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55 Chevy QTR dillemma.

9K views 66 replies 9 participants last post by  tech69 
#1 ·
Ok, apart from the pain from taking out a replacement quarter at the seams in which the guy welded areas together that were supposed to be leaded, I'm finding my game plan isn't something I'm too confident about. Well I am but I like to always be sure and that's why I asked The Guru and now am asking for your input.


So the new quarter has the edge that is supposed to hold the window felt in and in the pic you can see the holes for it. Thing is, that flange isn't bent down like it's supposed to be.


This edge is original as the replacement quarter wasn't a full quarter. Thing is, this line is narrow at the edges and gets bigger towards the dip. My concern is that this will be hard to get that shape right and with the proper gap to the glass.
So what I elected to do as of now is to make a tape template of that top piece and measure the gap to the glass opening and flat area of the quarter in a few different areas and while the cut out quarter will still have this area in place I will attempt to fold the flange over and make it look good on the new quarter, and if I'm confident in that then I will proceed to cut out that area on the old quarter. If this area that folded over was straight it would be a no brainer but If I leave it too wide wherer it's narrow the glass might bind. Please chime in if you have dealt with this. If you haven't and have something good to offer let's hear it.

 
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#2 ·
Being the shape is wrong there, it probably means it's wrong along that area including where the moulding goes and if I were you I would seriously think about leaving that portion of the original quarter there.

This advice comes with very little info looking at a couple of photos but I would study this idea if I were you.

To fold that flange over tight is going to he hell keeping that upper line straight, and the holes in the quarter for the window seal you know are wrong (but then of course so will the repro seal), I am just thinking, look into leaving the original there.

Brian
 
#3 ·
It's like that on both sides. not damaged or anything. Can't believe the manufacturer of that quarter has suggested people just bend that over when that flat area is narrower at the ends. My cheapo brake won't work and plus it isn't straight anyhow. I would have to do it with my taco grips and then smooth it out with a dolly. Getting it smooth would be no problem but I see issues down the road with having to mess with the quarter glass tilt and/or having a rough time opening it up cause I didn't make it narrow enough at the ends, or even a huge gap...

The good thing is I can try to make the bend on the new quarter and measure it up to see how it turns out and if it's not looking good I can always scrap that idea cause the old piece is still in the old quarter, and maybe think of something just below it.
 
#4 ·
When it comes to those crap repops use only what you have too and leave as much of the original as you can...That part dont need replacin so leave it.
since those usually only rot on the bottom and back where the bumper is you might want to concider cutting & welding it at the moulding ...
#1: I wouldnt replace any of that American beauty with cheap chineese recycled rust panels
#2 If someone was holding a gun to my head and I had to use chineese (recycled rust) panels I'd only use just what I had too
Some people think I paid for the whole 1/4 I want the whole 1/4 put on.they are thinking they want a whole new 1/4 installed because its better when in fact the more you use the less the car is worth,its up to you to talk them out of it and educate them a little weather its your boss or the owner ...have a litte respect for these Amarican classics,dont hack one up just because someone is paying you...
 
#5 ·
I was hoping you'd chime in. Ok, I'll think of something for that upper moulding. maybe a tuck under or something. That idea was discussed and majority say the same thing as you. I already have it cut out at the seams in the back, which it definitely needed. On the seam behind the taillight for instance they still had the old flange sandwiched in there and was covered with filler before it got blasted.

So now I got a rough idea of what I'll do in that area. what about the door jamb? The quarter doesn't get stuffed above the rocker or anything and seems like an easy cut out if I just cut it out at the factory seams along the lead seam to the rocker and hinge pillar. My concern with that is if the gap to the door isn't right then shifting the quarter means shifting HALF of the taillight opening. and I already assume there will be some surgery around that taillight area as is. Ever have that issue with replacement quarters for a 55? Thoughts?
 
#7 ·
now the game plan is to take it to the factory seams by the tail light and upper rear body panel, to the seam on the rocker and the jamb, but cut the new quarter right below the mouldings on the top of the quarter. I could probably open butt weld it where it's cut but no need to try to be superman. I will do it the best way possible that makes it the easiest. Probably run my flanger on the top of the cut on the new quarter and slide it right in.
 
#9 ·
On the ones I've done I cut the orig at the center of the moulding holes then cut the replacement a tad higher so I had all the trim holes showing then overlapped the panels and lined up the orig holes to the new panels holes and drill screwd it with just enough screws to hold it in place...my new seam was split at the center of the trim holes ,I usually use a lap joint on these long seams for added strength and less warpage while welding...using a butt here would be unpredictable
 
#11 ·
that was an idea we kicked around. too bad i already cut it out. not sure if the lap joint would have worked cause the guy is a metal fabber and we were worrying about his thoughts on that and coming in and seeing it lapped on. not that it's wrong but it's just him misunderstanding. On another note, he might not see a flange or shall I say backing strip? :D I kind of want to do the backing strip cause in the rear by the tail lights there will be 3-4 patches that have to be made before the quarter even goes in, and I already foresee people looking at me wondering, 'why isn't the quarter welded in yet'? So if I did the backing strip that would take less time overall than a flange, and it wouldn't hurt the shape so less mudding too.
 
