I ran into that same thing on project 71 demon because I replaced the tail panel....some previous owners took a tractor and pushed the car wit the bucket on the tractor on the bumper and it slipped and went right into one taillight and crushed the tail panel in. So I replaced it with a new AMD panel .....AMD panels are real nice, with the straight flanges to weld on. like Borat would say "its a Very NICE!!"