Hi, the Chevelle has been stripped down to sheet metal at this point. Question now on passenger side is whether I replace the entire quarter with a quarter skin (this is a 1969 convertible so no full quarters available) or just patch behind wheel and over wheel. Here are a couple of photos. Body guy recomnmends the quarter skin. Is it best to replace entire quarter versus using mutiple patches? Advantages versus disadvantages.

http://spetzer.tripod.com//sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/69Chvl_pass_rear_sheetmetal.jpg

http://spetzer.tripod.com//sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/69Chvl_pass_rear_fender_shmt.jpg

replace, I know it cost more but anything that is patched will eventually come apart, warp, crack etc... Just in the cost of repainting it is worth doing.

I replaced the quarters on my 70 and people have come up to me and complemted me on how straight the car is!

It is worth it

You could get the quarter skins and cut patches out of them for only the bad areas unless the bad areas are too extensive. I've heard from many that patch panels don't come close to matching the original lines and contours but the skins are somewhat close. The skins don't match the contours or wheelwell shape exactly plus the metal is thinner so the less you use of them the better. The other thing you could do, which is what I'd do, is get full hdtp quarters, which I believe are better quality than skins and cut the non matching convertible-only areas off the top and make a seam. You're going to have seams anyway with skins or patches.

Thanks that helps. Ordered a quarter skin yesterday afternoon. Will speak to the body guy to determine whether the whole quarter wil be used or portions of. Again, thanks.

The problem with most skins is that they are designed larger than original for Amateur installation over the exhisting panel. They will in most cases fit right over the exhisting sheetmetal. This can become a problem when the original sheetmetal is trimmed away and the replacement panel is installed as original. I have a Dodge Challenger in my garage right now with replacement quarter skins that are actually 1/2" too long-they were designed to overlap the original panel and then some. The only option to install these correctly is to trim them down and use only what is needed. If the panels are lapped into the doorjamb area the car will have panel alignment problems with the doors, rockers and fenders. You will also notice that the wheel opening will not fit the outer wheelhouse flange very well after the original panel is removed. And in most cases the wheel opening moulding will not fit very well. In my opinion I would rather have a used oem piece or nos quarter to work with but they are very expensive. My advise would be to trim the skins down and use only what is needed or find some used original sheetmetal. Good luck graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Steve:

I just went through this issue with my car…BTW – my convertible was an original butternut as well. I’m a purist and wanted to desperately keep my car “all original metal.” Well, when the paint was stripped from the car it reveled some old body work that was not up to my standards, nor that of the body shop. We ran into some concerns on the metals integrity and “functionality” (very important factor when considering convertibles as they lack the steel roof that acts as a keystone in tying the front end to the back end and the shop had some extensive doubts about “what was behind” the qtr. Well, to make a long story short, I got hold of an original GM full QTR, and this was used. The results of that decision (vice that of a skin) seem to be the preferred of the ‘experts.” If in fact you’re going to cut, my experience, and exposure to this issue leads me to suggest you need to use GM replacements, or the equivalency. Steve, I have numerous pictures of my car “stripped” and the qtr cut, and the replacement in place. If you care to see the pics, please e-mail me and I will forward for your preview - lhweber@nps.navy.mil As a side note, two other TC folks who also own 69 convertibles had to replace their qtrs as well and I bounced my situation off them before proceeding with any decsions. I consider them trusted advisors in this hobby – Daytona Jeff, and ALss. Both Jeff and Al will give you good gouge on QTR issues.

Either way, good luck. And, just out of curiosity, what color are you going with on the repaint???

Steve, was through that process last year on a 69 Convertible. My passenger side needed the upper seam on the rear quarter redone frome a previous poor quality replacement.
I bought a full replacement skin and found the upper section did NOT match for the convertible.
In your case, you need the lower sections and just above the wheel well so you should be OK.
The body man should take extra care with the long horizontal seam, as ther is no was to "hide" this.
Go with the full skin, fewer seams, less filler if the shop is confident they can do a quality job.... :cool: