What would you do?

-
Garry in AZ

Garry in AZ

Building a 9 second Valiant
Joined
Jul 13, 2017
Messages
384
Reaction score
517
Location
Mesa, AZ
Okay... the rear floor and inner fenderwells are getting cut out for my backhalf kit soon... thereby providing lots of easy access to the back side of most of the sheetmetal, so I thought it would be a good time to do some badly needed bodywork. In the attached photo you can see the result of someones very poor attempt to fix the front section of the rear quarter panel. This was filled in with about an inch of bodyfiller when I bought the car, but you could see there were issues...
So, I can try to fix this several different ways. I refuse to take this to anyone else for repair, I insist on doing it myself, but I do have some experience in metalshaping and finishing. A replacement quarter panel is not available. (Valiant 2 door post, not a Dart)
1. I have body hammers, a stud gun, a slide hammer and a lot of patience....
2. Or I could simply cut out the damaged area, straighten and metalfinish it on the bench and weld it back in...
3. Or I could cut the similarly shaped piece from the rear door of another Valiant and weld that in.
Or...???

What would you do?

20171222_174543 (Medium).jpg
 
Hammer and doily, and shrink it, and A LOT of patience

Good luck!
 
If I could get a good deal on a replacement piece I would go for it. Much less work and less time, less headache, less body work and you'll have perfect body lines. If you can get a section of the door jam with fender /quarter section would make it even better!!
 
I think I would get a panel from another car or rear door like you said, and splice it into place. You'd be hours and hours ahead and would need a lot less filler in the end. Cutting that section out and trying to straighten it would be huge time suck. I love fixing things myself, but I usually try to find the easiest way that will give a good result and in this case, that section would be going into the scrap bin.
 
I would really consider cutting a section out of another car.
You are in AZ finding rust-free sheetmetal should not be that hard.
 
There's a guy here on FABO that's from AZ that has tons of parts/cars. Barracudakid???
 
I've done some stupid stuff with filler. Never had a failure with plastic filler. Rough it up good. I'd be more concerned about getting the paint to stick.
 
Man, you can fix anything. The biggest reason anyone replaces sheet metal is to save time and or labor cost. If you have enough time and you know how to do it, go for it! You will be rewarded in the end with a great sense of accomplishment and a fixed hunk of quarter panel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top