Opinions on rear quarter replacement

[Gary Schulz]

This is the result of a half days work. Thousands of light taps versus a few heavy hits and the results are decent (for an inexperienced body man like myself). I have the light situated to magnify the imperfections so it is easier for me to see what still needs work. I think I may be half way to getting this panel into an acceptable state thanks to your guidance...

Before-

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After much dolly work-

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I guess it really is possible to bring back seriously distorted panels but you can't rush it!

[jay weinstein]

Congratulations....almost there !!

[Peter Laidler]

+1 to Jay. You've done a good job there Gary

[MiNiKiN]

I would not have had a chance of doing such a great job* - well done Gary.

*because it's the wrong side - I cannot precisely hammer with my left hand I would have to bend over backwards...

[AndyPen]

Now those are the skills I said I didn't have Impressed

[Andrew1967]

I would not have had a chance of doing such a great job* - well done Gary.

*because it's the wrong side - I cannot precisely hammer with my left hand I would have to bend over backwards...

Must be why I thought it wouldn't be too bad to do .. being a lefty

Nice work Gary, you'll be pleased with the end result I'm sure.

[Gary Schulz]

Instead of starting yet another thread, do you need to use a spot welder on these flanges or can it be done by punching many small holes in the rear panel flange and then welding through the holes into the quarter panel flange (plug welding)? Spot welders are cheap but I am not sure if the electrodes are small enough to get into this tight space...

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[1071bob]

i bought a secondhand spot welder and made my own angled electrodes from some copper bar. The ones in the picture did all the external seams on my shell. The other bonus is that you can make the welds look like the original roller welded seams from the factory. And no grinding!

[Gary Schulz]

That looks wonderful. Yes, the thought of grinding all those welds afterward seems challenging. I will probably just go ahead and buy a cheap Chinese welder and take a crack at making up some electrodes then.

[MiNiKiN]

i bought a secondhand spot welder and made my own angled electrodes from some copper bar. The ones in the picture did all the external seams on my shell. The other bonus is that you can make the welds look like the original roller welded seams from the factory. And no grinding!

I got the same spot welder - it always cut out my EL circuit-breakers - both 230V and 16A/380V. In the end I re-routed the feed to my obsolete electric central heating to a 380V CEE-socket. This is fused with traditional 3x 50A fuses - now it works