Hi Need help.
I just pick up a 72 chevelle. It needs repair
on the passgener side qtr. It does not need a full qtr. so I am thinking about installing a 80% panel. Who has the best fit?
What are the do's and don't whan installing 80% qtr.
Pat

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71 blazer 2wd
34 3 window coupe
66 malibu
Go speed racer, Go speed racer, go
blazer (http://chevelles.com/showroom/Pgreen/MVC-068S.JPG)
66chevelle (http://chevelles.com/showroom/Pgreen/MVC-064L.JPG)

Heres some pics showing how i did mine.Hope it helps.
quarter pics (http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/ochrisl/lst?.dir=/1970+Chevelle/80%25+quarter+left+side&.order=&.view=l&.src=bc&.done=http%3a//briefcase.yahoo.com/)

70isfine, that is just what I was looking for
Thanks that is going to help. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif
Pat

What I would like to see is a close-up of someone replacing this panel. I want to know what I'm getting into. The rest looks solid. Will I end up replacing the inner and outer?
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/jtjohnston/Dscf0018.jpg

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 70isfine:
Heres some pics showing how i did mine.Hope it helps.
quarter pics (http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/ochrisl/lst?.dir=/1970+Chevelle/80%25+quarter+left+side&.order=&.view=l&.src=bc&.done=http%3a//briefcase.yahoo.com/)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Very nice. I needed to see that too. Maybe I can use skins after all.

JT that is the inner wheelhouse and i didn't replace that.I replaced the outer wheelhouse.The skins are a lot of work.I would pull your back glass out,if the glass channels are rusty or the corners are rotted out,which is pretty typical,i would go with a full repro quarter instead of a skin,the full quarter is probably easier for a novice than a skin,plus you dont have to patch up the corners of the window channel because that part is on the full quarter.

Hi 70isfine
I have a qustion, what did you do for at the bottom were the quarter panel meets the rocker? The panal I am go to replace the panel. It is not rusted out but it has a 1/2 inch thick of bondo, cracken and peelen off with surface rust under the bondo, on about 80% of the lower half. It will be quicker to replace the panel than to remud.
Pat
Never mine, I went back though the photos. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/redface.gif

[This message has been edited by PGreen (edited 01-16-2003).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>JT that is the inner wheelhouse and i didn't replace that.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

70isfine,
What is the part in white in the pics I quoted above. You did replace that and part of the trunk floor?

That part is the trunk dropoff,The lower edge of the quarter gets welded to the lower edge of that peice.I replaced that and the left and right trunk sections.If you click on my sig. and look around you may see some other pics that may help.

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http://photos.yahoo.com/ochrisl
Updated 8/20 PAINT!

Iam with 70isfine on this, for the novice replacing a full quarter is so much easier and faster. Plus you end up with a better end result and and the repair is cheaper. Think about it the half quarter is what around 200 bucks, the full is 500. The amount of labor if you were to pay a shop to do this would be double if not triple the amount of time needed to replace a full.

You have three times the amount of welding, filler work and grinding on the welds. Not only do you got to finsih the metal on the outside but inside as well. If you dont sure look like sh@t when you splatter paint it.
300 bucks in labor rates dont go far in body shops. The amount of time, labor and skill needed to replace a skin great outweighs the intial cost difference between a skin a full quarter. So why anyone would replace a quarter with a skin and not full on 70-72, I have no idea why...Eric

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1970 chevelle
1970 chevelle SS455 not a typo its a BUICK BABY
1949 and 1972 chevy trucks
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/sevt_chevelles

Sevt_chevelle, I think it is a case of more time than money. O-yes if you would like to see the kind of work I can do, check out the photo of the blazer under my signature. Replaced, rockers and three body panel. I under stand what you are saying but most body shop around here don't like to do work on older cars.
pat
O-yes the blazer was a 4x4, no motor or trans when I started. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif
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71 blazer 2wd
34 3 window coupe
66 malibu
Go speed racer, Go speed racer, go
blazer (http://chevelles.com/showroom/Pgreen/MVC-068S.JPG)
66chevelle (http://chevelles.com/showroom/Pgreen/MVC-064L.JPG)

[This message has been edited by PGreen (edited 01-16-2003).]

