I need to replace both rear 1/4 panels. What is the recommendations, flange the old or butt weld the new panels? Also, if I don't need to replaced the whole 1/4, should I cut the new panels to the size I need?

Well, I am definately not an expert but from what I learned on here use the butt weld joint. I just replaced my quarters on my 65 this past winter. They turned out great and I had never done this before. Check out the pic on the link below where I cut mine and welded. I put my joint near a body line to try and avoid any warpage. There are some great websites of some of the fellows here that show it in great detail.

Good Luck


Jerry

Butt weld, but with a small, narrow strip of sheetmetal supporting the backside of the joint, overlapping both the old and new metal. That way, your cuts don't have to be perfect, and if you have any small gaps, you can easily fill them in without blowing holes in your work.

A flange joint really is the best, but it's difficult to flange anything but a perfectly flat piece of sheetmetal. A quarter panel, with its numerous bends and curves, would be very difficult and time consuming to flange.