1967 Chevy II Nova Station Wagon Rust Eradication

Here is a dog leg repair that I performed during a 2 week period in April, 1997. This repair was LONG overdue and was finally done. Many people would not attempt to do a repair like this, but I wanted to make sure that this $200 junkyard refugee stays alive, as old Chevy Nova wagons are neat, useful cars that are simple to service and cheap change to register and insure. This is also the car that tows my camper and is used to haul stuff around (yes, I use it to bring home even more Nova wagon parts).

A horrendous-looking rotted out dog leg and rocker panel. We can rebuild it...we have the technology.

Here is the new rocker end and a new reproduction wheel arch patch panel welded onto a used dogleg panel that was cut from a junked Nova, all cleaned, bead-blasted and etch-primed, ready to install. Note the two holes drilled in the new rocker to allow water drainage, a feature that did not exist in the original design. That and the fact the inner pieces were not painted caused the rust-through.

Cutting away the rotted rocker panel. The end piece was retained so that a reference for positioning is allowed. I wanted to make sure the new panel went on straight....measure twice, cut and weld once.

This structual member needed repair on the end. A new piece was sectioned in and 1/4 inch steel stock was welded on the inside because the metal looked a little thin to me. After the rust was removed and treated, the steel was welded in. This will make this reinforcement strong and allow me to sleep at night, knowing that I will not have a problem with the leaf spring poking through the floor.

Here is the new rocker panel end MIG-welded in position.

Another view of the rocker panel and the newly sectioned-in reinforcement end in place. Notice that a new rear seat back mounting reinforcement was installed, fabricated with 14 AWG steel and formed to duplicate the original component (look above the leaf spring). 1/4-20 nuts were welded on this plate so that there are mounting points for the seat back.

A nicely-reproduced floor section, fabricated and installed.

The inner fender had rusted pieces removed and new metal welded in its place.

As you have noticed, there is no more wheel well seam. The seam is the cause of this section of the car rusting out in the first place. The seam rusts, opens a hole for water and dirt to enter the car and the problem snowballs from there. Now, the wheel well is all one seamless piece all around. The back side of the well was repaired two years ago.

The new pieces and the repaired inner fender is primed and topcoated with Centari enamel. This will protect the steel from rust, and is FAR better than the factory setup.

Clamping and welding the new panel in position.

All welded in place. Careful measurements made the fit perfect!

A view of the wheel arch all welded in place and awaiting a little cosmetic filler. The plastic behind the gas cap is there because I didn't want any sparks to enter the fuel tank while grinding the welds. These gas caps do not seal up like the new cars.

The filler is along the seams and is sanded down smooth. Just enough is used to fill in the small imperfections so it will not show once the primer is applied.

The finished body work, waiting to be top coated with color. This repair was done without overlapping metal - the panels are butt-welded, and ALL rusted metal is removed.

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