stprorolla49
Active Member
Update: Here's the pics I said I was gonna get. We still have some more welding to do before we start grinding and getting ready for bondo, but we made a ton of progress yesterday.
Help me replace my 1/4 panel
- Thread starter nmcgrawj
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I would not reccomend you doing this yourself. better to take it to a tech..you can usually go to a shop and find a body tech to do it on the side for about half what shop rates charge. I garuntee that if this is your 1st time doing this your car will only look good at 50mph or 50 feet away. Best way to do this is put a whole 1/4 on...its more work but result will be better than patch panel and on our cars its cool because you can patch in whear the sail panel is and cover it there and in the door jamb. Youll have to re do the trunk and door jambs but the result is better and that how a shop would do it.
SQUEEZE&STROKE
New Member
STP- Did you "flange" the new quarter Panel patch?
Anytime you buttweld two pieces, a flange is recommended...although not ALWAYS needed. It just makes the body filler easier to apply. IMHO, The welding of the patch panel is the easy part. The body filler work is not only the most time consuming, but the most important. Any mistake there will show though the finished product.
Anytime you buttweld two pieces, a flange is recommended...although not ALWAYS needed. It just makes the body filler easier to apply. IMHO, The welding of the patch panel is the easy part. The body filler work is not only the most time consuming, but the most important. Any mistake there will show though the finished product.
stprorolla49
Active Member
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "flange" the patch panel. Do you mean making the lip go in towards the car a little so the body filler will have more room to sit in? If so, yes we bent the metal in a little bit before we started the welding. I'm not too worried that we can make this car come out nicely, it just takes a lotta patience. All you guys that keep telling Nate to bring it to someone obviously can't read very well because he clearly stated multiple times that he was going to do it himself. Anyone can do any project they set their mind to if they take their time, and do quality work. Obviously neither of our cars are going to be as perfect as if a body shop did it, but I don't have $700 bucks to spend to have someone do something for me that I can do myself.
Nate, that being said, if you have any sort of mechanical inclination/ basic understanding of body work and a lot of patience, you can do this yourself. It is by no means an easy job, and its time consuming, but think about the satisfaction you get by doing things yourself. Just my thoughts...good luck buddy.
Zero Signal
Active Member
I can't wait to see how that turns out. I had my right rear smashed in pretty good 8 or so years ago. I took it in to the shop. Ended up costing $1600 to fix but they did an incredible job on it and matching the paint.
donkey_punch
New Member
just wondering if it would bee easier to replace the whole panel from the door jamb, under the pillar to the trunk?
i just think to try and patch a compound curve like that would be more work to get to look good than putting the work on replacing a bigger panel and the finish work would be less.
i'm not sure if that came out right i'm too tired from work at this time.
i just think to try and patch a compound curve like that would be more work to get to look good than putting the work on replacing a bigger panel and the finish work would be less.
i'm not sure if that came out right i'm too tired from work at this time.
stprorolla49
Active Member
Yea I understand what you mean. The reality is, in order to replace the entire panel, you have to disassemble half of the interior, take the rear glass out, take the side skirt off, among other things...just to get at the spot welds to drill them out. Then you have to do the same thing on the donor car because they dont give you just th skin. In the long run, even though this may require a little more body work, it was easier the way we were doing it.
i'd like to know how this turned out as well.
i'm in the process of removing my drivers side 1/4 panel.
the complete panel,not just a patch.
stprorolla49,if you got more pics and tips,i'd like to see them.
my camera took a poop,but i'll try to take pics with my cell as i go along.
bought a welder yesterday,air compressor,body saw,spot weld remover drill bits.
got all the tools,i think.
already disassembled the car.just need to remove a little more spot welds.
i'm in the process of removing my drivers side 1/4 panel.
the complete panel,not just a patch.
stprorolla49,if you got more pics and tips,i'd like to see them.
my camera took a poop,but i'll try to take pics with my cell as i go along.
bought a welder yesterday,air compressor,body saw,spot weld remover drill bits.
got all the tools,i think.
already disassembled the car.just need to remove a little more spot welds.
