Need some guidance on rear qtr work

[Jocigar]

Hey guys, pulled this cuda out of 15 year hibernation   

Drivetrain has been rebuilt and waiting.
floors and trunk were also done. 

I am left with rear quarters that are not that bad but I want to finsih the job doing things right.  pics are not great...tell me what you think; patch, skin, full qtr?

thanks 

[Challenger III]

Looks like it needs a patch (from what I can tell from here).  How much mud is on that quarter? How does it look from inside the trunk?

[Jocigar]

Drivers side has a big dent at tail end.

The passenger side has had damage at tail end, since I can see some heavy bondo.

Thanks!

[Challenger III]

Drivers side has a big dent at tail end.

The passenger side has had damage at tail end, since I can see some heavy bondo.

Thanks!

 
In my opinion, if you can bang the dents out to where you would only need a thin layer of filler, do that. Otherwise, I would patch the affected area, or (if the whole quarter needs quite a bit of work) replace the skin. It all depends on how much work to do one over the other (and your ability). 

[Jocigar]

Reading some of the posts, it has been repeated to keep as much of the original metal as possible.   

Thinking you may be right... between parts and labor to replace, it may be worth while making small sheetmetal patches and knocking out the dents since rot looks minimal.   

I will strip the paint and see what is left. (using 3M 50 grit bristle brush to strip/prep metal, works great! but they wear out fast at $30 each)

THanks again

[Jocigar]

Adding some pictures; 

rear corrosion around window lip.   what to do?  back it up with a metal strip and weld -or- cut it out and try to make patch?? 

[Challenger III]

Cut away to good solid metal and patch. Make paper templates for complicated shapes. Start with the simple ones and work your way up to the more challenging ones. It will become second nature with a little time. 

[Jocigar]

Thanks, I could never imagine doing the work you have done on your car   

Guess I need to figure out what gauge steel to use before I dive in.

[Challenger III]

I'm using 20 gauge for the body panels, 18 for structural pieces (inner roof structure, rockers), and 14 for frame rail repair and crossmember. The factory used 18 or 16 (trying to remember) on the subframe but I went a little heavier.

[Cooter]

Not bustin' balls or anything as Mike is WAY better at metal work than I, but from what I can see on the right side rear quarter shot, the bodyline kinda gets faint right over the fender lip....Looks like you might need to replace the entire quarter panel....


You will never know what's hiding until you pull the quarter panel off. I can bet you need more metal behind....

[Jocigar]

Thanks cooter, 

I plan on stripping the quarters and posting new picture soon to get some advise.   

I purchased skins a long time ago, if needed... I'm just affraid they are not as good as todays offerings.  (not even sure who made them)

[jimynick]

If your body gaps are good and the edges are too, then I'd skin the 1/4s, especially as you have the panels now. Patching and bumping and grinding are OK if your bodywork skills are up to it, but you can make a mess, fast, if they're not. There's a few threads here that show how others have done it and it's the old measure twice and cut once after that. Good luck. 

[Jocigar]

Ok I had a better look and both sides have rot on the lower rear section.  one side has a lot of filler work and the other has a good size dent at the top of the panel.

At this point I am considering lower patch or entire skin, not full quarters do to the work involved.   Some skins wrap around the top edge other don't.   

Here is picture of label on my old skins (someone ID the manf?), they wrap around top edge but seem thin... I am sure they are made better now days.  ( I may save these for my other two project cars and get new ones for this car since it's a V code.

[06Daytona]

Those look like the labels on my Goodmark stuff, but I'm not absolutely positive on that

[mopar12372]

thats good mark stuff . in myop if looks easier to do a full quarter panel then to do the patch .