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I have attached couple of pictures of my initial fitting of both rear quarter panels and the entire lower valence. The right quarter panel and the valence are from a 1959 donor while the left quarter is original with all the flanges ground off by previous owner.
The car had been lightly hit (no frame damage) in the lower right side quarter panel and valence. The rear right mount area was also badly shattered and poorly repaired. Consequently, as a result of the previous owner's forty pounds of bondo and repair skills-I just had to cut everything off and start over with original donor sections.
I am hoping to get some input on my initial fitting since this repair started out kind of in the blind for me. Nothing is bonded yet. Does the exposure of the frame crossmember to bottom of the valence look right? And, does the right bumper look normal where it meets the the lower trunk lip to include amount of rubber bumper seals showing below the bumper?
Does a gap of approximately 1/4" in the kickup area seem normal?
That looks darn good to me. Your cross member and bumper relative to the body in the rear looks fine from what I can eyeball in comparison to mine which is original and never hit. Nice job
That looks darn good to me. Your cross member and bumper relative to the body in the rear looks fine from what I can eyeball in comparison to mine which is original and never hit. Nice job
Ditto. I have the exact same amount of crossmember and bumber seals showing. Great job!
Thanks Dan and Terry very much for the "eyeball" look. That is all I was looking for. I now finally have the confidence to bond things and move on to my headlights and below section.
I thought I should add a little clarification for other DIY folks regarding "donor" rear valance for the 58 to 60 models. All three years are essentially the same except for the rear area in the wheelwells. The 58 rear area is open and a fiberglass filler panel is bonded in place to fill this opening. The 59-60 rear valance and rear wheelwell area was molded as a one-piece valance so the filler section was not needed. The point is for 58 owners going through this as I am with a 59-60 valance you have to cutout and shape this rear area to fit the fiberglass filler sections. And, for 59-60 DIY folks who find a 58 valance you would have to rework this rear area by rebuilding/reshaping this rear opening in the valance. To me, it is much easier going from a 59-60 valance fitting for a 58 versus 58 valance fitting to a 59-60. Hope this helps someone.
1958 Panel Fitting
