Replacing rear 1/4s?

85 Turbo Bird · Jun 17, 2006

What does it take to replace the rear quater panels on a 68?
I recently saw an ad for a 68 Coupe that looks like it needs a new rear bumper and passenger rear quarter panel and wanted to know if it's even worth considering. I have yet to work on body panels other than bolt on parts so doing it myself is probably a no go. Does it require welding? How much would it cost to farm that out to a shop?

Thanks for any help!

Here's pics of the car that show the damage.

Ronstang · Jun 17, 2006

It definitley requires welding and also the ablility to work with and massage metal to get it to do what you want it to do. It is rather involved and takes some knowledge to do properly but it is not out of the realm of abilities for the home restorer. I have done several myself. If you don't know how to weld and have never worked with metal it might be too much for you. Only you can determine that.

If you take it to a body shop it is going to cost in the neighborhood of $1K a quarter if you pick a quality shop.

Red5oh · Jun 17, 2006

You can check out what it took for the replacement of mine at my cardomain site... feel free to ask questions when you read it...

LUCAFU1 · Jun 17, 2006

those dont look bad enough to me. i would pull the dents out and then do some body work. unless im missing something

85 Turbo Bird · Jun 18, 2006

Thanks everyone! I don't know the extent of the damage or anything other than the pics. How large/deep of a dent would be able to be pulled out?

I think that the body work would be fun to do but not on my first project car... let's get one in the bag before I tackle too much.

dennis112 · Jun 18, 2006

I would also look for frame damage since it was hit from behind. Something else on the passenger side is probably out of wack.

67Dylan · Jun 18, 2006

Red5oh said:
You can check out what it took for the replacement of mine at my cardomain site... feel free to ask questions when you read it...

That is one restod car!! I read thru and saw all the work accomplished; you've motivated me!

Turbo Bird, projects are always fun and challenging... otherwise why would it be called a project . Also, time for more tools to help finish the project, which is always a good thing. I don't think those 1/4's need replacing either. But as pointed out, check for damage elsewhere.

Red5oh · Jun 18, 2006

67Dylan said:
That is one restod car!! I read thru and saw all the work accomplished; you've motivated me!

I am glad... sometimes I need motivation too. I just wish I could finish it but having a family take priority. I think I might be able to have it in paint by the middle of next month... or that is the plan for now.

10secgoal · Jun 18, 2006

LUCAFU1 said:
those dont look bad enough to me. i would pull the dents out and then do some body work. unless im missing something

Yeah, unless there is a ton of rust we can't see. get a 2X4 and hammer. Let them do the talking. That's not bad at all. Lools ike the the lips and everything are fine. Easy dent fix.

pimpstang18 · Jun 18, 2006

10secgoal said:
Yeah, unless there is a ton of rust we can't see. get a 2X4 and hammer. Let them do the talking. That's not bad at all. Lools ike the the lips and everything are fine. Easy dent fix.

i agree, pound it out if you can..we're going through the same thing with a '68me and my buddy are restoreing, except we've got rust on the quarter so it needs to be replaced. apparenly it's a pretty in depth job, cutting, welding, and making it look good, luckily his dad has done this before so we've got some professional help. i'll let you know how it goes, should be done next weekend, we just got the new quarter in to the shop.

85 Turbo Bird · Jun 19, 2006

thanks again you all!

I had thought about the possible frame damage but I didn't ask about that for some reason (probably distracted since I posted at work ) And believe me, I know about a "project" and I'm going to be diving into this head first. Let's hope it goes well

I will try and look at it or at least get more pictures soon.

1320stang · Jun 19, 2006

After a hit like that, I see no bondo popping out of place, nor any rust holes appearing because of the damage. I think that car has a date with a frame machine (the door is against the quarter), but that the dents can be hammered out, but I think it'd need to be done while on the frame machine, not beforehand. If you tried to hammer them before straightening the frame, you'd end up doing more work on them afterwords.

I'd look up under the car at the floor and the front and rear torque boxes, check the cowl for rust, the rears of the front fenders, etc. If that is a pretty rust free car (it is from Cali) and the price is pretty decent, I'd say it's a good project candidate. The rear valance is a bolt on, it may need a taillight panel, but maybe not after some frame pulling and some hammer and dolly work.

I'd farm out the frame pulling and the major dent pulling and then go buy you a $30 set of hammers and dollys and go buy a $15 metel working book from Barnes and Noble, or free from your local library. Practice on that rear valance.

I don't think any quarter replacing is necessary. If the car is pretty rust free, I'd buy it.

danny clemens · Jun 19, 2006

I've replaced both rear quarters, outer wheelhouses and tailight panel on my son's Mustang. I read how to articles and went to work. It was time consuming but not beyond the ability of an average person who has never done it before. That being said I agree with the others that think that quarter can be saved. That quarter would be a good candidate for using a slapping spoon on I believe. The pros say they're really good at getting a lot of shape back without stretching the metal any more. Do a search for them at www.hotrodders.com . I've never used one but plan on using one soon. You can buy one but a lot of guys make them out of a rear leaf spring. That's what I'm going to do. The car looks like a good candidate for restoration but you can't always tell by pictures. Good luck.

geostang351 · Jun 20, 2006

I am in the process of doing my brother 1/4's and its not to bad, just takes time. I still don;t know what to do with the C-pillar seam that originally used lead. Any ideas here? IT would require a lot of b o n d o (thick) if used.

danny clemens · Jun 20, 2006

geostang351 said:
I am in the process of doing my brother 1/4's and its not to bad, just takes time. I still don;t know what to do with the C-pillar seam that originally used lead. Any ideas here? IT would require a lot of b o n d o (thick) if used.

On my son's car someone recomended kitty hair or kitten hair (don't remember the exact name but that is close. I think it was made by Bondo but has fiberglass in it. If I remember right I bought it at Wal Mart. It will have to be as thick as the lead. That's been about 10 years ago and it's still holding very well. If I did it again today I would go to a paint shop and ask them what was best.

Replacing rear 1/4s?

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