Here's a few picts of the tools I mentioned. The shears were $30 and the steel brush was $1 at Kmart. It lasts quite a while too. I was surprised. I figured that for a dollar, it would fall apart the first day so I bought about 10 of them.

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/F821074BB48043FC9B64CF3220EE2C36.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/AFE32818AE634F9BB5C2FE73E35F9E8D.jpg[/IMG]

 

Here are the locations of the quarter panel welds. Clean these of all paint then wire brush them as clean as possible. The inside welds (front bottom, tail light and trunk corner) will be tough to get to. Get inside to see these or remove the panel in sections.

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/5083562C7EA441199C6D717587C84519.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/0043EDB5A53D4E3E944713428667C62C.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/5C7736875E314E7AB9D301B8A4284D9C.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/C47FBC7C2EEE48A48717E29433DA94E3.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/F9DE90D493134C92B15B675A9A90F661.jpg[/IMG]

 

I got some time to work on the car this weekend. I still haven't seen the videos posted on YouTube yet. I'm not sure what his production schedule is so maybe soon. Here's some shots of the fender, the new welds and the clean-up. It looks like a new car to me now.

I used the measurements that I recorded before and compared my placement with the driver's side. I used a flange tool to offset the original metal so the new panel would overlap for a stronger seam. It took 2 people to line up the panel properly, staring at the door jamb and working our way back to the tail section. The panel was temp. held in with a few sheet metal screws and then tack welding began.

As I went around the panel welding, all the seams are double checked for accuracy. After all the tacks were in place, I welded beads about 2 inches apart along the entire seam. The hardest part was welding inside the rear quarter section behind the door jamb. You have to reach inside the panel from inside the car.

Grinding, hammering and pushing will go along with all of this fitting. After all that, I used the sander to clean up the welds and I'm ready for the TIG welder.


[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/4C0C0CD1BE9B45C4B96F5A8FAFE06599.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/A7F3CD7902204190A46EB417A107AD54.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/BF9E48DF8FAE4D98830DFF93B282D1E1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/5D2A185FB5944C58929CC74818B07097.jpg[/IMG]

 

Your progress is awesome, where are you sourcing the rear quarters from? I dont know if I would be daring enough to cut out quarter panels and weld in new ones....I'd be too worried that I would screw it up. It looks very good though, do you own a TIG welder?

 

Thanks for the positive feedback.
I need to update with new pictures soon.

Yes, I do have a TIG and a MIG welder. Mostly I used the MIG because it's so much faster.

I got my quarter panels for Classic Industries. A full quarter is about $300 and the partial that I got was $80. And before I paid for it, they let me inspect it for defects in the warehouse. I live in Calif and drove down there of course. If you're out of the state you wouldn't have that option but, I thought it was cool for them to do that.

 

That's pretty cool for sure. I dont know how much a full quarter is, but I'll go check out the website and see if they say or not. Did you pick it up local too, or was it shipped? I'd wonder if it could be damaged in transit. Thanks for the info

I'll look forward to the updated pics. What's been done since the last update?

 

but the odds arent that great that they are gonna fit right anyhow. nice option

 

Yeah, I'm sure about the fit of the full quarter panel since I welded my to the old sheet metal. The match was really close, even for my section. With two people working together, the panel can be manipulated easier.

Since the full section meets up with the other panels clamping and wedging would help quite a bit I would think. I know it helped me. The real key to replacement is 1. To have help, 2. To support the rear section and door jamb so their is limited movement and 3. To be careful when separating the panels so they don't get distorted too much. A weld-removal drill could help. (I used a standard bit) And it's easy to find the welds once you've stripped the paint away.

Classic has those full panels for $300 and they also warn you that shipping "could" cause some damage and imperfection are inevitable. I'd have to say that the panel I got was flawless. And since I picked it up from the warehouse, it was not damaged in transport.
This is what it looks like this morning. I just primed and fitted the trunk on too to see how it all looks together. (The tailwing need some work too.)

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/5BEDAB1D10CC4CD786B895109C6B7F82.jpg[/IMG]

 

This is the unit I use for stripping off the paint. It will work right from the get-go but, usually I apply paint stripper first and use this pad for final clean up. It's faster for me.
But, if you don't want to mess with chemical strippers, then use this pad. It will wear out and so you might need a few of these to get it all done. Another reason why I use a chemical stripper. Edges will tear this thing down quickly so watch it in the corners. They cost about $8 a piece so use them wisely.

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/7D555AD8DC584F12835A623D75223AC6.jpg[/IMG]

 

These are the body tools I use. Longboard, hand sander and a rubber hose.
NEVER, I repeat, never use your hand for sanding. It may look smooth but you will have ripples in the panel.

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/6FE14142F3E14C3092AE6F784E5A9AB6.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/7269/935A1E49D45A4937B94DB9BBC7E0A3D4.jpg[/IMG]