Patching Quarters Pt 2

Metal work has never been my forte. I have had some experience with it during my days spent in a transportation museum setting, but that was for industrial sized equipment. Very little was done for automobiles, as that was not the main focus of the site.

However, that being said, I did do some fiberglass work on my touring as the mounting brackets were not quite up to snuff. I did some lite brazing in brass as well on the body sill rockers.

In the case of my Centerdoor, two large patch panels were needed as previously discussed, where I drew out the replacements I needed done. Since I haven't welded in over 25 years, I decided to farm that out.

Above are the finished panels I farmed out. These quarter panels are a MUST SAVE item as they are not replicated by anyone, and finding decent original replacements would take forever (most likely resulting in a complete body purchase, which I do not need). These panels have original paint on them which will need to be taken off at some point and the metal prepared to accept new paint.

My decision to finish them out myself was solely monetary. Just patching these was insanely expensive.

So gathering my supplies, I went for it. I used 36 - 180 grit sanding disks, a cheese grater file, and Bondo body filler to achieve my results, having ground the welds and dollied the panels slightly to remove any glaring high spots.

Afterwards, I sprayed them with a sanding primer to keep to keep any bare metal left from flash rusting. Prior to this work, I had drilled nailing holes in the bottom of each panel for attachment to the SILLS.

Work on the car is slowly progressing. The next metal body work that will need to be completed is rebuilding/patching of the rear tub for the car. It is heavily damaged from rot on the driver's back corner and along the nailing area at the bottom. I will post pictures of the needed repairs on a future post.

More to Come...