Lower Quarter problems - expereinced body guys advice needed

[70chall440]

Ok, so here is the background. I installed new quarters on my Cuda and thought I have made sure everything was in the right place before I welded them in. The passenger side door has some damage on the bottom rear corner of the door, and I "assumed" that it would all line up when all of it is was in. Short story here is that it appears that I did not get the passenger side quarter in far enough and now I have a 1/4" height problem between the door and quarter. After a lot of inspecting and comparing, I am positive that the lower quarter behind the door has to come in. So my question is if anyone has any pearls of wisdom how to correct it outside of drilling out all of the spot welds? To that point, it was all clamped in before I welded it, so this makes me think there are some other issues here that are going to require some cutting and moving metal (which isn't an issue). This is not a restoration, but I also do not want a 1/4" height off set between them because it is very noticeable. I thought about cutting the edges and pulling the panel in, but on the bottom where it makes the bend into the door frame seems a little tricky. I am not afraid of cutting and welding, I just don't want to make it worse or get it to where I am whacking out the bottom of a new quarter. The upside is that the rest of the door lines up pretty well.

thanks in advance for any tips or advice. Lacking any feed back, I will start cutting and figure it out.

[1 Wild R/T]

Common problem on lots of E bodies that still have original quarters so don't feel bad... You need to twist the door....2x4 block in the bottom of the jamb, lots of force applied to the top of the door....  Some doors twist easy, most require quite a bit of force....

[Topcat]

Before AMD, there was just Goodmark.

I had to cut slits on the edge, adjust and then weld so that the door contours would match the quarter.

That is what I believe you'll have to do also.

[Rich G]

I would make sure the door is adjusted correct first. If it lines up good with the bottom of the rocker then you have no choice but to cut it loose and move it. Unless its just a bad repo quarter then you would just have to start slicing and make it fit. The challenger I'm working on had the same issues after the previous owner put on a quarter. I just cut it off and started all over.

[70chall440]

Thanks to the both of you.

what had me confused it that the door lines up pretty well with the bottom rocker, which led me to believe the quarter is out of place. But, looking at the, it was tight as I could get it before I welded it.

[70chall440]

I would make sure the door is adjusted correct first. If it lines up good with the bottom of the rocker then you have no choice but to cut it loose and move it. Unless its just a bad repo quarter then you would just have to start slicing and make it fit. The challenger I'm working on had the same issues after the previous owner put on a quarter. I just cut it off and started all over.

they are AMD quarters and fit pretty well, however the pass side of the car took a lot of damage over the years so that side was much more of a challenge. As I noted, the bottom of the door lines up pretty well and is adjusted (as much as possible). The gap isn't terrible (aka it is satisfactory), however this height issue is a pain. I am not afraid of cutting it about, I just don't think it will move which means I will have to cut something to get it in tighter.

[1 Wild R/T]

As I mentioned before it's pretty common on E bodies that have never had any work done.. Often if the body shop doesn't twist the door or cut the quarter & the rocker to bring them out to align properly what happens is the door gets aligned to the quarter, the front of the door gets moved out so the hood & fenders fit at the top & the bottom of the fender gets shimmed out to line up with the door.... But the rocker dives in at the front & doesn't match the fender or the door....

Warning Chevy content.... But same thing...
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/12-body-shop/350921-twisting-door-align.html

[70chall440]

As I mentioned before it's pretty common on E bodies that have never had any work done.. Often if the body shop doesn't twist the door or cut the quarter & the rocker to bring them out to align properly what happens is the door gets aligned to the quarter, the front of the door gets moved out so the hood & fenders fit at the top & the bottom of the fender gets shimmed out to line up with the door.... But the rocker dives in at the front & doesn't match the fender or the door....

Warning Chevy content.... But same thing...
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/12-body-shop/350921-twisting-door-align.html

I completely believe you, I had to do this previously on another vehicle and intend to try this before cutting it apart.

[1 Wild R/T]

Good Luck, I hope the door twists without to much BFSI....  (Brute Force & Sheer Ignorance) 

[70chall440]

Good Luck, I hope the door twists without to much BFSI....  (Brute Force & Sheer Ignorance) 

Yea me too, I would rather twist the door than cut the quarter panel.

[METAL BEE 68]

Just fill it with a gallon of bondo.

[jimynick]

Hold on. Twisting the door may help with the 1/4 alignment, but it sure as hell won't help with the door to body alignment. If the door fits the hole pretty good right now and the weatherstrips seal decently, you'll create the biggest wind whistle/water leak in the world by cranking the door away from the rocker and B pillar. Remember the golden rule about doing bodywork- "if it doesn't fit, why doesn't it fit and what do I need to do to make it fit". If, as you've said, you got the 1/4 in as tight to the B pillar as possible, then the only alternative is either move the B in or section the B with a pie shaped cut to bring it and the attached 1/4, back in. The 1/4 skin should be slap dab up against the inner flange of the B and if it is, then there's no other way around it. If you moved the complete B, you'll screw up the door/B seal. You've got the correct attitude and it sounds like you've also got the correct skill set, so have at 'er. Just my 
PS- look closer at your tape- that isn't a 1/4" offset, it's 3/8ths verging on 7/16ths and you won't get that by bending-anything. 

[rhamson]

It looks like the quarter panel flares out from the rocker in the picture. If the rocker lines up with the door no twisting the door will make this work as the door will be proud of the rocker at that point. I think you will have to bite the bullet and slice the quarter to move it in and then stitch weld it back into place. 

[rUNCHARGER]

How do the horizontal body lines line up? Check that and then lay a straight edge on the rocker panel. After that it will be obvious what has to be done. I never so much as tack welded quarters on without having the door on there.
First part of the procedure was rebuilding the door hinges and lining up the door perfectly with the original quarter before anything got cut off. But I realize you are just running behind and picking up the pieces now.

Sheldon

[70chall440]

I meant to come back to this and update, I got this sorted out. I would agree that the left rear quarter may not be perfect but for me it is good from my POV. Here are some pics of the results.