Body Repair - Replacing the Quarter Panel
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I knew right from the
beginning that the passenger quarter panel had some bondo in it. It turned out
that there was a lot more than expected. After chipping away some of it, the
extent of the damage was obvious: the quarter had been hit,
then a new section had been braised in. But the braising had seriously warped
the rest of the quarter. Tons of bondo had been applied to cover up the
problem. It became obvious that the whole quarter needed replacement. A salvage
yard near Sacramento, CA had a full two door hardtop quarter that was mostly
rust free. The new quarter arrived by truck several weeks later.
Left: Passenger quarter panel has been removed, exposing quarter window
mechanism. |
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Left: The old quarter, headed for the
trash. Note area in center where bondo was chiseled away, exposing major
brazing repair.
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| Right: Quarter panel from Sacramento welded
in place. Photo shot thru the open driver's door of the 59 Dodge convertible. |
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| Body Repair - Replacing the Trunk Floor |
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Left: No, I'm not all scrunched up in the trunk ! The old trunk floor
has already been removed and I'm sitting on a seat, wire wheeling some metal
before dropping the replacement floor into place and welding it in.
Below: Rust free trunk floor now welded in place. |
The trunk floor had been popriveted together from various pieces of metal and
then covered with lots of undercoating. After removing that mess, I welded in
a rust-free trunk floor from a 57 Plymouth that was found in a salvage
yard in eastern Massachusetts.In this part of the country, inner sheet metal on
these cars is usually rusted out. The car that donated this trunk was nose down
in an embankment, preserving the trunk floor from rusting out. |
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