Yep, so, if any of you have noticed my long message at the Body & Interior forum, I'm replacing my 1/4 panel. (There's a ton of pictures up of my car's battle with rust in that message.) I've been looking for a 1/4 panel for a while, and never found a good one. (Funny how many good ones I remember seeing, before I needed one!)

So, this past weekend, Saturday, I went out again. I went to a junkyard that I don't like too much (they never have anything I need, OR, they give me a ridiculous price), and as soon as the guy lets me in the yard, I see a perfect '86 Firebird (2.8 by the way) with a PERFECT 1/4 panel! I was shocked. The thing is perfect; no dents/dings, barely any rust. The only rust spots were a small quarter-sized piece between the door and wheel, and some chipping of the wheelwell lip (facing the tire). There wasn't even a stress crack on the roof! The paint was immaculate; looked like a Maaco job. The front bumper was in a small accident; I wonder if the guy just junked the car.

Anyway, so I ask the guy for a price... I show him the car- he tells me $165! I was shocked, and stammered out a "yes"- I was expecting $250-$400, and was all prepared to argue! So he grabs a grease pencil, and says he'll show me where he'll cut. He drew with the pencil on the car- and showed me a cut which would give me the whole back right 1/3rd of the car!! So I left a $40 deposit, he told me to call them Tuesday to find out if it was cut off or not.

So I'm happy as hell, and go to my usual junkyard- the one that didn't have any Firebirds last week. I walk in, the guy tells me "Firebird- right over there!" (Love that place!) So I bs with him for a bit, not mentioning the other yard, and go check it out. It's ALSO an '86 2.8! (Odd! Whats more odd- it ALSO had a Maaco job done. This was a worse job; not only was the paint "rough", they painted the front bumper's rub strips- the usual Maaco trademark.) I go checking it out... ya know, there's not much I need anymore. The doors weren't that good, the front bumper was ripped, and the hood was rusting. Oh well. So I look over the engine compartment- don't need anything. I look inside, and, what's this? The guy's got Map Pockets on his door panels? The door panels were clean as hell; looked brand new. I scored 'em both for $10.

So I picked it the quarter panel this morning; had to rent a big freakin' cargo van to get it home. "Rough" measurements are 6 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 4 feet tall. But, the cut was perfect. I'm thinking of just welding the quarter in along his cut, and not "just" replacing my rusted panels. I think it'd be a much easier job, with one problem- I'd have to remove gas tank.

Here's a pic of it in the van; I'll see if I can get more pics up for tomorrow!

 

cool

you welding it on yourself?

whats the difference between MIG and TIG welding?

i need some stuff welded but i dont know how to weld...............

 

Why didn't you buy an after market panel ??? I know you all rag on jap scrap but to be honest ,I have used these fine units on a 71 Nova and they fit nice. You will be grinding and cutting for hours to get that panel off. I hope you have a crimper. A crimper indents the sheet metal allowing you to hang the new panel on the crimped edge of it. Then tack weld every .5 inch, grind the welds, slap on some filler, Done !!!

 

great job tom,

$10 for mint door panels, that is great

did they cut enough to fix your stress cracks on the roof?

 

Good luck with that Tom! It takes a man with BIG MARBLES to hack up his car! Keep us posted on your progress. I tried to read all the reply's in the Body and Interior board but it was too long!

 

'91, yeah, I'm welding it on myself. I'll do a ton of practice welds (might buy a wrecked junkyard fender) on actual GM sheetmetal to prepare for it. MIG = Metal Inert Gas, TIG = Tungsten Inert Gas. With a MIG, the fill wire is fed thru the gun when you pull the trigger, and an electrical arc is formed between the wire being fed and the sheetmetal. A sheilding gas comes out of the gun, and is "shot" over the area being welded- this keeps impurities out of the weld. The gas is usually "C25"- 75% argon, 25% carbon dioxide. This keeps all the crap in the atmosphere (dust, dirt, etc) out.

With TIG, you don't have to use a fill wire. You get the spark between a "tungsten electrode" and the metal to be welded. If you want to add metal, you hold a metal rod in your other hand. (It's sort of like regular oxy-acetylene welding). There's also a sheilding gas, used for the same purpose as for MIG, but co2 isn't used, argon & helium are the common ones. TIG's harder to control (you get a foot pedal!), but the welds are more precise and accurate, and less voltage is used. TIG machines are also much more expensive than a MIG!

MIG welding would be your best bet. Two kinds; GMAW and FCAW. FCAW uses wire like solder, Flux Core Arc Welding. The sheilding gas is contained inside the wire as a flux, and as the arc burns, the flux burns, shields the weld, and leaves a "slag" behind (removed with a wire brushs). Because FCAW wire is thickier (0.035 & up), you need more voltage, and you can't get get a good weld on thin sheetmetal without burning thru. GMAW, Gas Metal Arc Welding, uses the sheilding gas. You get a cleaner weld, no slag, and can use lower voltage (sheetmetal)! Downside? Cost; I spent $155 for a gas bottle a few weeks ago. Upside? You can weld sheetmetal!

My welder was $300 from Home Depot. (Lincoln Electric Weld-Pak 100). I bought the $100 FCAW-to-GMAW conversion kit a month later. 2 years later, I finally bought the gas bottle from a local welding supply store. There's cheaper welders out there besides the Lincoln Electric models ( http://www.harborfreight.com, Sears, JC Whitney, etc), but I wanted a model that would last forever AND be supported with parts forever. Check out http://www.eastwoodcompany.com for a mini Arc-welding kit with spot weld & stich weld attachments for $200! That might be your cheapest bet, and you wouldn't need a gas bottle.

Whew.

Tommyboy, a few reasons. One, I didn't want to spend all that money. Two, it's imported crap. Three, I need more than a quarter panel skin. I need the inner wheel well, too. I need the spare tire area, too. I need part of the inside of the car, too. (Check out the body & interior forum for pics). I need too much, and just buying a 1/4 panel skin wouldn't cut work. I do plan on buying a flanger or two, though. Right now, I'm thinking of welding the quarter on exactly as it was cut off. It'd be the most mechanical work (I'd have to remove the rear suspension and gas tank), but, I think it'd be the easiest to weld.

Stuart, yeah, I asked him to over-cut to give me more roof. Great thing is, there are NO stress cracks on this junkyard 1/4's roof!! None!

Elevario, yeah, that message has gotten pretty damn long; some of the pictures that people are bringing in are HUGE! (Good thing I have a fast connection here, I couldn't imagine trying to read that message from home over a modem.)

Here's an example of what happened to the inside of my car...

 

OUCH !!! Did not know your ride was gifted with mother nature's cancer. Wise choice !!!!! While your at it, welding and all, through a roll cage in it.
Good luck Bro.

 

Yeah, it totally sucks... it's not fun having rain pour into the car from being kicked up by the tires. You should see me swerve around puddles! I'm considering some kind of bracing... I think a roll cage would be too heavy for my poor V6, but I'm thinking about subframe connectors. I might try to weld my own. $90 is a little steep!