im thinking of ordering a nibbler to cut out a coupla rusted out quarters.it is for up to 16 gauge sheet metal.what is the thickness of my quarter panels on a 1973 chevelle? i want to be sure the nibblers are up to the task. thanks.

I don't know the gage of the '73 quarters, but I am certain they are much less than 16 gage. I bought a cheap nibbler from Harbor Freight and it worked great! Normally I only buy high grade parts, but for this I figured I would only use it once. Even after doing full skins on both sides, the thing still works great.

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1968 Chevelle SS396 - Yellow 4 speed, air, factory Buick interior
1998 Camaro Z28 - 6 speed
1999 Nissan Maxima SE - 5 speed
2000 Passat Wagon - 5 speed tip

About 15 years ago, I bought Snap-On's air nibbler. The feature I liked was the head rotated 360, with indexing notches at each 90, and only cuts a slot 1/8" wide. In 15 years (abusing the #@$%^$ out of it)I've replaced the head and cutting bit ONCE!
Word of caution, these things throw razor sharp little "horseshoes" everywhere! I take a big ol' speaker magnet and stick it near where I'm working, and it sucks up the chips pretty well. Wear eye protection!