[andyt11]

Originally Posted by Roscoe417

I am curious, Grady's message and others I have seen all assume that the repair in 1987 or 88 was done poorly and would need to be re-done.

Now, obviously the torsion tube failed - so that may indicate that something was missed, but I don't believe any defect was suspected.

But, the drivers side front fender and door replacement always appeared to be done well. (At least this novice never noticed anything odd, like uneven surfaces, uneven door gaps, lines not parallel, paint mismatch, over spray, etc... What has changed in how body work is done today that would require that this work be undone? I think my dad would have sprung for original sheet metal if it was available, or if not, the best salvage or reproduction he could find. He was kinda picky at that stage in his life (he is a bit more pragmatic now).

This is a serious question, so I can know what to look for. I will be where the car is soon, so I can check for specific things then.

Eric

Its a fair question. I'm not sure why people assume it was a bad repair. Unless something is obviously wrong I'd forget about it. There are more important things on this car to work on, such as getting it running, servicing the brakes and fuel system and repairing the torsion tube.