That was the case with me too.I needed both quarters,wheelhouses,trunk drops,trunk floor,rear body panel,hood,door skin and a fender.So $400 for two quarter skins,or $1000 for two full quarters.The money i saved on the quarter skins i bought the rest of the parts i needed,and i did it myself so labor time was not an issue,and its going to be a driver so i couldn't see putting full quarters on.In hindsight the time i spent on the skins and the time i spent repairing the rear window channel,full quarters would have been the way to go but i was unemployed at the time, so i had little cash and losta time!

I just had both quarter panels replaced on my 71. I decided to go with the full panel from goodmark and I am glad I did. Right next to my car in the shop was another chevelle that was having 80% quarters installed. The difference in time and effort is incredible. It took them 3 days to remove, prep, install, fill, and block both quarters on my car. The other car was still in the "lets see if it fits better now" stage. Not to mention the body man had a completely different attitude about the two cars. It seemed to me that he felt that the owner of the other car was trying to go excessively cheap, and it was becoming more difficult to get things looking good.

The full quarters are the way to go.

My .02 (in 1971 dollars my 2 cents would be .008 cent.)

Clark
TC #68

Pgreen, I fully understand the whole money thing, hell am there now. Quit a real good job and went to lesser of one so I could keep my sanity. When times are tough a 100 bucks is a 100 bucks.

But the point of my previous post is too point out to others that see a 80% quarter and a full, all they see is that price diff. They really dont see the extra time and skill needed to replace that skin vs the full. They see that they can buy the 80% for 400 bucks and the fulls for 1000. Yes if you do the work yourself you save 600 bucks. But if you take it too a shop that 600 bucks you just saved is gonna be spent in alginment and etc not to mention the extra money soon to be spent. So in all reality the 80% cost more money in the long run.

Like I mentioned before for the home restorer who has the skills go for it. But for someone who doesnt have the skill of welding a entire seem shut on a quarter and working that amount of mud, then I really push the issue of a full quarter replacment. Just my opinion...Eric

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>i did it myself so labor time was not an issue,<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

What I love is how you zipped the edges together. I'm no expert, I need to learn how to use a mig, but that's some fancy work. No over lap at all? You still had a chanel between them? What is the cutting tool exactly to be that thin a chanel to join together?

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/25ebf0f1/bc/1970+Chevelle/80%25+quarter+left+side/10.jpg?bc2L7J.AblcJoq4a


Damn nice Blazer Pgreen.

That inner we talked about was an honest to goodness original?

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/25ebf0f1/bc/1970+Chevelle/Pictures /New+left+trunk+section.jpg?bclR7J.AQEtncWjy (http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/25ebf0f1/bc/1970+Chevelle/Pictures/New+left+trunk+section.jpg?bclR7J.AQEtncWjy)

I see the trunk better in another folder, where this shot came from.

[This message has been edited by jtjohnston (edited 01-17-2003).]

[This message has been edited by jtjohnston (edited 01-17-2003).]

How big a job was the door skin? A lot of lining up I would imagine? It has to fit back in to the line of the car after all.

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/25ebf0f1/bc/1970+Chevelle/Door+skin/4-doorskin.jpg?bcRb7J.A3fclB0mX

JT,i start the cut with a cut off wheel,then switch to an air saw like this (http://www.northerntool.com/images/product/images/11241_lg.jpg)
You do have to have to be good with your welder,and have it set up right,if you dont/aren't, you will have a nightmare on your hands.Thats why Sevt_chevelle and i agree its not the best route for a novice.If you do a search on door skins in this forum you will find a lot of useful info.

I agree with Eric and 70isfine that an 80% quarter or a full quarter is no place for a novice.
Pat

So, I asked a question awhile back and got no response. How do you know when you should replace your quarters with 80% or full panels? Is it better to try and leave the old panel there and try to work the metal?

Here is the orginal post.
http://www.chevelles.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/007108.html

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Is it better to try and leave the old panel there and try to work the metal?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I would have thought working with doors was a lost cause. Your door has ot be pretty solid already to want to go change skins. Why do it? Cheaper to get a new door, almost? What kind of crimping tool was that for the lip? I can search for more, but interested in hearing what you say.

396boy, yes by all means is it better to work with the factory metal but up to a point. Say the any damage you had on your elky was rust on the lower bottoms behind the wheel, then fixing the rust instead of replacing the quarter is the proper repair. But if you have dents, rust in several spots then a entire new panel is due.