99FiveOh
10 Year Member
Yeah, pics man! I'm considering a swap to 99 up body and I could use this info to help me do the quarters!
Have you done body work before?
no,but i'm pretty confident in my abilities
i'll be going slow,but aim to finish by next weekend.
hope you guys dont mind crappy cellphone pics.
i'll post those as soon as i can,
but,i'm also looking for pics too
no,but i'm pretty confident in my abilities
i'll be going slow,but aim to finish by next weekend.
hope you guys dont mind crappy cellphone pics.
i'll post those as soon as i can,
but,i'm also looking for pics too
so went to the JY today.found a 1/4 panel in pretty good shape.some light scratches,but no dings or dents.
removed bumper,taillight,trunk lid w/hinge,and interior trim panel to expose all spot welds.
i cut here so the weld will be hidden behind the sail panel when i put it all back togeather.
drilled out the spot welds along the edge only,there are a couple to the right of the latch,dont drill those out.
drilled out the ones at the edge of the wheel well.
as well as those behind the bumper,
taillight.
.
and along the top edge that is covered by the trunk lid.
after that,i used a hammer and screwdriver (i know,not the right tools.) to seperate the 1/4 panel from the inner panel.
went well,but what i did not know was there are 5 spot welds holding the lower portion on(by the red mark)
after getting the top portion free,i pulled it back and drilled them out from the inside.
heres how it came out.
now i have to remove the damaged 1/4 panel from my car and prep the car and "new" 1/4 panel,and take my time installing it.
oh yeah,i have to straighten out the wheel well,got a little folded up from the impact.
wish me luck
removed bumper,taillight,trunk lid w/hinge,and interior trim panel to expose all spot welds.
i cut here so the weld will be hidden behind the sail panel when i put it all back togeather.
drilled out the spot welds along the edge only,there are a couple to the right of the latch,dont drill those out.
drilled out the ones at the edge of the wheel well.
as well as those behind the bumper,
taillight.
and along the top edge that is covered by the trunk lid.
after that,i used a hammer and screwdriver (i know,not the right tools.) to seperate the 1/4 panel from the inner panel.
went well,but what i did not know was there are 5 spot welds holding the lower portion on(by the red mark)
after getting the top portion free,i pulled it back and drilled them out from the inside.
heres how it came out.
now i have to remove the damaged 1/4 panel from my car and prep the car and "new" 1/4 panel,and take my time installing it.
oh yeah,i have to straighten out the wheel well,got a little folded up from the impact.
wish me luck
99FiveOh
10 Year Member
Wow, you did a great job removing that thing! Question, is there a special welder that welds those spot welds back in? Please forgive my ignorance, I'm not a body man by any sorts.
Keep the pics coming fo sho!
Oh, and can you get a good shot of your car with the quarter off? I'm wondering if taking just one off will really compromise the structural integrity of the car. I really don't think so, especially if you have subframe connectors installed...besides, it's just a flimsy piece of metal anyway, what kind of support could it possibly give!?
Keep the pics coming fo sho!
Oh, and can you get a good shot of your car with the quarter off? I'm wondering if taking just one off will really compromise the structural integrity of the car. I really don't think so, especially if you have subframe connectors installed...besides, it's just a flimsy piece of metal anyway, what kind of support could it possibly give!?
KamiKaziDK
Member
I'm subscribing to this! I actually just picked up a welder on craigslist for 40 bucks a few weeks ago so I could start learning. Good luck man! Remember, don't measure twice....measure like 4 or 5 times
MysteryMachine
Active Member
Yes there is. I don't think you "have" to use one but there is a welder for that
Harbor freight has a spot welder for i think 100 bucks.i may get one,as my welding skills are far from great.
i pulled the damaged 1/4 panel from my car today.only have a couple crappy cell pics,i'll post later.
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Any more details on how you drilled out those couple spot welds at the end marked by the red x?
Whats the "right" tools to seperate the panels?
Good stuff bro! Keep em rolling.
Whats the "right" tools to seperate the panels?
Good stuff bro! Keep em rolling.