#15 ·
sorry when I say lapped ,I mean flanged .no self respecting pro would ever overlap a panel ...
hahhaa, thanks for clarifying that. I didn't want to say anything so I put it on the customer by saying he's a metal fab guy, which he is, but I didn't want to say, "I'm not doing that." :D

Thanks for your insight. Man, these 55 Chevy quarters are a lot of work compared to some other ones I did. 3 lead seams I burned out already.
 
#13 ·
tec 3-4 patches that have to be made before the quarter even goes in said:
Actually the flanger makes a much better and stronger seam and much faster than a strip...
a strip would have two open ends and the top one would be holding moisture like a cup as compared to a flanged seam with one open end (on the bottom)
not only that when you make the flange your giving the edge of the seam strength because your putting a step in it....If you weld a strip you'll be heating up the edge everywhere you put a tack ,(making it wavey)...
You do have a flanger dont you ????
This camaro 1/4 only took about 3-5 min..to flange..
 

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#14 ·
yeah, I got a flanger. I'll think about that one. There's enough meat on it still for that. The last two quarters I did for him were both flanged.

I agree with the backing strip. just trying to make it the easiest way possible cause there's a jerk lingering around the shop snickering about my game plan cause he wanted to leave the jamb. not sure why he's so concerned with what I'm doing but it adds pressure on me and making it easy is a way to cope.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I've wore out a few air flangers I f I remember correctly breaking the seam under the taillight is a bear the seam with the spot welds is on the insideand hard to get to, even harder to weld up.
If the jamb is in good shape I leave all that too but I cut the replacement after the first bend so the 1/4 goes into the jamb ,I;ll use the punch side of the flanger tool to make spot weld holes and then I weld the 1/4 inside the jamb..I always wonderd why someone would put a 1/4 on and make a three sided seam on the outer skin ,by the time their done theres bondo covering the whole 1/4...when your done there should only be one seam a flanged one ...If your careful and you take precautions after your done welding the flanged seam all the way across. two coats of finishing putty is all you'll need no bondo...the biggest mistake you can make is to get tired of all the welding and think thats good enough...look at the pic of this flange joint ,theres a lot of welds and its on securely but if you dont have the whole seam welded it'll leave a ghost seam that you'll only see at a certain angle but once you see it you'll never get lazy with the welding again...
as I was saying this seam is only about half welded and there'll be thousande of welds before your done if this was bondo'd up right now there would deffinetly be a ghost seam...
Once youve welded the whole seam and ground the weld s (dressed the metal) you shouldnt see any trace of a seam BEFORE you put the filler to it......Do like this and then see how the heads turn....Take your time on this seam it pays in time saved on the rest of the job
 

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#17 ·
I tack it around then build off each tack. Keeps it cooler and less voids. In the end it looks like that pic but less voids, but not perfect. Just good enough for a shop.


I had to take it off by the taillight cause there was an old flange sandwiched in between and patches that could only be fixed with the quarter off. Fixing those is where the boss is gonna think, "why isn't that quarter welded on." The boss' lapdog seems to think that's an 8 hour job-YEAH RIGHT! It takes about 5-6 hours just to cut it all out.
 
#18 ·
10 hrs welding alone....the ins co gives you more than 8 to replace a 1/4 on a newer car and they arnt known for throwing the hrs at ya...
Ask Brian what the typical 1/4 replacement time is for some full size car,he'd know better than me...
If your looking to shave off a bunch of time you can weld every 1/4" or so and use filler as long as that seam is hidden behind the moulding but the last foot or so would have to be welded all the way where the spear stops....I just saw a 55 today that was a nice daily driver and for sale but it was a 4dr...
I'd much rather work on the old stuff ,its a lot more fun...
 
#19 ·
so I was planning on flanging it and I already knew one area didn't have enough meat on it for a 1/2" step(back half) cause I listened to the bone heads trying to dictate the repair and that back area I cut out first to do the wheel house and didn't leave enough meat cause I thought I was going into the pillar at the time. So when the decision was final to step it I left enough meat on the front half but when it came time to flange the stinking flanger was barely too close to the bodyline and the flanger wouldn't fit. I'm almost tempted to do an open butt weld and leave the two small areas I used to cleco it up top leave them as small tabs so it laps on the two tabs that helps hold it up but everything around it will be a butt weld. Then again I'm not sure if I want to do that due to the atmosphere around the shop right now. Screw the excuses though it was my fault and if I have to lap weld it then I guess I can say it's a first...and last. The good news is we're getting the other side of the taillight panel which would have had to have been pushed out away from the deck lid but also the rear body panel on that side needs to come out a hair as well so taking that piece out solves both issues on top of the areas that would have needed patches. It was toast anyways. The other good thing is that the gaps line up perfect with a little wrestling and cutting and welding. The lap weld will also be really close to the bottom of the moulding so I think it won't turn out that bad. It wont need a lot of mud. Maybe I can order a hand flanger that allows the room and get next day air and it will be here before the part...hmmmmm
 
