I have a 95-Z that I'm replacing the quarter panel on. I have a small (very) air compressor and a air cut-off tool I bought. What would be the easiest way to remove the thing? or what is the usual way? I can see the seems or most of it, lol.

 

In order to properly remove the rear 1/4 panel you will need to buy a special drill bit that drills out spot welds. First find all the spot welds that hold the panel on and put a white dab of paint on them. then drill a 1/32 hole through them. Now, you need this special drill bit. it has a 1/32 needle in the center and a 1/4" hole bit around it. Place the needle in the small hole you drilled and start driling the 1/4" hole through the top layer. Do not drill through!!!!! you only want to drill out the panel your removing. Do this on all the spot welds. When all have been drilled, get a chisel and break the spot welds loose from the car. once the panel is removed, get a grinding wheel and clean off spots on the car where the panel was welded too. straighten any metal out if it was bent while removing the panel. Now place a spot of white paint in the same places on the new panel. drill out a 1/4" hole in those place and grind off the paint so the weld will stick. do this on both sides. Place the panel on the car and properly align it. This is a very critical point in the installation. If its not weled on right, the rest of the car will not go togehter right. Here is what I do. get a lot clamps and clamp it in place where it should go. Now reintall the tailight and shut the door. put the bumper back on amnd shut the hatch. If everything fits right then get some sheetmetal screws and screw the panel to the car in different places so it wont move around.( you may have to use screws instead on clamps if the clamps do not allow you to bolt on the other parts.) Start welding in different spots and check fitment as you go. Do not burn through the hole you drilled. If you do just make sure you put another weld on the side of it. Once its all welded then you can grind off any excess and do a little body work to hide the welds. you will also need to get some Seam Sealer and apply that where it was on the car when you started. mainly in the tract where the hatch sits. One other thing to remember, DO ALL THIS WORK WHILE THE CAR IS ON THE GROUND ANDNOT ON JACK STANDS. Hope this helps

 

Wow, not so sound mean, but you'll need more tools than that to do this repair. Quarter panel repairs can be very hard to do, I hope you've had some experience or a good friend around to help. Like bottledzr28 said, this repair is best done by going at the seams.

If you do have to cut it off, a cut-off wheel with a small air compressor will be a nightmare.

 

I forgot to ask: is the quarter on your 95z fiberglass or are they still metal that year?

 

all fbodies have steel 1/4 panels. The ones on the 4th gen are a lot easier to change since to dont have to cut into them where the ones on the 3rd gens meet the roof. You just remove the rear roof panel. Also, yes you will need alot more tools then I mentioned I just listed the basic steps involved and the major tools needed. Just dont use a 50lb hammer. hers is some tools that come to mind

safety goggles
chisel
ballpean hammer
clamps
grinder
drill with bits
various hand tools to remove parts
welder
welding helmet
FIRE EXTINGUSHER
5/16 wrench to dissconnect battery(very important)

and a few more that may be needed that I cant rememebr

 

yep, it's still metal. about 1/16 of an inch thick to be exact. Yeah well I have a 5 1/2 horse craftsman 50 gal. but no 220 circuit to power the damn thing. So i am going to use my generator and wire it to that. The gen has a place to hardwire a 220 circuit so I'll just do that. So that settles the no uumph factor.

Yep I've got experience, the last thing I have not done as far as body repair goes is the classic 1/4 panel swap. So Im fine. Hell i have half the car already dissasembled and ready for the 350 engine swap and body repair as well as adding my entertainment center. Im taking pics all the way for anybody who has wanted to do the swap but was afraid to attempt it.......

BUT the whole quarter is not damaged, just right before the whell well starts, so I want to do a 1/2 - 1/4 panel. I don't see removing a good quarter panel section for nothing, just replace the damaged part, or is that a loco idea?

Thanks for the help guys.
-David

 

send me a pic of the damage and I will tell you if its worth it to do a small repair. The downside to doing a small repair like thatis that you have to make a new pice fit perfect and not have any body work show through when your done.

 

Sorry, lol digi cam is down right now. Mostly the door pillar was hit. It took some damage when the door got totaled. The damage stops right about the middle of the wheel well. And the damage that stretches that far is small dents. Ill try to get the digi cam up tonight (buy a batt.) and take a pic and post it tonight. Thanks for the howto btw bottled..... lemme go to the store.


-David

 

Ok here it is, as you can see I have a crappy cam, er lol I mean as you can see the damage stops at the center well. The white line you see is the "boundary" of the damage. the rest of the panel is fine. and most of that damage next to the well is small dents. Whatcha think?

-David

 

TTT


Whatcha think bottled?

 

ouch, there is most likely damage to other parts under that panel, take it off, and go step by step and you should be ok if you are mechanically inclined and can keep track of what you are doing, cars are like puzzles.....just take you time and do it as the factory would and you should be fine, if you need a tool and don't have it, buy it, it will make it eaiser and will probably make the job come out better.

 

Dang that is some bad damage. Makes the rear quarter damage my car had look like a few dents There was a good rear quarter panel removal and instalitaion of a new one on 2 guys garage a while back. It was very informative. Good luck with this repair job.

 

That 1/4 panel has to be replaced. there is no way that that can be repaired. nor can it be cut out and replaced with another piece. the body work will never be perfect and the time spent doing the body work and welding and grinding will take longer then just replacing the whole panel. as for damage underneath, your gonna have to wait and see. i dont think there is anything behind the damage on that car. Your gonna have to remove the interior panels around there so that may give you a better look, Some advice, find as many fire retardent blankets as possible and cover up the interior while grinding and welding. Grinding sparks make a marks on glass and we all know what can happen with welding sparks on cloth.

 

The interior is already gutted out, No damage to anything else but the panel. I have examined the now bare floor pan and abso-lutely no waves or distortion. The door actually took most of the damage or "brunt" lol. I still feel fixing one weld would be better than ripping off a perfectly good panel, but I'll examine it and give it a go. It looks like I have to remove that piece that runs in front of the rear hatch to get the quarter off, that right? and if so, how do I take the damn thing off??

Thanks for the well wishes coupe.

-David

 

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