SO this has been a project i have been thinkin about for a while. It has some body damage on the rear quarter shown the rest of the car is straight. Now im not sure if this is a good or bad idear. but i was thinking of cutting the quarter out from beginning of damage on the side to the end on the rear of the car. Replacing it with another section from another car. Has anyone done anything like this, or this big of an area? Planned on makin this a track car, but am thinking about buying another body and swapping everything over. Feed back would be AWESOME.

 

I'm guessing the body would stay stiffer if you just pull all those dents and fill what's necessary (and it would probably be easier and cheaper, too), I would only cut out and replace the part on the corner of the back end since that would not pull well. I have not done body work yet though, those are just my thoughts.

 

People do that all the time, that is how body shops repair body damage when new panels are not available. Actually, they do the same thing when new panels are available, they weld the new panel in.

You will need to be very careful, tack the panel thoroughly before welding any seams, as the panel will warp otherwise.

After welding, grind the joint smooth and fill any small dimples with plastic filler.

(You might want to practice welding body tin on a jalopy a little bit first, as the first couple panels are tricky.)

There are many others here who have forgotten more about body work than I will ever know, but those are the basics.

Good luck to you in this project, I like to see RX7s restored instead of scrapped.

 

yea this will be a first for me too. I went and looked at the car today. Trying to figure out how im going to approach cutting the quarter out. I think for trying to "fix" the panel already on it, to get it close to what it should be is going to take ALOT of time and i fear way too much bondo (i dont want to put too much on in fear of cracking).

 

Dude you could totally just pull that **** out with a slidehammer...or beat it out from the inside...maybe?

 

yea i have tried a lil bit on the driver side panels. the bad part is getting way to the front of it with a hammer on the inside of the car, not enough room with all of the metal Crap on the inside to even swing the hammer. The rear part has the same problem except the sheet metal is pushed upward towards the glass, you really got to yank on it to open it up. so that part i dont see how i could hammer back down.

Slide hammers end up pulling alot of the dents outwards right? and then you have to hammer it in as close as you can get to a match to the rest of the car, then bondo over...I know there are slides that you drill into the metal and ends up leaving holes and then theres some you weld in and cut off that dont right? Seeing that i dont have welder at the moment, if i used a hammer that leaves holes, just bondo over?

 

Well, if pulling is a consideration, you'd probably have to fill whether you pull or use some other method. So, why not pull?

 

that is true....ehh eff it maybe i can try it and if all else fails swap it right? any suggestions on a slide hammer? ive already got body hammers ect.

 

Use a stud welder. Little gun that zaps a stud onto the panel, and you grab that with the slide hammer.

http://www.autobodystore.com/stud.shtml

My dad has one, and loves it. saves a lot of time.

 

which kit did he go with?

 

Im thinking of swinging by a local auto body place tommaro and get some pointers from a tech about how to go about it and recommendations of tools to use. Between the slide hammer and Stud welder. If anyone has used either or, which would you prefer? The stud welder doesnt leave holes which is pretty sick, but costs alot more. Are the holes left by a slide hammer something to really worry about? or is it just as easy to hammer in the upward face of the hole/bondo over....This is interesting cuz i was searching for threads on body work, and didnt really find a whole lot. Maybe this could save some 7's out there that were discarded because of body damage and such. Thanks for all the pointers!

 

This is an excellent website that may be able to help: www.autobody101.com/forums

 

thanks eric!

 

You need the slide hammer AND the stud welder. The slide hammer grabs onto the studs, and you pull it out by the stud. And check harbor freight or the like, thats where my dad got his, if Im not mistaken, and hes a cheap ***.