Grand National Aerocoupe PROJECT - Page 6

 

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Here's what I've got so far on the filler panels. Basically I just laid the original MCSS fillers on a piece of flat metal and traced out some new ones. However, I have to add an additional 1.5" to each side to compensate for the wider Regal trunk lid. Not very much will be added so it should be a simple thing to fabricate.



 

I fabricated new ones from a piece of sheet metal I found at the salvage yard... at no cost.

I had to make me a poor mans metal brake...haha! I placed two pieces of thick metal bars over the sheet metal where I wanted to bend them in a 90*. I used vise grips to hold it together and then I clamped the assembly in a table top vise. All I done was hammer the metal over until I achieved my 90* bend.


 


After that I just test fitted it to the car...


 



Since I had to do another 90* bend (that wasn't straight), I flipped the right filler over and placed it under the glass seal ON THE LEFT SIDE so I could get the correct arch. You can see in the picture below how I done it...


 



To make bending easier and to avoid a radius on top of the filler, I just cut about half way through the sheet metal on the tracer line...


 




I just use a pair of wide pliers to bend over the lip a little at a time until it becomes a 90*.





Another test fit...



 



Here you can see where I folded over the top rear of the filler. Before I folded it over, I installed the trunk lid and drew a line to match the front edge of the trunk. This gave me the correct angle for the body seams to line up. I also cut the sides out and bent them around so the factory attachment points can be retained.





Trunk lid installed for a test fit..






Painted black just so it will match for now until I get the entire car ready for base coat clear coat.


 


They still need a little tweaking to get absolutely perfect but that wil have to come another day. Once these fillers are done I'll be going back to the trunk lid and finishing it. After that, I guess it's time to start on the rest of the car to get it ready for paint!