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April 17, 2005
4.5 Hours

Quarter Panel Patching

Today I wanted to do something other than chase rust holes in the trunk floor, so I decided to repair one of the biggest issues facing me, and a job I've been putting off for a while: the passenger's side quarter panel where the fender bolts on. Both the inner fender and the outer edge of the quarter panel that folds over it were rusted through in multiple places. What a mess! So today I cut it all out.

I cut out both the inner and outer fender. I was careful to leave the
factory fold on the quarter panel so the fender will fit without
any problems.

The inner fender well was also rotted out so I cut it along the crease
because it's easier to grind a corner into shape than a flat panel.

This particular area of the body is a sandwich of the inner and outer panels spot-welded together. The outer panel curves over the inner panel, forming a flat flange to which the rear fenders are bolted. I made a patch for the inner fender first, making sure to cut a clean radius along the top edge, as it may be visible from inside the trunk. It's important to be neat and authentic-looking. Once I was satisfied with the panel's fit, I welded it in place. Then I ground down the weld seam until I felt it would not interfere with the outer panel. I didn't worry too much about making it perfect (though it was darned good!) because it would be hidden by the outer panel.

Red outline is the new inner fender patch.

Seam at the corner (arrows) makes it easier to grind it smooth. If you look
carefully, you can see the rust line where the original outer panel
overlapped the inner panel underneath the corner.

Then I made the outer panel, which was very challenging. Not only was it critical to have a good fit so the weld would be strong and easy to hide, the folded lip had to fit tightly to the inner fender. Since it is curved, it tends to curve the panel as it curls under, so I had to stretch the metal to get it to fit. I added 1/2" to the patch that would become the folded portion, then carefully hammered a slight fold into it using my trusty bench vise with a body dolly chucked into it. Once it was close, I tacked one end of the patch into place. Of course, after hammering the fold into the metal, it wasn't flat any more and tended to curve away from the body (sorry I don't have more photos, but I was "in the zone" and didn't stop often enough to take them). So I moved along the seam, holding it flush with the body, tacking it, then moving to the next one. Eventually it was nice and flat and pretty close to the right shape.

Outer patch was close to the right shape, but the inner edge
needed to be fitted more closely to the inner fender (arrows).

To get the folded edge to fit more closely to the inner fender, I simply took a hammer and my "comma" dolly and hammered it flat. It fit very nicely once it was all said and done.

Once it was welded into place, it fit snugly against the inner fender.
A little seam sealer will prevent problems in the future. Note the
spot-welds holding the inner fender to the outer quarter panel skin.
I sprayed a dose of Picklex-20 between the two layers of metal to
ward off rust in the future (that's what you see dripping in the picture).

With some grinding, the repair should be virtually undetectable. I'll use the fender to re-drill the mounting holes and add the blind nuts to the inner panels later. One of the worst repairs turned out to be a pleasurable way to spend an afternoon and my best patch yet.

My nicest work yet. This is the first repair that I feels is of acceptable
quality without a lot of extra labor after-the-fact.

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E-mail me at toolman8@sbcglobal.net

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Last modified on 04/19/2005

Thanks, Fidget!