here we go! quarter panel replacement (aka what have i gotten myself into)

[sinistral]

decided to jump in the deep end... (never done any body work before).

maybe i'll start a build thread, even if just for me, since this is just one piece of the puzzle.

donor quarter skinned, tomorrow i cut the wagon -- point of no return!

wish me luck... thank god for youtube!

[87gtVIC]

Good luck man. I keep stalling on doing this to the escort. I hope it works out for you.

[mcninetyone]

May the Force be with you!

[84GrandMarquis]

Good luck, it going to look great. Just wondering, where you got a replacement panel, a junk yard car and you prepped it or did you buy it from a yard already ready for install and paint? Is the current panel to far gone to fix?

[jaywish]

you are replacing the outer skin yes?

Very nice work.

[sinistral]

yep, found a colony park in the boneyard a while back and went to town w/ a sawzall... i wish it were in better shape, but these don't come up very often 'round these parts anyway so i had to take what i could get. the original panel was crumpled and then repaired poorly (before i bought it).

yes, leaving the internal structure and just swapping skins. that's a lot of spot welds to drill out!

made good progress today, you can see the new panel mocked up w/ clamps. now comes the hard part -- putting it back together. i'm a total newb w/ a welder, and of course sheet metal isn't too forgiving.

i'm not looking for a 100 point restoration, just making it look better than it was.

[sinistral]

final fitment complete... ready for welding (which i wisely determined i needed to have someone else do after destroying a bunch of practice sheet metal scraps with the MIG welder).

[jaywish]

Yes it is hard with a mig.

[rellik god]

should spray weld thru primer on all spot welds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKyu3...yer_detailpage

[sinistral]

should spray weld thru primer on all spot welds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKyu3...yer_detailpage

thanks, did this step tonight...

now comes the "finesse" part, grinding down welds and trying my hand at body filler.

hope to get some primer on before winter really sets in!

[87gtVIC]

If you can avoid submitting your primer spots to moisture (basically don't put the car outside in the elements when in primer) it will soak up all the moisture right through itself and fuck up everything underneath.

[Mr Bean]

If you can avoid submitting your primer spots to moisture (basically don't put the car outside in the elements when in primer) it will soak up all the moisture right through itself and fuck up everything underneath.

That can happen even when the car is sitting in the garage if you live in a moist climate. Primer will absorb moisture from the air and fuck up the metal. I would spray primer sealer on there as soon as possible to prevent the rust.

[89 Grand Marq]

I would glue it on

[CheeseSteakJim]

I would glue it on

well, you'd be wrong to do that

[rellik god]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=AXrGJ_D4CWg still have to weld some spots