[Unclepennybags]

I've got a 67 Chevelle from Arizona. No real rust damage to speak of. Unfortunately, when I stripped all the paint off, I found a huge amount of bondo on the rear quarter. The quarter had been replaced at one point with a GM panel, then apparently the replacement quarter got hit twice, near as I can tell. Anyway, since the most recent damage looks like it involved rubbing across a pole or fixed object, the quarter has some compound dent damage. I tried fixing it, but I'm kind of just spinning my wheels.

Should I replace the full panel? Like I said it's a GM piece, but it was brazed in and seemed to warp a little around the door edge. Will the fact that it was brazed previously make this repair job more difficult? Am I better off using a quarter skin? Most of the damage is localized around the wheel lip and about 8-12 inches up from there.

Mike

 

[LateNight72]

Full 1/4 if you can swing it. Will be 10x easier to replace.

As far as the brazing, it shouldn't make it too hard. A little more difficult than drilling out spotwelds, yes. But impossible? No.

 

[bigdave]

I did both on my 69. the full quarter was a lot easier than the skin. Granted we were learning as we went. We had some warping with the skin, probably rushing the welding. If you can find a NOS quarter I think the extra $$ would be worth it. our repro was off a couple of places I'm pretty sure from stamping. Just my .02

 

[sevt_chevelle]

Id do a full panel.
Sounds like they spliced the quarter panel at the jam then brazed it in.
If you go a skin route that brazing can affect your welding as you need to fully remove it.

 

[ss396boy]

and full quarters are pretty cheap right? $350 or so....

 

[White Lightning]

Full quarters from muscle car metal (Good Mark) $412 plus shipping. Thats for 69 anyway.

 

[Unclepennybags]

Now that I think about it, the concern about the braze interfering with the welding is a factor either way that I go. I believe that the quarter was also brazed where it meets the wheel house.

I'm going to take a good hard look at it this weekend and order parts accordingly. My guess is that the full quarter is going to take a lot of setup / straightening time. Once I do that though, I'm home free. With the skin, much more welding and much more body work to follow.

Mike

 

[daveseitz]

The added cost of a full 1/4 makes up for added labor. The cash you save will be spent
5X compared to the full 1/4 and job will be nicer when done. The partial will require that the panel cut off is good enough that no further work is needed for alignment. Full will align much easier then the partial on a damaged substrate.

 

[Unclepennybags]

daveseitz,

That's what I was trying to say, but you said it much more eloquently.

Mike