I have a '67 Continental parts for my '67 Continental (go figure!) I need to chop up the sheet metal to use on my good car and possibly might even have to cut off the roof for someone who needs that sheet metal! Whats the best tool to use to cut good patch panels??? I have a battery operated sawzall in mind. If thats a good choice...any good brands. I have tons of blades for a Milwakee so thats my choice so far. Any thoughts would be great. This is my first tear down of a car and for once I do not have to make the rest of the patch panels by hand! Its nice to use original tin. Thanks a lot.
If I have to whack a car into pieces I like to use a sawzall, but when I'm cutting out patch panels to directly swap onto another car, I like to use a cutoff wheel because the cuts are so much cleaner and straighter. The sawzall is great for multi-thickness panels but if you're cutting sheetmetal it tends to swerve around and shake the metal back and forth which can make it bend. I like my 4 1/2" electric angle grinder with the cutoff wheels that have the 3/4" hole in them, so easy to use and easy to follow a cut line with.
What panels, specifically, are you going to remove from the parts car? Or, better still, what panels do you specifically need for your car? Figure out what you need, and then DISASSEMBLE the parts car. If you're going to re-use the panels, cut them off the donor like they were installed. It'll tune you up for putting them back on your car. Spot weld cutters, torch to melt the lead out of the seams, cut-off wheels. -Brad
'67 Lincolns are completely welded the whole way around, no removable fenders or header panels! I am cutting the lower rear quarter panels off and the 2 rear wheel well openings. Might cut the roof skin off too since that would be nice thick metal to use for patch panels for the front. I am cutting the floors out so I have them to give to someone who needs them. And most importantly...I am cutting out the truck jam. Mine is completely rotted out where the weather stripping sits. I may have to cut it into 2' lengths and put it on as I go so I do not loose the original position of the trunk jam. I have a huge compressor but its 5 miles from where the car is. The car is only near electricity so power air tools are out of out of the question. An electric cut off wheel would be the best I can do. Thanks a lots
If you are going to use the lower rear 1/4's and the arch above the rear wheels, why not drill out the spot welds and take the whole rear 1/4. The spot welds under the chrome strip at the top peak of the fender and in the door jam are easy to get at and it would be much easier to put the whole 1/4 panel on then patch it in two different places. Same with the lower trunk gasket area. Look how it was put together at the factory and remove & replace it the same way, like Brad 54 said. Brian
The rear quarters are smashed on top! I would replace the whole thing, but also my car is a coupe and this is a 4 door so I am doing some mid-panel welding no matter how it goes on. I will have to post some photos of the trunk rust...I will do it right now! Let me know what you think about replacing the whole jam, but its actually more than just the jam itself. The part that is sort of like a filler panel is rusted through as well. Lots of welds to pull off but if its not a mess...i would just replace the whole thing for sure like you mentioned. Thanks and let me know what you think.
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