Grand National Aerocoupe! It's happening...

Thanks!


I got a chance to do a tiny bit of work today on the aero. I rolled the sheet metal over on the inner aero frame and hammered it down. It looked really ragged at first but the end result came out fine. The camera flash made things look worse. I do have to compensate for some slight warping near the front outer edges. I don't think that will be a problem though.

Also, I'm going to add additional metal where the GN's skin and the Monte's frame doesn't quite match. I already knew I was gonna have to do that before I even started the project.













Rolling the lip...

love it

I have followed your build for a while. The execution is awesome. The only thing this car needs is a four speed.

I got a little...and I do mean A LITTLE... work done to the finish the front edge of the trunk lid near the glass. It's not completely done since I'll be adding some additional metal later.

The last time I worked on the trunk lid I got the front lip of the skin rolled over on the underside of the Aero inner trunk frame. BUT, I didn't finish the corners. So, here is how I folded over the left and right front corners of the trunk lid to make it appear factory.











Here is the other side already folded over. After this part is through I'll be adding additional metal to close the gaps between the Monte inner frame and the GN's inner frame. Then, I'll be adding metal to close the large ones on each side for the final part of the assembly....woo-hoo!









On vehicle again for yet another test fit. Got my trunk shocks installed and it's opening and closing like a factory Monte Carlo SS Aero trunk lid should do!

Its coming along nicely

You are the man!!!!

Forgot to add one more image to show the tiny trunk opening. Actually, when you at this picture, it's really not going to change much from the finished product. The fender fillers that go beside the glass is all that's needed in this picture. I've still got some more fabricating to do to make some fender fillers. More pics later on that this evening.

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.

looking good!! Great job on the truck lips, folding them over I mean.

I knew I was going to get that remark if I used the words "lip and skin" together.

Here is the filler panels! I just went ahead and fabricated new ones from a piece of sheet metal I found at the salvage yard... at no cost.

Continuing on from my last update above, 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.






No sense in posting the left side as it was done the exact same way. 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 returning 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!

I'm learning as I go so it may look like shade tree job. :redface: (who am I trying to kid....it IS a shade tree job...REALLY! Serious, I'm really doing it under a shade tree...a really HUGE one...see the shadow it's casting and how it dwarfs my Turbo Regal!

I wish I had as much room as you've got to work on my cars. All I have is a barn that's big enough to put two cars in side-by-side and barely enough room to work around them. So, weather permitting...I'm under my shade tree!

Progress was made today but it wasn't to the aero part of the car. However, I got a chance to weigh all the "standard" Regal parts against the Aerocoupe parts. This consisted of ALL related parts taken off the regular Regal and weighing them to get a total. Then, I weighed ALL the Aerocoupe parts and they weighed 50 pounds more.


AEROCOUPE WEIGHT:
Everything added together - 125 lbs

STANDARD REGAL WEIGHT:
Everything added together - 75 lbs

------------

Break-down of weight for the (Regal) Aerocoupe parts:
Interior carpet tray - 16 lbs
Metal Package tray - 28
Side Filler panels - 2
Trunk w/o spoiler - 29
Glass with seal - 47
Struts & trunk seal - 3


I didn't add in the spoiler because it will be the only thing that wasn't modded that will go back on the car.

I got a chance to read through this entire thread, look at the pictures and watch what others opinions were and have to say

You have done a great job! Not only in the work on the metal, but in the attention to detail and the way to 'reflect' the bad comments.

Props to you!!

Not my cup of tea as I've never been a fan of Aerocoupes but I'll give you props on the balzy project!

I do have to say, it looks better than the Monte SS and the Pontiac 2+2 Grand Prixs.