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This truck was surrounded by rust and that rear fender came in handy for providing patch panels.
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Just noticed I had put in my Cadillac taillights before I got really brave

 

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Trying to get back on track and correct order of my build I guess I patched over the original taillight openings
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then marked where I thought the Caddy lights should find their new home

 

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Made the cut
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welded in the inserts obviously on the other side also.

 

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and placed the lights in and stood back and admired the view.
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Both lights complete and again discovered I did something else before the lights. My guess was the rear doors changed into a rear hatch at some point in time. Please bare with me I have about 400+ pictures I'm trying to sort through.

 

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The rear door drip rails were removed as per the instructions I got from a magazine article
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and welded back up in short sections. This was done so the door wouldn't hit it as it opened. #ad

The doors had been tacked into place with metal straps , then the doors welded together

 

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Inside top of door was reinforced with 1/4 " plate to support the hinge attachment, the inside of the door was also cut out to lighten the lifting load of the door.

 

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The upper hinge pockets of the original hinges were covered over

 

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The rear hatch door requires the hinges from a Pinto station wagon between 74-78

 

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Which eventually got me to this stage of a working door.

 

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The bottom of both rear doors were just about non existent on the inside and the outer skins were badly rusted and dented. I had to form and make the inner bottom and outer skins.

 

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I didn't like the look of two separate windows in the back so I cut out the divider post and had to straighten out the window frame for a solid piece of glass.

 

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Here's a look from the outside

 

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The filler applied before epoxy and high build primer

 

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Some of the changes I did was relocate the gas filler to the rear quarter panel using a filler doo from a chev pickup

 

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I also rounded out the door corners