Hello fellow HAMBERS I have bought a repair panel for my 63 Falcon, so I can get to work sorting the bodged area of drivers rear quarter panel behind the rear wheel. The new panel is like this, which is clearly larger than the affected area. My question is, do I cut the repair panel to suit, replacing only what I need to, or do I use the whole panel? I realise the taillight section will also need attention, but the same principle applies.
For me it would depend on the quality of the new panel. If it was good (body lines line up, straight, not flimsy crap etc) I would use the whole panel. Less warping welding in along a body line and you know you have removed all the rust and won't have other issue start a few years down the line because you couldn't tell it was starting to rust through in other areas. If it's of questionable quality I would use what is needed as it will be a lot of work to make it fit right if it's screwy from the get go.
I bought one of those panels, complete junk. Stay away, wrong contours, junk soft metal, I really think it was made with a bead roller rather than being a stamping. I have heard better things about the half length sections.
To add to the replies...it looks like the car has had body filler repair over rotted areas. You may have hidden (filler hiding rot) issues in other places that have not quite popped through yet. .
Make sure you know the limits of your damage/rust before you cut anything. You'd hate to cut the patch down and then find more rust an inch past the cut line.
I’d be taking some 80 grit on a soft pad and a grinder to get that paint and filler off there...you’ll be able to see what the condition of the metal in that area is...
I agree with others, knowing what condition the original quarter panel is in is really important, grind all the paint and rust off paying attention to the spot welds around the wheel opening and any old repairs. I like to leave as much of the original panel as possible when I do a repair like this, but it seems most of the time the condition of the original quarter and the quality of the new panel will help decide how much of the quarter you replace.
Clean it up first Aftermarket patch panels generally stink Only use as much as needed. Straighten factory metal. Replace rotted metal
I suspect the existing quarter panel is going to look a lot different once the current filler and paint are gone. You might wish the replacement panel was bigger then it is. Gene
That’s interesting to know. Unfortunately this was the only panel I could find available, and the half length section would have been half what I needed. My feelings exactly. I will use a fleece disc and see what I discover. I think it’s had a bump in the rear quarter sometime in the past, which was filled and bodged and this in turn has allowed the rust to encroach.
Well, I've stripped the old paint and filler. Its seems that there was a fair amount of chicken wire in the affected area of arch, but fortunately it wasn't too widespread or larger than I had anticipated. There has evidently been a bump in the rear corner near the taillight, which judging by the holes drilled along the high spots has been pulled out by a someone and filled over and around. Pretty poor effort!!
Now I am trying to decide where is best to cut the quarter panel. I have done plenty of panel repairs and welding before and would say I'm pretty proficient, but I want to make the best job I can of this, and especially with it being a rear quarter panel, any imperfections will stick out like a sore thumb! Option A is to go big and use the most of the repair section, and means I only have one vertical weld line. But really I am least u favour of this option as it means using far more than I really need to. Option B is to cut lower, and will put the weld line under the chrome trim, but adds another vertical weld line, although not sure if this matters to be honest. Option C is the one I am most fond of, as it means cutting out only what I need to and keeps the most original steel. The arrows on the masking tape indicate which side of the tape I would cut. As shown, this means the rearmost, dented section nearest the taillight aperture will be cut out on all 3 options. Your guidance and advice is most welcome!
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/a-tail-of-two-fins-59-impala.1029415/ dont know if this helps I replaced the lower qtrs with aftermarket parts wrestled and modified them to fit straighted all usable factory metal I removed the QTRs and repaired the wheelhouses then re-installed them this is an extreme for an extremly bad problem this car had
Thank you, great thread. I love '59's!! I see you cut even closer to the rot, keeping as much original steel as you could. I think I'll go this route, and choose option/cut line C. I imagine you butt welded all the panel repairs?
Do yourself a favor.....make the outer wheelhouse while the quarter is off. Make it to you patch panel while you can work on it in front of you. Then cut your old quarter off, repair outer wheelhouse and then install the new quarter.
yes never lap weld nuthin not lap welded from the factory its harder to hammer and dolly and can sometimes leave a shadow line plus hold moisture fit, scribe, cut, weld
So I home to make the cut tomorrow. Plan is option/cut. C, and trim in an L-shape like below, so including the previously pulled and stretched rear corner near the taillight. Then I can access and get to work on the crusty lower trunk extension panel and inner wheel well. Is this going too big in relation to what original metal is actually rotten or damaged? I hope to cut out and replace this as one panel as shown. I don’t think I can ever get that too corner straight again; the only way I can see is to replace. Any advice or constructive criticisms most welcome!!
You might want to add a small radius the the corners. It seems to help ease distortion in those areas.
Yeah that 90 degree inside corner you have there is gonna great a big high or low spot when its kissed with some heat. Then you hammer it out and grind the welds and the heat from grinding makes it happen again. Definately radius that. A segment of a circle the size of a quarter should be enough.
If a radius is difficult to make for whatever reason, would the situation improve if you make one or two diagonal cuts of the corner so you get two 45 degree or three 30 degree corners instead?