off at the muffler and extend the pipe below the brackets. I still have to make a valance for below the bumper and tie into the new rear quarter panel pieces I'm making with the door skins and rocker panels.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I finally got together with the guy selling the c6 corvette wheels. I put each one on my tire balancer. Only one of the rear rims has a small bend in it. It's barely noticeable. It was too cold to mount and balance all of them, but I wanted to know how the rear clearance was. It's in about 1/4 inch on the outside which is perfect to clear the quarter panel skin and there's about 3/4 inch clearance on the inside which I'm very comfortable with.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I mounted and balanced all the tires on the new rims. The passenger side is inset a little more than the driver's side. I'm hoping to have the same clearance once I get an alignment. I did measure inset the front air dam and it's got another 1/2 inch of ground clearance now.

Josh

[gottattooz]

With the rear bumper in place, I set the tail lights a little further into the quarter panel. Then I trimmed up the other rocker panel and mounted it under the rear bumper as a valance. I'm not totally sold on it yet, but it did give me a few ideas. Then I welded up and set the passenger side quarter panel skin in place to match the driver's side. Nothings permanent yet, but at least it's progress

Josh

[gottattooz]

I don't like the way the bumper pulls the quarter panels in so tight. I saw on one of the car shows how they tucked the bumpers in. Well instead of cutting thy bumper, I'm widening the quarter panels.

I traced our where the bumper sits and cut it out with a little room to spare

Josh

[gottattooz]

Then I cut a 2 inch wide strip out of the lower quarter panel and welded it along the edge of the new quarter. Then I cut the outer edge off. With both sides done, I trimmed the extra rocker panel to fit below the rear bumper. I don't hate it as much, but it's about an inch shorter than the sides.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I bought a pair of roll pans for a 67-72 Chevy pickup. The idea for the pair is that I'd use the license plate recesses for exhaust cutouts below the bumper. But, if you look at the offset picture, that's where the exhaust tips would exit and I didn't like it. My dad keeps nudging me to do center exit exhaust tips. I told him I wasn't sure if there would be enough room with the full size spare wheel well hanging down. But after hanging the roll pan off the bottom of the bumper, it looks like there's plenty of room, so that's the direction we're going.

The roll pan is about 8 inches tall, so I cut it down to 5 inches to match the rocker panel height on the rear quarters. I'll fold the bottom 1/2 inch up for strength and to give it a place to attach to the rocker panels.

Josh

[joesscamaro]

I'm a fan of the center mount exhaust idea! Agree with it looking a little wonky with it offset, like you mentioned.

[gottattooz]

While I'm waiting on parts, I decided that I want to detail the wheels. When I saw them online, I thought they were machined with silver paint, but they're all silver. One thing I learned to do is polish aluminum so it looks like chrome. I sanded the face and outer lip with 80 grit, 180, 320 and then 400 grit. Then I polished everything to a mirror shine. I was going to paint the silver parts gun metal grey like the car, but I think they'll stand out in bronze against the grey. I know it's not going to be a popular opinion to go bronze, but if I don't like it, I can always repaint it.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I taped off the polished areas and scuffed the grey parts with 400 grit. I put about 4 or 5 light coats on it to get it even. I like it so far

Josh

[3757chevy]

IMO it looks good. But it's all up to you.

[Ol Blue K20]

They look good to me..

[gottattooz]

2 down, 2 more to go. I definitely love the look now, seeing both of them on the car.

Josh

[gottattooz]

Since the pontiac came with 8 matching full size rims, I figured I could polish and paint one up to match the other wheels

Josh

[gottattooz]

Finally got my exhaust tips in. Using a 3"x1.5" length of pipe to space the tips evenly. I also like how the angle of the tips matches the roll pan angle.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I installed the heat shields that go on above the mufflers. I cut the twin exhaust tips off the corsa mufflers and welded on v-clamps so I can remove the exhaust tips in the future if needed. I installed and welded the mufflers in place. I still have to figure out the mounting of the quarters and lower valance before I can finalize the placement of the exhaust tips and the pipes that will connect them to the mufflers, but it's still progress

Josh

[gottattooz]

I bought a set of 65 el camino bumper ends from a member on another forum. They were supposed to be delivered March 1st, and they just showed up Saturday, April 13th. So I apologize for the delay in my progress

So, if you look at the pictures, your can see the details of the bumper mimic the roll pan and the rocker panels I'm using for the valance below the rear bumper. So I plan to just use the corners to give it a more factory look than the milk carton look I had on the front air dam.

Josh

[gottattooz]

So here's the first rough draft of what the bumper ends are for. I know the passenger side is crooked a little. I'll probably cut it loose and butt weld it to the roll pan. Honestly, I'm just excited that it matches perfectly in real life like it made sense in my head.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I cut the bumper ends off and butt welded them flush with the roll pan and quarter panel.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I smoothed out the welds and painted the driver's side white for continuity

Josh

[gottattooz]

Now that the valance panel is in place, it's time to mount the exhaust tips. I put riv-nuts in the floor for a bracket to hold the exhaust tips in place. Then an angle bracket to mount the tips by the clamp hardware and then figuring out how long the drop bracket should be..

Josh

[gottattooz]

With everything in place, I tack welded it and removed it to fully weld everything. Now it's installed for the last time. It needs a few tweaks to get the tips even again. I imagine they moved a little during the welding process, but I'm happy with the look and the sounds

Josh