[91_crx_si]

this will be my first time welding on a car im 17 years old and want to take Icar at nscc. I want some tips for welding filling and painting my civic i want to have a fair job. i bought a new 1/4 panel and i also got one panel that was allready put on. with bair metial and weilds still. i just want some pointers and tips so the panel is on stright and clean. the panel i will be putting on is just up past the gass flap to the wheel arch and from behind the door to almost the taillight and i want to paint the hole car

[red65mustang]

there are around 1,000+ (????) articles in the "Knowledge Base" link at the top of this page that covers any/all parts of a car....

here's a link to just the roughly 100 articles in body section:

http://www.hotrodders.com/kb/body-exterior-information

go to a local body shop and ask for some bent panels out of their re-cycle scrap bin and practice, practice, practice, practice on those first!!!!!!

[OneMoreTime]

Moving on to body/exterior..

Sam

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by 91_crx_si

this will be my first time welding on a car im 17 years old and want to take Icar at nscc. I want some tips for welding filling and painting my civic i want to have a fair job. i bought a new 1/4 panel and i also got one panel that was allready put on. with bair metial and weilds still. i just want some pointers and tips so the panel is on stright and clean. the panel i will be putting on is just up past the gass flap to the wheel arch and from behind the door to almost the taillight and i want to paint the hole car

You are asking a ton, but at the same time it is kinda hard to understand.

Let's start with the one quarter, you have a new quarter? New from Honda?

You DO NOT want to do any splicing of this quarter, you want to replace the whole thing up into the middle of the window posts (the "B" and "C" pillar).


Brian

[BMM]

May I just say...Quarter Panel replacement on a Unibody for a first timer?


Be prepared to throw you car away after.

[red65mustang]

good point BMM...

91 crx,
first step is go to a frame shop to find out how bad the unibody is twisted and bent...
or atleast take to a good body shop for "experienced eyes" evaluation....

the car unibody is designed to collapse and bend to absorb the impact in a accident....

the unibody has to be straight to be able to mount the qtr panel straight....

[BMM]

Reading my last post, I sound like an *******, so let me explain what I meant.


When I was 17 (2 years ago), I was also a virgin with cars (if Im not still ). I distinctly remember my first attempt at welding on my car. Sure, I practised and practised on scraps until I was comfortable. And then I gi on my back, ready to weld in the nice lower quarter patch on my Monte.

Tack tack tack tack tack. Sweet, its in place. Then I started stiching the weld, only to have some areas burn back, some areas not get enough penetration, and generally my weld needed to be ground down ALOT. I could get away with that because on a full framed car, the bottom of the quarter panel is not structural.

On YOUR car however, you are playing with the vehicles factory engineered strength points and crumple zones. Any area with less than adaquete penetration is not structurally sound. Add to that the 22 guage and being inexperienced, you have a huge chance for burnbacks. If you experience that down by the rocker and your pillars...sure, you might be able to fill them in with welding wire, but are you sure the weld is strong enough?

And you still have to make sure the quarter paner lines up everywhere...

Good luck brother.

[MARTINSR]

The quarters on that Honda are largely "paint holders" and little to do with stucture. Yes, it is a "unibody" but honestly, I have replace more than I could count and the inner quarter, rockers, rails are where the strength is at. The outer 22 gauge skin is not doing a whole lot.

I see that 91_crx hasn't responded after the first post so I don't know if he will be back. But if you are do crx, post some photos or explain WHY you want to replace them, maybe repair would be a better choice.

Brian