Well I got my Challenger Convertible back from the blaster and as expected it is pretty much swiss cheese. It needs a lot of metal replacement(frame rails, cowl, wheel houses, and even window channel header. And that is just the big peices. Anyway, when replacing major panels such as the cowl, where do you start? Anyone have any tips or tricks for keeping everything square and located when replacing panels such as the cowl or framerails? There are so many other parts attached to it I wonder what the best way to make sure the new panels get back in the correct location. I need to replace the side cowl peices also so this should be interesting. Anyone got any cool picks of how they did theirs.

Unless you know body is "dimensionaly correct" now or will have it mounted on a frame rack all the while, you need to go about it in a rational way. i.e. Do cowl w/o disturbing any other panels. Replace a rail or a section before trunk/floor pans are disturbed. Etc.

Older unibodies have a "build-in stress" to them, best I can describe. Remove a quarter & watch as the tail panel moves. Cut out an inner & rail can shift.

Get some trammel points & long shafts to measure key dimensions; along/across/diag.

If the cowl panel(s) can be repaired in place rather then removing, you'll thank yourself in long run. It's the worst area of car to work on.

In summary, guess what I'm getting at is don't find yourself with a body that looks like it been picked/butchered by metal vultures.

Attached pic is typical example.

With that amount of repair do yourself (and the car) a favor and take it to a professional. Let them repair the frame rails, cowl and wheel housings. Then you can work on the other stuff.

With that amount of work and especially being a convertible you should have the car supported on a rack the entire time and weld in additional support braces to secure the immediate areas you are working on.

As previously stated you will need a "logical" plan of approach in selecting which areas to work on first using the original panels for reference points.

IMHO it won't be long into this project and you'll begin to think sending it out to a shop equipped to handle it was a real good idea.

Hi,

See my site for pictures of what I've been through so far...
http://www.claylahatte.com

If your firewall need replacing, it makes it less difficult if you have to replace a side cowl. That way no inner fender has to be removed. I was hoping to just patch mine, but it was too far gone.

Good luck!

Clay those pics are fantastic! You had a lot of great shots and a couple of really neat ideas in there. It looks like in one pic you used a peice of chain, a bolt and some hooks to pull the floor pan tight to the rockers. I think I will need to do the same thing. I also wondered how you fixed the window channel. It was hard to tell in the pics. Did you just patch what was there, or use pieces from a donor. I go all the way through you pics, but it looks like the car is not done yet. It looks great so far. I like the idea of the hooks and turnbuckle to keep the two sides from spreading apart too. Those are the kind of pics I was hoping for from people who have done this work before. I hear what a lot of people are saying about having a pro do it. I think the $17,500 that US Car Tool charges can be easily justified when you start adding up the cost and time. But I dont have the money and will need to do it on my own. Im up for the challenge even though I know it is a big road ahead.