Hello,

I purchased two "full 1/4" panels for my 66 convertible from OPG last year. I haven't gotten around to putting them on yet, but I was at a car show today, and checked out a GoodMark dealer there, and was impressed with the quality of their sheet metal. I rushed home to check my parts from OPGI to see if they were GoodMark (for some reason I was "sure" that they were when I ordered them.) Anyway, to make a long story short, they are DII (Dynacorn.) So are the fenders that I ordered. I just went to the www.goodmarkindustries.com (http://www.goodmarkindustries.com) web site, and see that they don't list a full quarter for a 66/67 convertible. I searched through the archives of this forum and read a ton of discussion about what "is" GoodMark, and about the other brands (DII, Sherman.) There still seems to be a bit of confusion.

I remember thinking that the fenders and quarters were unbelieveably "light" when I picked them up, compared to the original ones that I have; however, I was hoping that maybe this was just because my originals had paint, bondo, and rust on them.

So, my question is:

Should I try to use the DII convertible quarters, or go for the GoodMark "sail panel" quarters and cut the sail panel off? Keep in mind that I already have the DII quarters.

The SS hood that I bought at the same time looks to be manufactured by "Auto Power" and does seem to be as heavy as my original hood, but the fenders were obviously lighter. I'm tempted to get the scale out and weigh the repros and compare that with the originals.

Any general tips or [horror] stories specific to repro '66 sheet metal would be appreciated. I have the original fenders which I can use with a little patching and some hammer and dolly work.

Some details of my (long stalled) '66 restoration are at www.66chevy.com (http://www.66chevy.com) . After going to the muscle car show today, I'm ready to tackle the beast again...

Thanks,

Howard

Sorry I don't have an answer on that. I too am in the same situation...I would be curious which one is better since I will begin the resortation process here in a few months and have bondo in mine as well.

Thanks.

I called a few body shops and "restoration" shops in the area, and can't get a straight answer. At some point in the next few months, I hope to finish the trunk and get the car and parts "presentable" enough to rent a trailer from UHAUL and take what I have to a few shops to get quotes... The DII panels definitely seem thinner than the originals that are on the car, and a people that I talked with mentioned "warpage" due to the thin metal, but I was hoping that since the 1/4's are "full" that the old spot welds could be drilled out, and the new panels could be spot welded back on, thus minimizing warpage. I'm sure there are some areas that are inaccessable to a spotwelder, and they might have to be plug welded, but I would think that with a decent welder, warpage could be minimized.

I'm more worried about the thin metal being more prone to dings and dents than the originals...

Howard just my experience with DII products is that they dont fit as well nor look as good as goodmark products. I had a pair of DII fenders for my 70 and the fit was terrible, very thin metal and very wavy. I then went ahead and got goodmark fenders and they fit great!!

DII came out with the 66-67 chevelle quarter long before goodmark did almost 2 years. The goodmark 67 quarter came out what last fall I believe and DII had their quarters on display at back to 50's in St Paul MN 2-3 years ago. The DII was a full quarter minus the sail panel were the goodmark had the sail panel. The quarters that they(DII) had on display looked like a half arsed quarters.
Ive yet to see any goodmark 66-67 quarters but Ive install one pair of their 70's and very happey with them no problems what so ever.

You can warp heavy gauge metal just as easy as thinner metal if not careful and dont take breaks. Producing a spot or plug weld will yield very little warpage. Butt or lapping welding the sail panel would be my best concern for warpage, but if you take your time and weld only about 1/4 at a time,take breaks and LET THE METAL COOL ON ITS OWN you will be fine. Theworst thing you can do to a welded area is cool it with water, oil or air. That shocks the metal making it shrink(warp) even more and worse it makes the metal brittle...Eric