We've had a problem that the deck lid rear passenger corner was a 1/4" above the adjacent body panel, and the edge around the corner (about 5") was high, just not as high as the corner. It looked to me as the panel was mis-shappened. The following picture shows the problem, which was there when we purchased the vehicle.

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The initial plan to level things out was to fiberglass under the corner area and sand off the existing corner. We removed the lid, and I started marking the area and amount to be removed. It became clear very quickly that I would be removing all of the existing panel for a couple inches, both top and underside panels. Thinking the over, it became apparent we were going to have another, potentially more serious, problem re-establishding the edge profile, as well as in merging the edge with the main panel area. I really didn't like that situation, and really should have seen the consequences earlier!

The next potential approach was to use a cut off wheel and remove the existing edge, reposition it, and glass it back in place. This seamed easier, but still had concerns with blending it back with the lid and body. So, this approach wasn't that appealing either. I'd kind of run out of ideas, and thought another set of eyes might help.

Gary, BamaNomad, came out yesterday and we discussed the problem. He suggested making a template of the "good" lid driver side corner and see how it compares to the "bad" passenger side corner. Interestingly, they were virtually the same. My initial assessment that the deck lid was the problem was wrong! So, next we decided to make a template of the area near the corner on the driver side body panel. Then we took that to the passenger side, and the profiles were the same, again! Our initial reaction was obviously 'how can this be?' Looking at the passenger side body corner closely, it had a low spot that looked like a sander from an earlier paint job had dug out fiberglass at the corner!

At this point, we decided to put the deck lid back on and look carefully at the corner. Previously we had used shims between the hinges and deck lid to level out the seam, best we could before sanding and filler work. While re-installing the deck lid, it became clear that we didn't need the 1/16" shim on the outer bolt of the triangle-pattern hinge. This was the bolt nearest the problem corner. Thus, helping lower the lid some.

As a result of filling the 'hole' in the body and removal of the shim, we removed less than 1/16" of glass from the lid. We have started the sanding/filler work on the deck and trunk lids, as shown in the following picture.

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Gary's 'extra set of eyes' was invaluable in getting beyond my 'assumption' the problem was the lid, and allowed us to really understand the problem. I am very grateful for Gary's help, thank you Gary!

In addition to this work, we finished up on the gas filler, too.

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Glad to have this one behind us and moving on.