OK...
So far, Pipefish has the record for the faster quarter skin install! Awesome job!
I'm finally ready to put my skins on. I'm using the technique described at
http://moparmusclemagazine.com/techarticles/mopp_0507_panel_replace/.
I began by trimming the lips off of the skins. I used masking tape to create a line to cut along. I wanted the keep as much of the vertical surface of the skins as possible, so my cut line was very close to the lips. The goal is to keep the original front, top, and rear body lines. The original quarters were way too far gone to save the center body line. On the Challengers, you should do whatever you can to save that center ridge since it is so darn big! Of course, you Challenger goofs can buy OEM style full quarters!
Next step was to strip the cheesey primer from the backside of the skins. I used a 3M strip disk for a drill, available at Autozone or Advanced.
Next, I primed the inside of the panels with DP40 epoxy primer. I masked off about 1" from the edges. On that 1", I sprayed on weld-thru zinc primer.
A couple of friends came over to help line up and screw the panel in place. My friend has done several Brand X cars and was amazed at how well these skins fit! Many people complain about the skins, but I don't know why. My only complaint is that my skins have no flange for the rear valance. I have some major fabrication work to do back there to make the valance fit. I need to buy a repop valance first.
We test fit and clamped the skin in place at the wheelhouse. The body line was dead on at the front and rear of the quarter. We then started at the center top of the skin, making sure that the skin fit flushed and didn't bulge at the center. Be careful when setting up the skin...if you pull the skin up too much, you will sink the middle body line. Don't pull the skin up tight enough and you will have a buldge on the center line. You want that skin to hang from the screws with no tension on the vertical surface.
We center punched spots along the top of the skin about 2" apart from each other. One by one, working from the center out, we drilled pilot holes. One at a time, we then screwed in sheetmetal screws, the kind with a nice big head. Then, we moved out one punch mark at a time, from the center out, and repeated. We did this around the entire border of the skin.
OK...This is where I am at as of Sunday morning. I will use a 1/32 cutoff wheel on a right angle die grinder to cut along the tape line between pairs of screws. The cut is done through both the new and old panels. The cut should be done at a 45* angle so that the top panel fits down onto the bottom panel. kind of like a miter cut. Making one cut at a time, I will then make the old and new panels flush and tack weld using 20 Gauge brand welding wire. This is a specialty welding wire made by J Harris. It isn't solid...the center of the wire is designed to keep the heat and splatter low. You use it just as you would a solid core wire but with much lower heat settings. I'll make one spot weld between the two screws, remove one of the screws, and cut in the other direction, repeating the process until the entire edge is tacked into place. Then, going very slowly, I'll work additional spot welds around the perimeter, making sure that I stop welding if the panel gets hot. I suspect this will take me several days to do as going faster might lead to too much heat buildup. Fortunately, it's a cool 65* down here in Orlando, which helps.
