Body panel replacement

[dart swanger]

I'm getting quarter skins, trunk extensions, outer wheel houses and outer rockers replaced. Can I do these repair while on a rotisserie? Or do I have to put it on jack stands.

 

[lenky1]

I did mine on jack stands. U want it completely secure level and square. any kind of body flex and ur gonna have major fitment issues when reassembling. my suggestion is if your gonna do it on a rotisserie u better add cross bracing in the door jambs and wherever else it may flex or sag

 

[Demonic]

Not on a rotisserie. Our old cars flex a bit. Jack one up at the center of the K frame with a tape measure from the center of the core support to the firewall. It might change. Best to set it level and square the rockers w the floor. Take measurements first. You need a point of reference when you replace several panels. Once you get them welded in say, 75%, you can move to a rotisserie to get the hard to reach spots.

 

[dart swanger]

Thanks for the replies. Gonna set her down on some jack stands.

 

[Bodyperson]

I suppose you could do it on a rotisserie. Just gonna need some way to support the center section. You will have to support the front and rear if you do it on the floor with jack stands too. Everything stems from the center section. Think of the car as three sections. The center section needs to be parallel with itself from side to side and square. (rocker panels). You build from there. Add the front section and the rear section by making those panels fit the center section.

 

[azaustin]

I’d like to add my thanks to the responses to this post. I’m at the point of replacing the full quarters on both sides of my 65 Dart coupe. Yesterday I finally got the trunk surround, including the lower rear window frame, from my donor car welded on. I was thinking of putting it on my rotisserie to do the quarters, but wasn’t sure if I should. Now I definitely will wait until I have the quarters on. After replacing the floor pans I welded a cross brace across to each door jamb with a triangular “V” attached to the top of the driveshaft hump. I also used braces from the hinge mounts to the latch to keep things square that way. So far, so good. When I replaced a section of the driver’s side rear sub-frame I made jigs that ran between each spring perch, making sure that the center-to-center distance matched the specs on my factory frame chart. Interestingly enough, the passenger’s side perch was 3/16” short from the factory. Thanks again for the informative responses. I’m not a body guy, so I’m always glad for any help I can get.