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.

[zfjohnson07]

hey which side are you wanting to get?

[Special_Edy]

Drivers side

[presure2]

you wont be able to grind the spot welds off, they are kinda countersunk because of the way the factory does it.
you need a spot weld cutter, you can get em at harbor frieght pretty cheap.
use etch primer anywhere there is bare metal.
depending on how bad you hack it up, it may cost as much as a couple thousand bucks to have the new one welded in and fixed up.
quater jobs are not for a beginner, i can tell ya that for sure.

[Special_Edy]

Well I figured I would just drill out the spotwelds, unless that is a bad idea.
As for cutting it, I want to cut it with a little extra material and then grind it down little by little till it fits. I learned when I sawed off one of my shotguns that it takes 5 seconds to cut with a sawzall, and 5 hours to sand and file the rough cut.

Anyone know where to cut it at?

[njccmd2002]

before you cut, make sure you have the donor piece ready. you dont want to cut and then realize donor piece is to small.

post a pic of the damage.

[richee3]

Check out czwalga's rally car thread. It doesn't give any specific measurements but gives you a good general idea where to get started.

http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showto...0&start=440

[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

[Special_Edy]

before you cut, make sure you have the donor piece ready. you dont want to cut and then realize donor piece is to small.

post a pic of the damage.

Here is the passengerside for reference. I plan on repairing this side as at least the wheel arch is intact.

[czwalga]

Hmm.

The wheel arch is tricky, the unibody is welded together which ends up forming the wheel well arch. There's two or three pieces of sheet metal that merge together.


What I would do, which is not necessarily the correct way, but would be the easiest and probably cheapest... if you can go to a pic-a-part and cut out that back section, under and to the back of the gas filler. Weld that part in, then bondo the rest. Hard to tell from the pics, but if that fold going around the wheel well sticks out further than the lines of the car you can even tap it back in so you could sand the bondo down to the lines of the car.

Replacing the entire rear quarter is not an easy task, but if you actually ordered the quarter you'd at least know what the piece your installing looks like, so you'd know exactly what needs done

[Special_Edy]

Whats happening is im going to another members house this weekend and Im gonna cut the quarter panel out of his. So I wont cut on mine till after Ive gotten the quarter panel from him. Im just curious where the best place to cut is. There is a weld under the driverside door(on the rockerpanel) that looks like a goodplace to cut, and there are obviously some butt welds along the hatch gutter. Should I just saw the pillars near the top or is there a better spot?

At first my plan was to just replace the rear section, but then I thought that welding the pillars and rocker panel would be easier than cleanly welding across the middle of the quarter panel. Also, the front of the panel is riddled with dents and the wheel arch is really the part that had me worried the most.

One thing that doesnt show up so clearly in the pics is that the entire quarter panel has already been hammered out and bondo'ed in the past by a PO.

[czwalga]

What end up happening?

[Special_Edy]

His quarter panel ended up being damaged too, not as bad but it seems pountless to cut and weld in anything less then a perfect quarterpanel.

I fount one for $125 at a salvage yard but I have yet to go cut it out.

[zfjohnson07]

125? offer them 50!