Need to do some repairs to rear end of Pinky

[clover]

Hi

I need to do some repairs to Pinky. I have to rebuild the front axle first BUT once I've done that I need to do something with my rear door and rear cross member.

The little pivot that the door check bar locates on (with a circlip) has come loose due to tin rot. Both the rear hinges are shot. But most importantly the whole of the rear body shell goalpost thing flexes because its rotted away where the rear cross member originally was spot welded to it. You can see the rot if you remove the rear light and the rubber surround for the light and look down. But there is no way I can see how I can affect a repair unless I can remove the outer panel. The question I have is how do i remove the outer skin without damaging it?

It looks like its spot welded to the rear quarter. I went to a scrapyard once and they had a tool they called a "panel chisel" that was about an inch wide and thin and it was great for separating panels that were spot welded together. But I've never been able to find anywhere that sells them.

Somebody who has replaced a rear cross member or done a bob tail must have some idea...

I am going to replace the rear cross member at the same time as the repair I did on the old one was not cosmetically the best.

[bobthedisco]

the whole rear wing unbolts, its a fairly simple job, just remove all of the interior trim from the rear 1/4 you want to remove to expose all the fixings, the sealer is a bit tough once all the bolts are undone, just use a very sharp blade/ stanley knife to cut it as you go :)