Guys,
I found a set of NOS quarters for my '73 Nova in Texas, but I am in Nevada. In 25 years in the car hobby, this only the second pair of these I've come across, so if they were damaged in transit I'd be quite disturbed.
Has anyone had experience shipping bare, unpackaged sheet metal that size? The seller has talked about building some kind of wooden box, but it would have to be enormous to fit two quarters.
Would love to hear any input or experience that you can share. Options for freight companies would be appreciated as well. If I hear too many horror stories, I've already made contingency plans for a road trip.
Thanks! :thumbsup:
First thing, is make sure they are what you need in that you can get the 2 door coupe quarter to work on a hatchback but it takes more work to make the hatchback quarter work on the 2 door coupe. Been there, done that as I lucked out years ago and got coupe quarters for my 74 hatchback and they required just trimming off the trunk weatherstrip channel. With the cutoff section I was also able to use it to fix some rot I had in the hatchback weatherstrip channel. If you do get hatchback quarters for use on a 2 door coupe, you will have to weld in the old trunk weatherstrip channel and possibly more.
Like the others have said, ROAD TRIP. When I got the pair of NOS quarters for my 74 years ago, I only had a 4 hour drive one way from Saint Louis to the outskirts of Chicago and it was timed to allow me to pick them up at a local swap meet happening the same day.
I also had another pair of NOS quarters shipped and they did get damaged and some day I will see how good a metalworking guy is to fix them but it was one of those live and learn deals. I learned too that people normally make things sound better than they actually are. Sad, but true and by going to look at them you can decide if they are worth the money and see if they were described correctly and then if things are good, purchase them. If they are not what was described, you may be able to haggle and get them for a little less or if they are too bad, you can walk away.
Just some more input as I redid a 74 hatchback with a lot of NOS metal is to be prepared to possibly put in new rear outer wheel housings. You may also look real close at the taillight housing as it too can have issues with rot.
Not that I want to suggest you jump ship but maybe join steves nova site as I'm on that site also and you might even get more helpful input.
Also keep in mind, even though they are NOS, you may have to do some work on them to get things to fit really good. My understanding is, and I found this to be true on one of my quarters, was that the stamping dies do wear out and while I didn't have any issues with crisp edges I did have an issue on one side on the back corner by the taillights as it was about 1/4" too long. Maybe it was within tolerance but on mine, the hatchlid would not fit right until I sectioned the area by removed some metal, and then welded things back together.
Jim
