rear panels...
 

is the back section of the car (sheet metal) one huge piece? or is it several pieces joined together some how... because my back driver side was smashed in and the guy at the body shop did a SHITTY job bondo-ing it... i just wanted to know what the chance of replacing that back panel... but i don't want to rip apart the WHOLE back section of the car because of a 2'x2' area.

i have the fast & fours videos and it showes a shop in ausie where a guy is replacing the rear 1/4
unfortunatly he had to cut the section off a doner car and weld it on the car being worked on,
so to answer your question the best i can,.
bondo is the cheapest easiest way out,
to do the job he was doing it looked pretty expensive,
i would only look into it if my car was at least worth 3,000 +

i just hate the paint they used... it is 100% orignial paint except for this really "shiny" space in the back... and when you rub your hand across it, the grain goes from rough (orig) to smooth (new).

Not to mention that the clear coat is starting to crack around the "edges" of where they stopped.

just sounds like you need to do some sanding and get a new paint job,
the whole car that is,
so it all matches
you would need to paint it if you replaced a piece in the rear anyway

I know you probably don't want to hear this, but you are in Texas. Completely straight, rust-free cars can easily be found that are body only with expired engines for as little as $300. Just get the best one, tow it to MAACO for a cheap paint job before you transplant the engine. That way the paint will be very thorough since you'll have stripped the car completely down prior to towing it there including pulling the engine. With you and your buddies doing the labor, your out-of-pocket expenses will still be around $800 for a car that looks new and has your drive train in it. Get a 50 shot of juice and it'll be fast as well, but be sure you upgrade your fuel pump first or you'll be looking for a new engine next....:cool:

the whole back end is one piece.. there is a guy on this forum (i donot remember who though) who actually split the car in half and replaced the back end with one from a different one.

your best bet would probably do like v8kilr said, and redo it

Yea... I am going to the import junk yard in a few days to see about pulling some parts/cars/etc... :)

This is what a unibody car is... The body is the frame, hence they are all one part in the rear for strength.

Unfortunately, dents in the rear are a pain to deal with.

A lot of low class body guys just fill the dent with bondo and paint.

The higher skilled, more preferred, and proper, but also more expensive way is to use a slide hammer and pull the dents out. It involves drilling into the body panel and is quite time consuming, but in the end, looks much better than bondo.

Body work like that takes lots of experience and patience. It is not for the home car enthusiast, unfortunately.

i have a big ass dend in the rear driver side corner.. horrible place to try to fix. chances are that i am not going to have the money to get it pulled, since i also want ot paint the seven, so bondo it is for me... oh well.. as long as they do a good job, it will still look good

Actually, the bodywork in the rear isn't one big piece.

When I took my car in to have it looked at for an estimate the shop said they can get the rear quarter, and actually replace it.

You can see the seam on mine cuz part of the seam has come apart due to the impact.


I would just have your car repainted if that's the only problem you're having... I happen to have a construction-sign-pole shaped dent in my driver's rear quarter, and am looking at about 2grand to fix that w/ labor and paint and all.

ugh

--matt

i can get all of my body work done (bondo for the big dent, and a little pulling on smaller stuff) for about 300..
so that is my plan.. then i will probably bring the car down to the local community college and have their auto paint class paint it for free. well not quite free, i would have to pay for materials, but that would be a hell of a lot cheaper than most places