Brace or not to brace?

[strictly]

Strictly,
the caution for not using bracing is about starting with an out-of-shape car.
A vehicle may have prior accident damage or sagged from missing panel integrity. Putting braces in a car
prior to knowing it has correct key points will be making a hard job even harder when refitting doors, lids
and panel gaps. Having a door bottom rear corner stick out on a twisted car could not be fun - I've seen a car with a
half inch of bondo to "fix" that problem. And a car fresh off a rotisserie where the hood had perfect gap at the cowl
and twice the gap on one side and overlap on it's other down by the front bumper. Putting in a X brace
would have made a big difference to that car, or a workman taking a diagonal measurement prior to welding in the
front panels.
I Hope Daryl has updated his very good body work tutorial by noting the heater tube is part of the
rear structure around the torsion tube and critical to fore/aft body strength. His flexible tube in that area gave me shivers.
I would expect a car with that fix to be showing body flex cracks at the rear lid top corners.

Bob.... interesting. So if the heater tubes are holey under the torsion bar, better to cut them out all the way up to the engine heater boxes, then refabicate and refit?

[strictly]

BTW ….be really careful re rear 1/4 panel replacement …..
Where you cut is very important and whether your able to keep the jamb portion and criteria fitment in the 1/4 window areas and especially at the rear taillight fitment, rear lid etc…

Interesting....I was thinking of this....what do you think?

Drill the spot welds from tailight to beginning of roof gutter. Then cut along to rear quarter window leaving roof gutter alone. Drill spot welds under rear quarter window. Then down b post spot welds to door seal. Leaving b post on rear quarter panel....finally remove lead for final spot welds where rear quarter meets the jacking point section

[71gold]

Some photos of my approach

[71gold]

Another with edge details….lotsa spot welds to drill out

[bob joyce]

i have done the quarter panel by unfolding the roof drip rail and folding the new skin.
did it 40 years ago and still have car and looks good.
i think most cut lower to avoid having to repaint roof.

[strictly]

Some photos of my approach

Thanks for pics...ideal that's what I'm thinking. Mine certainly has slot more rust under.

I am stil toying with trying to unpick the roof gutter....as the more I can take off the more I can expose....but re rolling that gutter looks really hard

[71gold]

Re: Roof splitting
Think there is alot of lead in that seam is the roof really rusted thru ?
Let’s see more photos of conditions

Thanks
Frank