Help me replace my 1/4 panel

Zero_chance said:

Looking very good. Just goes to show everyone here that said leave it to a professional that this CAN be done without dropping a grand for a shop to do it. If youre looking for good auto body supplies, go to eastwoodco.com and check out their supplies. They have everything youll need. Good luck, keep the updates coming.

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almost done,my back hurts.


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it's done.
here are some pics of the install.
after i clamped the panel into place,i started welding it in at the rear.
first the lower part that is hidden behind the bumper.



next behind the tail light


and along the top in the trunk


than i moved to the front,near the door.


cleaning it off with a wire wheel as i went along.


along the bottom


in this pic,at the bottom of the panel.see the two bolts sticking out?i used those to hold the bottom in place against the body so i can weld it in.
had to get inside the car to weld it in.
just below the seat belt,hidden behind the plastic panel,there is a plastic film covering the access hole.


when i was done welding,i ground them down with my cut off wheel.
View attachment 267076

next i done the wheel well,but i did'nt get any pics

this i saved for last.this is the top of the panel that is hidden behind the sail panel.
i MAY have trimmed a little too much off,i was a little worried.
was not sure if i would be able to join the two panels without warping them.


i went slow and got it going.


i know it dont look pretty,but it got the job done.it'll be hidden anyways.


after everything cooled,i wire brushed,and cleaned of all the welds.
now it's time to seal everything up.
heres what i used.




here i also sealed it on the back side of the panel,from under the wheel well,also along the edge of the wheel well.



i let everything dry,than cleaned it off and was ready to primer.
i taped everything off to protect from over-spray.



after it dried,i started to re-assemble the car.





this is where saturday night ended.
i got all the outside body panels back togeather,just so i could drive it home.
the inside was still in shambles.

sunday.
i ran out of primer the night before.went to the parts store,but they were out of black so i had to settle for gray.
taped everything off again and primered it up.
vacuumed up the interior,armor all'ed,and installed everything.

i did'nt get a chance to was the car yet.i'm letting the sealer dry.

so...here it is pretty much done.i'll wash it later this week.
i gotta say,i'm very suprised with the result.
half way through,i got really concerned.it looked like ALOT of work,i thought about taking it to a shop to have it done.
in the end,i just did what i've always done.
i just put my head down and plowed through it

total cost came in around $600-$700.
the car was down for two weeks,but i was not able to work on it every day.so it would have taken a week straight to get it done.

enough talk,here's the pics






my poor wheel

Hell yeah! Awesome job man

Very good work man, I'm impressed! I'm gonna study this thread religiously and MAYBE swap a 99 body onto my car.