While we're talking quarters here, anybody put one on with a spot welder like Eastwood sells? The body shop that's painting my ElCamino lent me his, but says it's insufficient heat wise to install a panel. He showed me a unit somebody was pitching him the other day that costs over 20 thou. Presently he drills little holes and puts em on with a mig, but I want absolutely undetectible on the Chevelle.

Use a spot weld cutter.. 3/8ths and fill in the holes with weld and grind.. undetectable!

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X-Ray View of my Chevelle :D (http://www.normieschevelle.com/sideview.jpg)
Getting Closer (http://www.normieschevelle.com/passfull.jpg)

I used the same method as you last described.
I drilled a 1/4 inch to 3/8 hole in the out side panel aproximately every inch or so. Then drilled the panel behind with an 1/8 inch hole. Then you can use 1/8 inch sheetmetal screws to hold the panels together tight. Then remove every other screw and mig weld, Start in the center edge of the 1/8 inch hole and weld in a circular patern until both holes are filled. I did both of my quarters and rockers and outer wells this way.
Spacing should be about the same as the original factory spot welds.
Finished with 3 inch air grinder.

FastSS396man

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69' SS396 Chevelle
L78 396/375hp
M-21 Close Ratio
Cortez Silver
10 year Resto
It's brand new again!

If your really good at cutting sheet metal you can butt weld the panels on and weld with a mig leaving it undetectable from either side. Lap panel installation still requires a bit of filler. And I've seen quit a few that show the seems sometime down the road. You really need to weld the entire panel on with spot welds until it is 100% welded. Move your welds around to different areas at a time to minimize heat warping. I learned of this installation from the camaro site.

RandyB..
www.angelfire.com/ky2/mycars (http://www.angelfire.com/ky2/mycars)

The spot welders like the eastwood company sells work just good as long as you weld two panels together dont weld three. Drilling a hole and welding it shut will go undetectible if you make sure you weld the entire hole shut, dont leave any spots unwelded around the outside of the hole. Proper grinding with the right tools can make or break the look of the weld. But with this process you wont get the factory look of those little depressions in the metal, just an area that is smooth. One thing it I do on areas that I want to have it look like factory, is take a dremal and a small grinding wheel. Then right next to the weld I make with the mig welder, grind a small depression in the metal. Grinding right on the weld is harder and eats up the wheel faster. This takes some practice but looks great when finished, and people can never tell that panel has been replaced

Sevt, that's the answer I was hoping for. I've had this old car for almost 20 years and put NOS quarters and front fenders up for it when they were still available. I'm determined that if I change the originals it has to be undetectable. The car's not that bad, actually most of the rust is around the back glass, including up the sides, but both quarters have had scratch dents and I hate to have filler in it. I'd really like to use the spot welder for the sake of seeing the dimples