#21 ·
I missed a post..
Any time I do a full length 1/4 splice I always go into the jamb...You cant get the flanger in so I flange what I can and I'll butt weldthe last inch or two of the ends...same with door bottoms you can only flange untill you hit the end of the inner door then you butt weld the rest.you wouldnt want a lapped flange joint here anyways the two layers would make a hump where it wraps around the inner door
 
#23 ·
bemding tab over



Hi I just installed two quarter panels on my 55 2 door sedan. Here is how I fixed this: I took a careful measurement of where the fold was and scribed a line with a sharp point. Then I took a thin whiz wheel and took it across this line so to weaken the metal. After folding it down I carefully welded the line back and ground it down. IT WORKS. The Muncieman
 
#28 ·
Hi I just installed two quarter panels on my 55 2 door sedan. Here is how I fixed this: I took a careful measurement of where the fold was and scribed a line with a sharp point. Then I took a thin whiz wheel and took it across this line so to weaken the metal. After folding it down I carefully welded the line back and ground it down. IT WORKS. The Muncieman
I have a few pieces of new sheet metal left for a 55 chev. I have the drivers side full outer rocker from Cars and also have a right and a left tail light to trunk piece. I have one for the left side and one for the right side
I will give you a friendly price if you are interested

Gary
267 424 5838
SlaTINGTON pA
 
#24 ·
I got it handled. I just flanged the replacement quarter by sliding it under the lip, scribing it and making flanges of 1/2" and sometimes less. The lesson here is to not let somebody else in the shop dictate your repairs. It's gonna turn out fine with perfect gaps. just waiting for the tail light panel to show up.
 
#26 ·
still waiting for the other half of the tail light panel. I'll take pics when it's done. I'm tempted to only flange where it's clecko'd to hold it up, like maybe an inch around the clecko hole and then cut it everywhere else for an open butt weld. Then I could later reach into the quarter and cut the squares off. just worried about it sagging.
 
#27 ·
Ok,Heres something for you to try,just remember where it came from....
remember you were talking about welding a strip to help with doing a butt weld ?
try this on a long seam...
using drill screws screw a 1-2" strip in to help hold the butts in place and back up the weld but insted of steel use a copper strip....when your done unscrew the copper strip and BAM!!! you have a perfect straight butt weld because the copper sucks up heat and backs the weld....
................................................luv ya 2....................
DBM
 
#30 ·
that's a great idea! I'm thinking it can work with metal too if you just do a few light tacks and then unscrew it and it would only need to be screwed on top, the bottom could be held down flush with a screwdriver while welding. Man I come up with good ideas! :D Just kidding. Thanks for that tip! The worry isn't the butt weld at all the worry is holding it up but that solves that. I came home today thinking "I'm just gonna get it done-screw it!" I'll tell ya why...

look closely


ying and yang aren't agreeing here


this was a good idea.


this wasn't. I should have made my second cut on top cause the top needs to be round anyways and skinnier and I could have rounded it easy by cutting and reshaping. Guess hitting one bird with a stone is good enough on this one so I might have to make two cuts or carefully hammer and dolly the top edge round. The bottom one not as important. Damn bumper doesn't hide it!


really? On this I will tunnel the top of the quarter...cut a slice and insert a piece of rounded sheet metal inbetween. It also needs to go out up top on the outside so that idea will work well.

 
#32 ·
It all depends Kevin they both have they're advantages,but the only way a flange joint will hold water is if it done upside down...The original panel has to be flanged not the new piece the open edge of the joint is facing down then when your done welding you seam seal the whole back side of the seam...
On a long seam I prefere a flange because its stronger and straighter when done needing little to no dolly work...as long as you prepped the flange so its not wavey ,if its wavey when you start it'll be wavey when you finish.
Butt joints are more likely to warp a panel but since the joint doesnt have the two layers its not as strong and can be hammered and dollied back into shape when it warps (and it WILL warp) another advantage of a butt is it can be dressed up on the inside and wont be noticed, a flanged joint is obvious from inside the trunk ....So you really need to know how to do both so you can decide which one is best for your applicationbut even a flanged joint has butts at the endsIts alot harder to make a proper flange joint but easier to weld butts are way easier to make but harder to weld.I do both ,but on long seams I do a lot more flanges than butts...
 
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