[123pugsy]

The guy that bought it from you would have been cursing you if he got around to sanding it down.

Cars that are already painted always make me nervous. You never know what you're gonna get.

Oh well, you got a nice project car still.

Can you get some pics from further out?

[bigdog7373]

Yea i'll get some pics today.
What kind, thickness, etc.. Metal should i use to make patch panels?

[123pugsy]

Originally Posted by bigdog7373

Yea i'll get some pics today.
What kind, thickness, etc.. Metal should i use to make patch panels?

Use cold rolled steel. You generally want to match the gage but its not really necessary. I like 19 ga myself.

I wouldn't attempt making any patches if aftermarket panels are available.

[bigdog7373]

I figured I would try my hand at it since I can always buy new ones if I mess it up. The new panels are very expensive though.

[123pugsy]

Post any questions on how to make panels and I can try to give you some tips.
You can make compound curves with some basic hand tools.

[bigdog7373]

Originally Posted by 123pugsy

Post any questions on how to make panels and I can try to give you some tips.
You can make compound curves with some basic hand tools.

Than's i'll definitely have some quetions
What i really need now is to figure out how to get these quater panels off the car.

[123pugsy]

Do you want to replace the whole quarter panel? That would probably be the best way to go.

Here's a thread where a guy has a quarter partially cut off:

quarter panel repalcement

[bigdog7373]

So i have to cut the panel off? I thought i could take it off as one piece? I know the front fenders are just bolted on. Figured the rear would be the same. I'm getting some more pictures right now.

[bigdog7373]

Ok here's more pictures. The first 3 are of the right quarter in addition to the big hole.




The rest of the car isn't nearly as bad as the back right. So i'm thinking i should just replace that one panel and patch the rest.

Here's what i'm worried about on the left side:

Didn't sand much but there's actually metal here so it's worth saving:

And also under the rear glass inside the car is all rusted. Forgot to take pictures of that
And here's just a picture of the car. Need to get all that paint off...

[123pugsy]

The quarter panel is spot welded to the car around the edges.
Alot of drilling and some cutting involved depending where you want to make the connection and if the replacement panels are "full" or "partial".

I think you're going to hit alot more rust issues than you have hit so far. Get a good look under the rocker panels as well. Anytime I've see a car with damage as you've got, the whole car was usually rotted around all the edges.

[bigdog7373]

I believe the rockers have been replaced. They're solid and when i sanded the drivers side down there was nice fresh metal under the paint. No factory blue paint either so i guess that's a giveaway. I don't know how that right side got rusted so much worse than the rest of the car. Under the car is solid too. No rust on the subframe/frame rails. It's pretty weird.

Edit: didn't realize you said UNDER the rocker panels. I'll definitely check. I wasn't planning on pulling panels off or anything of that matter but i'm definitely going to now. I think it would be best to strip the car down as much as possible to get all the rust out. I want to do this right the first time.

[bigdog7373]

I thought i saw full quater panels new for this car but i guess i was wrong. They skins.
Does a skin go all the way up to the trunk where i have that big hole?
Does it cover the corner by the light?
How exactly do you use a skin?

[123pugsy]

Hard to tell from the pics I found, where they end. For a hundred bucks, I can't see it going all the way up and in where you need it. You'll have to give them a call.

For that price though, you can get a good jump on some of that rust. You would just use the new panel to mark off the old panel carefully, sneaking up on it by leaving an inch extra or so until you can get it in the correct position to scribe your final cut.

Then comes the welding fun.
What kind of welder you got?

[bigdog7373]

I have a friend who will weld it up, he's very good. Been wanting to learn for a while now, I gotta stop slacking..

[eloc431962]

Firebird Parts | Rear Quarter | Classic Industries go to the link these guy's should have what you need to patch or whatever you want to do to fix your ride bigdog.


Cole