I need the opinion of a sheetmetal guy. I'm putting qtr panels on my 62 Falcon. I can't decide the best place to weld them on to minimize warpage, the top of the crown is my first first choice, but is there a better place. I will be using a mig welder. Thanks
where does the damage end? I figure unless you have a complete factory quarter to put on the patch should be as small as possible. can't tell what's going on in your picture.
Cut / weld line should be 20mm from a break line/style line. ie not in the middle of a flat or shapeless part of the panel. my weekly metal work blog www.themetalsurgeon.com
I altered the wheelbase so the damage is pretty much the entire qtr below the crown. There is a front and a rear panel I will be welding together and using the whole thing from the crown down. Where is a pic of what I cut when I altered it.
hey, As pointed out above, I'd run with what you've laied out. Fitting and welding on a swage line can have the added benefit of the strength of that line to help control warpage from welding heat. Other times it's best to pick an area of the panel that's easiest to get behind to dolly or spoon out your welded seam. " Life ain't no Disney movie "
Thanks, I thought it would be best to weld on or very close to the crown, but needed another opinion. Thanks alot.
If I were in your situation, I would do it this way...... I would fit the panel as you show it after trimming the top line of the replacement panel about 1/8" below the character line on your old quarter........when done it should not have any weld above the orig line.... after clamped and fitted on the car[ with all that old quarter removed] from behind it . Clean up at least an inch of the backside of the orig quarter where splice is to be.... -I would start welds about center and work both ways in 3" spacing of the spot welds. turn the welder up do not weld at a low setting.....one second on the trigger= doing these hot spot welds only no beads -NONE..... continue slowly [using your hand as a "temp guage".......]If you cannot leave your hand on the immediate area stop and wait... spotting at half spaces till all spots are connected as in no space left unwelded...this will take you about 3 hrs if done slowly enough to not build heat up it does take time.......you should not even warp it at all if you do it this way.... do not do a" recessed joint" splice in the middle where your rear and frt halves meet...just match the two halves up with a butt joint leaving a space equal to the thickness of the panels between em.... An easy way to achieve that is to do a 1/8" lap of the two first, then after the top lines are welded up, simply take a cutoff tool with a .040" cutoff wheel and slice thru the lap ,leaving the gap desired.....
I would fit both section on car and weld togeather first and remove from car weld inside and dress the outside.. I come down a half inch cause it only goes to the lip and not above it.this AMX quarter was two sections as well as I jointed it above the lip and in the roll.. made less filler work as well I also fill it inside the trunk and I cut the old quarter right at the lip so as not to see the join and i just filled the lip inside
shame the repair section didn't go forward to the door jam, with the turned edge it saves quite a bit of welding and distortion. Your gona have to go real slow welding here. Keep an eye out that your weld along the top doesn't shrink and pull some of the 'hollow' out of the panel. my .02
Put your seam in the easiest spot to get a dolly on the inside. Its going to warp so put it in a spot where you can effectively stretch it back. Putting the seam at that peak will make it next to impossible to fix if you screw up. On a side note I have noticed that we all have our own path to these kinds of repairs and they all seem to work, so your going to have to make your way thru all the advise to find the one that works for you.