In my book when the cost of fixing the OEM metal gets to around 70% of the cost of replacing you should then replace the panel instead of fixing. Plus theres othr times when you just need to replace whether its rust or collision damage, wheres a point of no return. When you are that high up in numbers, to me fixing it would be a subpar repair. Am saying this from a body shop view point, were time is money. But if you are the home restorer your time is free, but it should be worth something. Its all a gut feeling, you believe that fixing that panel would be better or replacing it.
As for the top rivets those can be easily replaced with new rivets, but mostly are repalced with small stainless screws...Eric

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1970 chevelle
1970 chevelle SS455 not a typo its a BUICK BABY
1949 and 1972 chevy trucks
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/sevt_chevelles

Why is hanging a new quarter no place for a novice?How is he supposed to learn?If he always watches and never does hands on how will he not be a novice?If he never did it before will you let him do it on your car to get experiance.If he takes his time and marks everything and measures 5 times before he cuts it will probally turn out fine.And if the first time it dosen't line up right he grinds off the tack welds and starts over.How are you to learn unless you do.And if you mess up you do it again.We are all novices at something and unless you do it you will never learn.Just read a book on the subject and think the project out before you do it.

[This message has been edited by 427stingray (edited 01-18-2003).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Why is hanging a new quarter no place for a novice?How is he supposed to learn?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I tend to agree. Sevt_Chevelles and 70isfine have fine skills. I love both their briefcases:
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/sevt_chevelles
http://photos.yahoo.com/ochrisl

But coming from someone who has no skill in this, I would go for the whole replacement. Less heartache, stress and less $ paid out at the end. Important lessons already learned.

Now if you are a jobber and want to have fun, learn something. Sure, why not? That's what the thread is for. Anyone else have a briefcase to look at. I'm intersted on work on inner rear wheelhouses.

http://www.chevelles.com/forum/tongue.gif, now in the meanwhile, my 1971 was kept in a basement for 15 years, so I don't have these problems. But, like many more, I have my eye on a project for next spring. Just to frustrate the wife, I have a nice nest egg saved up already. Planning on taking a course on MIG at the local community college at nights, and then we'll see.

[This message has been edited by jtjohnston (edited 01-18-2003).]

Stringray, my posts are not to tell people not to hang a quarter but to make them see that 80% quarters are much harder and take more skill then a full. Its just my belief if you are a first timer hanging a 80% instead of a full when a full is available, is probably not the best way. For someone whos never held a body hammer or welded worked with bondo, a 80% quarter panel replacement wouldnt be the place to learn.

Theres so much more to it then whats been said on all of these posts. Sure you can read all the posts you want and read every single welding book out there but when it comes down to it you need that first hand experince. If some problems occur and you have no idea how to fix them, that large piece of metal called your quarter is not the place I would want to learn. Dont take me wrong am not trying to tell novices dont work on cars am saying a quarter install is not the place to learn. Why not fix the rust on the lower half of the front fenders, or replace a trunk pan, much easier work and a gret palce to learn.
Am all for that jumping in and just going it, thats why I spend the amount of time I do on this site giving my advice and opinions on how to do something
Johnson what you want to know about the inners? Ive been there before...Eric

I agree with you,a 80% quarter is tougher to do.And it would be hard for a novice.But it can be done if he takes his time.What if the guy dosen't have the money for a pro to do it or just wants to do it himself he's gonna learn real fast.I learned to do everything on a car because I don't trust people to work on my cars,the work usually dosen't come out the way I want it and I end up doing it over.If I make a mistake I chalk it up to experiance and do it over.Sometimes it can get expensive.I get upset when someone says you shouldn't do this or that because you don't know how.That should be your cue to want to learn how to do it.Thats what hot rodding is all about.

[This message has been edited by 427stingray (edited 01-19-2003).]

Hi
I guess I could be called a novice, I never
have installed an 80% quarter on a car. That is why I ask this question. But my mig welder
is 15 years old and has 500k on it, and 80% is welding sheet metal. I think it comes down to experiance. For the hobbies, I would learn to how to not to burn holes in sheet metal be for I would take on cutting up a car
to put on a quarter panel. Just my $.02 Go for it if you can.
Pat

------------------
71 blazer 2wd
34 3 window coupe
66 malibu
Go speed racer, Go speed racer, go
blazer (http://chevelles.com/showroom/Pgreen/MVC-068S.JPG)
66chevelle (http://chevelles.com/showroom/Pgreen/MVC-064L.JPG)