Rear Quarter Panel Replacement?, Any info is appreciated Options

[Special_Edy]

Hello all, Im going out to zfjohnsons house this weekend, and may end up with a straight driver-side rear quarter panel. Theres alot I dont know about this so before I get into it I thought it would be a good time to ask some questions.

Is there an optimal place to cut? Should I try to cut along welds and where do I chop the pillars.

Should I grind the seam welds off or Sawzall it?

Is there a better blade for my reciprocating saw than a 24tpi?

How much is it going to cost to have it welded into my car? Assuming I remove the old quarter panel and trim/prep everything so its ready to weld in.

What is the best coating I can put over the bare welds? I have grinders, a sander, a buffer, some HVLP spray guns and Im damn good with a rattle can. What do I need to do to protect the metal?


I found this sticky, 6GC Collision Manual , and it seemed like it was missing alot of pages from the manual. Also, the resolution was too low to read some of the finer details. Does anyone have a .pdf of this maybe?

Anykind of feedback is greatly appreciated.

[czwalga]

I just put the rear quarter on last night. I used a combination of glueing (lord fuser) and welding. I looked at the spot welds, and even though that's technically correct I had damage to more than just the quarter.



FYI drilling out the spot welds even with a spot weld driller is not as easy at it sounds. It' goes up into the roof skin, the door area, into the wheel well, and behind the rear bumper. Originally i was going to do that, but it was going to be too much effort on two cars. Also using a saw-zaw isn't the greatest idea. If you're cutting bent/firm structures it works well. But on thin flatish sheet metal it pulls and can warp/bend the metal. I used a sawzaw to cut out the roof, but an angle grinder to cut out the fender area.

I'll post some pictures this weekend, but really what is damaged? If it's just a few dents, i'd cut it out and weld it in, but that's just me. In my opinion, if you plan on just drilling and cutting without the fender and a plan, then take it to a shop. You'll end up just costing yourself more money. If the work isn't flawless shops dont like starting with other peoples mess.



Edit: you'll also have to remove the rear B pillar window. The spot welds go at least halfway around that window for the rear quarter.

This post has been edited by czwalga: Aug 17, 2012 - 7:37 AM