I have a buddy that wants me to help him with this and he doesnt seem to have a good way of doing it so i was wondering how some of you guys would go about it and how it is supposed to be done?

Thanks
~Luke

 

air chisle, sawzal

 

sawzal..bwahahahaha. Or just a cutting wheel.

 

Plazma Cutter!!!!!!! :-)

 

drill out all the spot welds, cut the pillar and the rocker panel using a cut off wheel. do not use a sawzall or air chisel.

 

Any hints on how to find these spot welds?. it seems to be connected all the way around so i thought i would have to just cut it off. if i drill all these out and cut at the side skirt and b pillar is will come off?

 

use a sanding disc to remove the seam sealer and paint from where the quarter panel skin bonds to the wheel welds, under the hatch, around the tail light, etc.

 

I need to replace the 1/4 on my Fd as well. Do any of you work at a body shop for a living??

I was already planning on doing the spot-weld drill, and cut-off at the b-pillar braze.

Any more info??

Or links on how to do body repair the right way??

Do most body shops have a way to do the brazing??

 

Be extreamly careful when using heat on body pannels. The sheetmetal on cars is not thick enough like it once was to stand up to high heat. Only spot welds and mig welds no longer than 1" at a time should be used.

 

Im doing a similar project tommorow, only this car is desposable Long live the Geo Metro XFI!

I talked to a few body shop people and they all gave me the same advice when rewelding on my new 1/4 panel.

Tack it up, and then move down 2 inches, tack it again, move down tack etc etc untill you go all the way around. Then go back to the first tack, and tack directly next to it, then move to the next tack, directly next to it again, etc until you go all the way around. Repeat this till you have a solid weld all the way around

If you run a long bead the metal will expand and shrink, he explained he's seen attempts that have left 2"+ waves in the new metal, not cheap to fix

Ill take pics of my geo as i go, see how it works out. Illl be using a 110 Mig hobby welder, supptoto weld upto 3/16's a single pass, well see how it goes

-Jacob

 

i worked in a body shop for 3 years, i'm a cable guy now

most shops don't do brazing, they spot weld quarter panel under the pillar where the joint is going to be made, then you grind down the welds and apply a thin coat of body filler

 

ok... how would you do this: I have seen replacement rear 1/4 panels, 30 mm. wider, but they are made out of fiberglass, I do not want them to be rivited on and just put over the original sheet metal, but how else could you do it? its on an FC. aitracing.com

 

those fiberglass rear quarter panels have to be rivited or glued on. you can use dura mix or other high strenght adhesives. you cannot cut the oem steel panels off and install a fiberglass fender on a unibody car. the frame will flex and crack where you join the fiberglass to the pillar or rocker panel.

you can fill expanding foam under the fiberglass quarterpanel to make it more solid, these panels are thin and designed to me molded on using reinforced fiberglass body filler