Hey guys, I have 88 GTA and the drivetrain is finally complete(for now)...and it is time for us to start on the body and we have a very large dent in the passenger side rear quarter but we just bought another 88 with a v6 that has a perfectly straight body which we intend to hack up and use for a replacement or "skin" for the GTA. Does anyone know the best way to go about cutting the quarter panel off as far as certain seams to cut along or anthing along those lines? Any help would be great

 

first thig you need to do is remove all ther interior panels. the taillight on that side will need to come out too. You need to drill out all the spots welds that hold the quarter panel in place. there will be a LOT of them. Just use a drill bit that is the same size as the weld. Then you will need to grind off all the paint and facotry body filler that is on the piller just above where the bird of GTA logo goes(above where the back speaker is located). this is where GM seamed the quarter to the roof panel togheter. This area cannot be hacked up as you will need to seam it togheter on the other car in the correct location. Getting the panel off isnt that hard though. you just gotta go slow and make sure you drill out all the welds. The fender lips may be glued to the inner fender well so you will have to investigate that area. you will need to do this twice and make sure you do a nice clean job on the good car. Grind off all the areas on the good car where you will need to reweld all the spots that have holes. Oh ya, one BIG important thing to remember. DO NOT drill all the way through the welds on the good car. if you do that you will not have a spot for the weld to bond too. There is a special drill bit specifically designed for this. it is basically a very small hole saw. job goes real easy with it. all that would be left behind on the good car is a very small center hole that the hole saw did(get this tool). Once you get the panel off the good car, you will need to do a few things to prep it for the other panel. first is to straigthen out the edges with a hammer and dolly or something. They will get bent up a little from trying to get the panel off, next you have grind all the areas off so they are clean and down to the bare metal. you can then test fit the other quarter on the car. Use some small sheetmetal screws in different locations to hold it in place. secure it so it will not move and then reinstall the door stricker, glass and rear bumper along with the light to ensure that the panel is in the right location. You only get one shot at this so make sure you do it right the first time around. install the door stricker and test shut the door to make sure it lines up good. there is some adjustment in the stricker but make sure the body lines are all inline also. I highly reccmoend doing all this while the car is sitting on level ground and no jackstands under it. Once you are happy with the fitment of the panels and stuff then remove them and start tack welding the panel iprotect the interior from sparks. tack it in different locations all around the panel first. This will lessen the chance of it moving. fill in all the holes that you drilled with a nice clean tack. getting the quarter molded into the roof panel is a whole different story. this is where body man skills come into play. you will see how it goes togheter when you remove the good one from the parts car first. use that as a practice. Just please remember to not drill though both panels on the good car. You will be screwed when it comes time to weld. I have seen this happen and its not fun to fix. you will need to either use a air nibbler or a chiesal to seperate the dented panel from the good car. I think I covered most of it. any other questions, just ask

 

I don't care if I'm bumping a 12 year old thread, BottledZ28, if you're still on here, thanks for the really in depth post. I'm tackling this and absolutely terrified as most I've done is bondo. Made it a little less scary. Thanks.

 

Heres a really excellent start to finish quarter panel replacement from Fyrechicken:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...ter-panel.html