Anyone know where to get panels for the quarters for these cars and if not how about the entire rear quarter? GM no longer sells these.

 

Year One.

 

Called them today, no longer sell them even thou listed on website. They dont because GM doesnt- Thanks for the reply

 

Maybe a parts car would be your best bet then.

 

classic industries

 

Thank You ,
Save me lots of money as they have skins for $99 instead of entire quarters for 509.00, the skin is all I need!! Thanks all!!!

http://www.classicindustries.com/pdf...components.pdf

http://www.classicindustries.com/pdf...components.pdf

The skin will elimate all rust above rear wheels

 

Are you having the skins installed professionally or are you able to do it yourself (if so, I envy you)? The reason I ask is that my quarters were rotted out around the wheel wells. I was intending to buy the 100 dollar partial skins from Classic Industries, but my body shop said it would be much, much more difficult to cut the existing quarter and fit a partial in correctly, and that the labour costs would be much higher. It is far easier and cheaper for them to remove the whole panel at the spot welds and fit the new one (though still quite an involved procedure). Moreover, with a partial skin, the quarter will probably never be exactly right, whereas with a new, complete gm part, as long as the person hanging it is competent, it should be perfect. I suppose it depends how fussy you are, but going with the cheaper panel might cost just as much. Apparently some dealers still have replacement quarters tucked away in wharehouses, so if you call around, you might find a set. A while back, there was a member in the classified forum who had found a set and a new hatch panel, in e-coat, at a dealer for 500 dollars...I ended up paying him $960 and driving for a few hours, but it was still much cheaper than paying over $1000 + shipping for only two quarters. It would certainly be worth calling around to any dealers within driving distance and checking ebay and whatnot for some GM panels.

 

Huh, My Bodyman gave me the impression that it wouldnt be any different then installing an entire quarter. I will re-ask him the question because now you got me wondering.....

 

Well, when my body guy explained this to me, he first asked me what I would do if I were to put on a partial skin (and he's very good...I'm in the process of $12000 CAD worth of body work right now and I've done my research). After giving it some thought, I figured you'd have to very carefully measure the panel you have to put in, which is a nasty contoured surface which doesn't even have a constant shape because it's so flexible, and then mark off that shape on the existing quarter, accounting for the material will be lost by the thickness of whatever cutting implement you use, etc. There's no way you could ever cut out the exact right shape, and so, after welding in the panel, you won't have the exact same shape you had before. The body guy said that's basically what he would have to do, and admitted he couldn't do it perfectly. Then, to fix it, all you can do is either hammer and dolly the quarter to a more correct shape, or use body filler...all of this by eye, of course. With the complete panel, however, it only really fits on one way...hence you remove the old one, line the new one up, spot weld it in place and voila--it's perfect. Someone who's really good with metalworking could get the partial skin to look so close that most people couldn't tell the difference...but think of all the extra work that would have to go into that...and thus the extra labour cost. If your body guy has said doing the partial is no problem and you're at all fussy (especially since you're only doing one side, and will have the other GM side to compare it to), I would be a little skeptical.

When I told my shop I was basically building a show car, they refused to use partial skins...they said that since I was so fussy, I would probably end up going broke paying them the labour to get it perfect.

At any rate, either the partial or the new GM panel will look better than rust holes. I'm just the type who always wants to do the 'right' thing, no matter the cost. If you're not too concerned with the car being absolutely perfect, make sure the body guy is completely upfront with you about how much the labour bill will be. For example, my shop billed my a very conservative 10 hours (@ 48 dollars CAD per hour) for installing one complete quarter (the standard is 13.5 hours on a thirdgen.) They said it would take them far longer to do a partial. I would actually be curious to know how long they tell you a partial will take to install.

 

I will probably do it anyways - all I can afford. I will just hold him to his estimate which was 15 hours to all and 3 to paint. My car 1984 Z will never be a show car but its really nice. 91 look a like with ram air ss hood. 434 engine here is pic

 

Wow, that is pretty nice. With the 434 it must go like stink. How's the driveability? (I'm still pondering drivetrain, as the car's in the body shop until next summer...I'm thinking a big-inch, solid roller small black for the novelty of it and a built t-56) If your bodyman is good, it sounds like he's giving you quite the deal on the labour. For curiosity's sake, I'd ask him how much, if any, his labour estimate would decrease if you got the complete quarter...but at that low of an estimate already, it probably won't. It's a nice car for sure, so whatever you decide to do, I hope it turns out well.

 

It drives good, it has t56 retro fit. Had troubles with clutch disengageing for awhile with new tranny, but replace master and slave cylinders and now ok. It wouldnt dis engage at high rpms. Its a solid roller 434. Just had it chassis dynoed at 446 at rear wheels and 686 with nos. Still havent play with the nos on the street. My bodyman is really good and a family friend. He painted the car a few years ago.
Sure he said 15 hours to install whole quarter or partial quarter. with 3 hours paint time, the other needs very little he said. (neither side is really that bad). Sure he 275 for the other side, just hand work his rate is $41/hr

 

14-15 hrs to install qtr is about right. when shops install qtrs they usually just install the skin. The only time they will put the wheelhouse/inner qtr in is if it is damaged or rusted out. On average to install outer qtr/inner qtr/wheel house you are looking at 14-15 hrs for outer qtr, 3-6 hrs inner qtr, and 3-4 hrs for wheelhouse. sometimes shops will section in a patch panel to repair rust. This is ok but there is alot of cutting and fitting involved.

Sounds like you have it worked out

 

it is a whole lot easier for the body shops to say the right thing to do is to replace the entire quarter panel,but like has been mentioned,if they are no longer available and the few that people have squirreled away are going for really high prices,there doesn't seem to be many options but the skins.unfortunately..

 

Garthpe,

Did you get the skins from Classic Industries? If so what do you think of them? Can you post a pic of them so I can see what it is you get for the money?

Thanks,

Robert

 

Ok, I had nor had my husband ever heard of a 434 Engine, I looked it up and found one for 19,500.00.. That seems a bit much.. How much did you pay for yours and where did you get it?

This is a new one on me..

 

A 434 is a special small block that is fairly custom, it is a 400 block with a stroked crankshaft. It is one of the biggest smallblocks you can build. They usually cost around 10K, and that is what mine cost. That is why the entire car for 11000 is a steal!!!

 

Engine Pic