Lower Rear Quarter Patch Repair

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adamm

adamm

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Hello Everyone,

I'm delving into the final body repair on my 74 Dart Sport and am hoping for a little direction from the experienced.

I have cut out a section of my rear lower quarters just in front of the rear tire where there was some substatial rot. I'm certain I will need to cut out a bit more around the edges near the wheel well, but other than that I feel like the remaining sheet metal is solid. I also plan to drill out the spot welds on the seam at bottom and removing everything below the hole I cut.

I've searched around for patches, but was not able to find anything other than full rear quarters which is overkill.

Does anyone know if there are patches available to purchase that I missed, or will this require a donor?

Pictures attached (one from the drivers side, one from the passenger side), and thanks in advance for any help.

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adamm said:
Hello Everyone,

I'm delving into the final body repair on my 74 Dart Sport and am hoping for a little direction from the experienced.

I have cut out a section of my rear lower quarters just in front of the rear tire where there was some substatial rot. I'm certain I will need to cut out a bit more around the edges near the wheel well, but other than that I feel like the remaining sheet metal is solid. I also plan to drill out the spot welds on the seam at bottom and removing everything below the hole I cut.

I've searched around for patches, but was not able to find anything other than full rear quarters which is overkill.

Does anyone know if there are patches available to purchase that I missed, or will this require a donor?

Pictures attached (one from the drivers side, one from the passenger side), and thanks in advance for any help.

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AMD makes the patches you need --- Quarter Panel Patches | AMD 755-1370-1L ---- I used these to repair my 75 Dart Sport using panel adhesive. Worked out great for me.
 
Might wanna order a couple qtr skins and use what you need, think they run around $270 each. Those areas will be tough to fab up out of sheet metal, but you could use some of the extra material from the skins to fabricate up those inner rockers that look like they are toast. Your gonna want to keep opening up those quarters until you get to solid metal, looks like you may need a lot more of the skin than you think. Piece of cake, you can do it!
 
Thanks for the replies. I did see AMD's rear quarter skins but was hoping to find a solution that's a bit lighter on the wallet.

Good catch on the inner rockers too... I haven't dug into how much damage is there yet. Probably a bit shy about how much I'm going to have to cut out. I suppose it's time to do some research.
 
After digging in a bit more on the drivers side, I see that I'll need a full rear quarter skin at least. Looks like a prior owner just threw body filler over existing damage instead of replacing. Best to just start clean on this side.

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The passenger side is a lot better off. The rear lower quarter was replaced (albeit a bit ugly), and the only problem areas I could find can be fixed with a good patch, or at least that's what I hope. I've never done anything like this before, but I'm a bit excited to give it a try.

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Got the car all leveled off last night, damn near perfect. Got pretty lucky, only had to use 1 shim on the passenger side otherwise the jack stands worked out to be just the right height.
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If you have access to a decent Mig welder and set it up to use .023 wire then practice on some scrap metal you will be fine! Its probably going to save you a ton of time to order a outer rocker and maybe an outer wheel well for the driverside as having those pieces in place and solid will make the qtr panel repair go much smoother.
 
RIBOATSERVICES said:
If you have access to a decent Mig welder and set it up to use .023 wire then practice on some scrap metal you will be fine! Its probably going to save you a ton of time to order a outer rocker and maybe an outer wheel well for the driverside as having those pieces in place and solid will make the qtr panel repair go much smoother.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip! I plan to cut out the cancer and inspect what's behind before placing an order. I'll take a close look at the outer rocker and wheel well to. Appreciate the help.
 
Question: Is it OK to cut out the bad spots prior to having my replacement sheet metal on hand, or is it easier to wait until I've received the new parts?

I'm wondering how difficult it would be to line everything up with quasi-large sections of the body removed.
 
adamm said:
Question: Is it OK to cut out the bad spots prior to having my replacement sheet metal on hand, or is it easier to wait until I've received the new parts?

I'm wondering how difficult it would be to line everything up with quasi-large sections of the body removed.
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Not much harm in cutting off the rot areas on the quarters, you need to know if you need a skin or complete qtr. It will help a lot if you make sure that the doors and trunk lid are lined up as close to perfect with the qtr panels before cutting big pieces off, it will help you get the new metal lined up.
 
Decided to weld in my subframe connectors before cutting out the quarters. Had them now for about 7 years, so it was a good feeling to check off another box on the project list.

I put a plug weld on each side and the bottom where the subframe connector meets the rear frame rail for added strength.


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After cutting away the rot, the drivers side isn't too bad, at least not anything that is gonna scare me off.

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Passenger side turned out to be worse off. I'll have to replace the entire length of the rocker too.

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RIBOATSERVICES said:
One piece at a time !
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Absolutely! I'm gonna tackle the drivers side first since it looks better off. Hoping to learn enough so when I move to the passenger side I have a good process in place.

Now to scrounge around for some outer rocker and rear quarter patches. Maybe ill get lucky and find some second hand. Wanted section here I come.
 
Got some time in the garage today and started cutting out the rot on the outer rocker. Found that the inner rocker had a bad spot too, so I cut out a small patch from some 16g scrap I had sitting around.

After the grinder and wire wheel it don't look half bad.

Still have to explore the wheel well yet and see if anything needs to be replaced.

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Does anyone think there would be an issue with cutting out the passenger side rocker, considering i'm supporting the car at 3 points each side (front tire, trans x member, rear shock plate) and have subframe connectors in?

I can prep faster than I can fix and have a day off tomoorrow.
 
adamm said:
Does anyone think there would be an issue with cutting out the passenger side rocker, considering i'm supporting the car at 3 points each side (front tire, trans x member, rear shock plate) and have subframe connectors in?

I can prep faster than I can fix and have a day off tomoorrow.
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Should be fine. Keep the door on, and closed. You'll know if it moves right away, and can support accordingly
 
Got an solid outer rocker patch in the mail the other day (thanks tony), a little cutting, a little massaging, and it seems to fit well. Not bad for a first timer, but it definitely took me awhile. Clean up next.

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