I have WICKED quarter damage from the PO that he never fixed and I refuse to let my car end up in a junkyard. I picked her up the beginning of last September and now that the weather is breaking I want to start cleaning her up. What would be the best way to go about fixing this? I have heard a lot of opinions but, my problem is the money. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Yeah, that's pretty bad. I guess you need to hit your local junkyards and try and find the parts you need. Bring a sawzaw or something and cut off a good quarter and then unbolt the rearbumper and spoiler and take that too.

 

Ah men.

 

The only problem is the 1300 dollars to cut and weld the new one up.

 

Well then..........Bust out the uni-spotter, body hammers and dollys and pound it out ! Then bust out some "fender in a can" and reshape the quarter !
Spot prime and paint...............

 

Make sure that there are some wholes for the fender in a can to hold onto, you wouldn't want it falling off at a stop light.

 

Under NO circumstances should you do this. If you have to put the filler on THAT thick (thick enough that you need to put holes in the panel for it to grab onto on the other side) to get the panel to look right, you're wasting your time not replacing the panel. You WILL regret it later (AKA R U S T) if you don't end up selling the car first.

PO of my car did that as mentioned above, after he cut off and did a half-baked repair on the back third of my pass quarter. 2 years after starting the project, I'm still working on it (mostly money issues but no power for the welder isn't helping any). Quarter looked like Swiss cheese. You put the filler on that thick, and it's going to crack, surer than anything. Which is why mine went bad.

:edit: Finally logged in to see the pic. That damage is Replace It territory. There is another panel with it that needs to go as well (right in the corner between the quarter panel itself and the rear tail panel the rear bumper bolts to), if not also the rear tail panel of the car in that corner. Take the tail lights and bumper off and tell me if I'm wrong... The quarters extend beyond the rear tail panel by about 2-25" (about the depth of the tail lights), where the intermediate panel connects. That damage is right in that zone.

 

It does extend on the inside.....the connection points of the sail/rear panel and the quarter panel (like a seam weld) on the inside are all bent up. The back edge of the quarter panel where the bumper bolts to is bent inwards and up. I'm just frustrated. It really sucks that my car needs so much body work and I get busted on for it but, I don't care I still luv my car....Chevy baby!

 

Go for it!
http://www.austinthirdgen.org/forum/...panel+replaced

 

hey man dont stress over the damage rickscamaro.com and fbodyranch both sell replacement quarters

 

definently get a new quarter....that kinda damage cannot be fixed correctly

 

I just got an estimate back for repair from one shop and they said anywhere from $3000 to $5000......yea. I can get directly to the damage through the trunk. Obviously though the people at that garage are not that smart because they said that a new quarter was going to have to come from a junkyard.

 

I was just teasing you a little bit about your fender in a can falling off at the stop light. Really the only way to fix it right is with a quarter panel.

 

Why would you buy this car in this condition if you don't have the skill, tools or the money to fix it correctly? You're leaving yourself with the only option of a hacked "fix"! The rear quarter panel needs to be cut off and replaced. You can probably get another in decent shape at a junkyard, but at what cost, I don't know. Then you need to correctly weld in the new 1/4, grind the welds, skim coat and paint. You are still talking at least $1k if you can do all of the work yourself!

 

I was buying it because the car only had roughly 30k miles on the engine...its a factory 5 speed and if I wouldn't have bought it the poor car was heading for a junkyard. Not directly but through some idiots who would hack the car. I put the 3.73 posi in, new drivers door and fixed a lot of other things myself it is just that I don't have the place to completely cut and weld it myself or I would. We will see. I never give up. This car will be beautiful.

 

ask some friends if they know anyone that can weld and make it a weekend project. you will appreciate the car after putting the hours into fixing it and fixing it the right way

 

Very true

 

With the amount of metal that needs to be replaced, the ONLY place you can get replacements is either a BIG $$$ body guy who can fab the panel between the quarter and the tail panel, or a junkyard. Which is why I'm stuck because I can't find much decent around here right now . Aftermarket ONLY supplies quarter panel skins, which does nothing for the rest of the damage behind the quarter.

 

Any body panel that is "kinked" will require replacement. Any body panel that is "bent" can be repaired. Even though a bend is repairable, a shop will figure time vs. replacement cost. Say, labor rate is $55 hour, a given part will take 2 hours to repair. If the part costs $100, it will be replaced. Generally estimating systems are linked to LKQs inventory system. If LKQ does not have a supplier that makes the part new, they use a used part. There are some suppliers that LKQ does not deal with, they are ethier unreputable, unlicensed, or produce parts for a niche market.

 

I have to take out my tail lights and take off the bumper to confirm but, where the bending/kinking damage is it is single layer of quarter panel sheet metal and I was looking on Ricks Camaros and that replacement piece that they sell should replace into that area completely.

 

So, with the interior panels removed, there doesn't appear to be damage anywhere other than the outer skin? Good luck with this, if that's the case. If you're into the wide body look, now's your chance at putting the wide body 1/4s on the car.

 

where do they sell those????!!!!???? lol want to see that look.

 

4-5k IS OUT OF THE QUESTION, that repair should be no more than $1500 -2000 in a respectable body shop. They can have the rear quarter cut off a good car and delivered to the shop for about $300. You are looking at 8 hours of metal work $65 per hour. 6 hours of body work $55 per hour, than about 3 hours of paint and prep $85 per hour. You need to find a new shop, 5K for a rear quarter is unreasonable and would total these cars every time.

 

Don't know where they sell 'em, but do a search on TGO for Motion IROC and you'll find pics.

 

Ty 91 Droptop at least you agree, that number was totally insane. I talked to the PO and his dad and saw papers on the damage and the fix was priced at 1300. I have a friend who welds for a living who is willing to weld in a new one. He went to school for welding and that is his profession so I know he knows what he is doing. Here is a pic of the good side of my car. This side does not look like a war zone. I already put on a new driver door the other day.

 

Well this is what I got done in like 30 minutes. This weekend I will do more a lot more detailed. Just wanted to see how much of it I could initially get out.

 

If you lived in Massachusetts, I know a place in Easton that would do it for $650. I was t-boned by a lowered Acura driven by some drunk Douchebag. Once the settlement comes in it will be fixedstripped to bare metal, all other bs that was done by the po fixed ,skimmed then sprayed midnight rred or Black metalflake .

 

All right then let us know when and were you find your 1/4 panel

 

There's a few wrecking yards around my area that have a few 3rd gens. If all else fails I'd just go thru a parts locator.

 

OK in a case like this I would say that it is time to Rock and Roll.

 

I would suggest spending a lot of time getting the panel and interior metal as close as possible to stock before any cutting. Perhaps ordering a new quarter skin to use as a template to make sure every connection point is near stock would be a good plan. Obviously, with the time and money already spent, you will want to make as good a repair as possible on this area, too. Please submit more pics as work progresses, I believe everyone enjoys seeing a 3rd Gen brought back to life.
Good luck!