70 Mach Quarter panel replacement tips

[Cason 4]

In 1989 I bought my 1st car a H-code (351W) 1970 Mach 1 for $1,995.  I worked on it through High School then life got in the way so we put it in a barn.  Now we are taking it down to bare metal and building it back.  It is a Texas car and IMO very solid but was mildly crashed before I owned the car (all hidden with filler-- but not nicely hidden).  Currently the body is straight and rust free (fingers crossed) except for 3 things.  

 

1. Drivers quarter panel-- The surface was in an accident, then pulled out and bondo filled in the damage

2. Drivers door -- Not the original door but it too has signs of damage hidden under 1/4" of bondo

3. Drivers rocker panel-- has a base ball sized dent in the center of the door- on the underside-- otherwise perfect.

 

Who do you recommend for replacement panels?

Should I skin a quarter panel or replace the whole thing?

On the Rocker Panel-- patch the damaged area or replace the whole thing?

 

Pics attached

 

Thanks for reading,

Brad

 

 

[Ridge Runner 1,114]

Do the whole quarter ,it will save time and a lot of work . Dynacorn quarters are about the best . The rocker will probably need a patch spliced in ,i have some cut Dynacorn rockers here somewhere .The door ,if the shell is good you could skin it ,if not a Dynacorn door would do it if you can't find a good used one .

[Shep69 149]

I'm with Ridge. I just replaced my quarter on my 69 with a dynacorn unit.

Going off your photos Brad yours looks worse than mine did so just change it out . Can be a bit tricky around the quarter window but not that hard.

[Cason 4]

OK, 2 votes for complete quarter replacement.  I am leaning that direction.

Technically, what does one gain by doing the whole quarter vs the skin?  

[Ridge Runner 1,114]

A lot less body work .With a skin you will have a full length weld at the top edge of the quarter .With a full quarter all the welding is small areas and all hidden .

[Rsanter 152]

In my experience the shape of the full qtr is better than that of the skins.

Even if you are going to justbreplace a section of that qtr I would start with a full qtr and cut it where you want to

 

Bob

[Raven R code 281]

+1 for full quarter.

 

And Bob is correct....the area where the rear valence mounts to the back of the quarter panel is pretty much flat and does't allow the valence mount tab to recess on the skin. The factory quarter has the recess channel for the valence.

 

Dave

[MikeStang 247]

Whole quarter... Did one on my 69, its not that hard

[barnett468 418]

i would section the quarter . the repo quarters are not quite the correct shape . if you section it you will preserve most of the factory spot welds AND the original date code on the original quarter . if you change it out you will have a less original and therefore less valuable car.

[det0326 179]

some repo 69 quarters were just like OEM at the valance area. Mine were but a friend of mine purchased after I bought mine and they were not even close to OEM shape where the valance mounts. Both set of quarters were dynacorn's too.

 

Dave

[69volunteer 84]

I am just starting to learn body work but my question is the large holes running vertically up the quarter behind the door--is that from an old school puller? Seems like a very large set of holes. Maybe I'm not familiar with the tool used to pull dents like that.

 

To add to the mix, my paint and body guy replaced my entire quarter (even though the rust was at the wheel arch) for all the reasons listed above. Little more expensive piece of sheet metal but less labor costs.

 

Good luck

[Ridge Runner 1,114]

All i can say for me ,a sectioned quarter is a deal breaker for me ,and a value killer .First thing i do is look in the trunk and if i see that overlap and cringe .Skinning a quarter used to be because a paint shop didnt want to go through the trouble of removing the interior and the glass to do a proper repair ,and that is why you see what looks like the panel was riddled with bullet holes to pull the dents out on older repairs .It would bother me not to replace a full quarter .There was a time when you had to section a quarter just because the panels were not available ,i am glad that is no longer the case .The lines on the Dynacorn panels are a lot closer to original than any of the other panels so i wouldn't even think twice about it .

The holes in your panel were made by a drill and a dent puller that threaded into the drilled hole and a slide hammer/dent puller pulled the dents out .The big holes ...you got me ! Holes that big serve  no purpose unless a plate was used on the back side and maybe bolted so they could pull out a very deep dent?

[Ridge Runner 1,114]

These pics are probably not as easy to see as it is in person ,but someone has done both quarters on this 67 by skinning them .They  simply cut the old quarter with a plasma cutter ,didnt even try to cut  a straight line, and over lapped the skins .They  just spot welded the skin every 1 1/2 inches ,and beat the joint in .I wish i could show how much bondo was used on the job .This is the type of repairs i look for in a car that i will turn down .This was done buy a shop that is supposed to be top grade and charged a fortune for .In places there is a 1/4 inch gap or more ,between the over lapped panels .

 

[1969Fstback 58]

I agree with full qtrs. I went with skins on mine. Unlike these other fellas I didn't have years of body experience. The skins seemed so much more feasible for my skill level. However, after I did the floors, cut old qts off along with outer wheel houses, fitted the new skin and started the long journey of spot welds the full qtr would have been easier and faster. My qtrs are done but car is in primer and interior untouched. I changed projects for next 2 years and mine is a good driver as is. I am really thinking of replacing the full qtrs when I go back to it in a few years.

[latoracing 256]

I didn't have a lot to work with when I started my project. I basically had a roof and some frame rails. Ended up replacing the back of the car, literally.

 

 

Full quarters are great for less bodywork, but they are not Ford parts. Having your doors aligned and your deck lid in place is a must for a full replacement (also fit to the door on a skin replacement). The valance area (I used all Dynacorn parts) were not great, and required some tweaking. My passenger side went on without any issues, the driver's side all most ended up in the scrap pile. It isn't awfully difficult, but you have a bunch of areas to line up and fit. 

 

I would highly recommend full quarters to replace the swiss cheesed parts on your build.

[barnett468 418]

the more you replace the less original your car is and the more taiwan it becomes so the more like a KIA it becomes . a good shop can flange the metal and make a clean looking splice and a really good shop can butt weld the metal and grind it flat removing most evidence of a splice . i have never automatically passed on a car simply because a piece of a quarter panel was spliced in instead of changed out with a taiwan one but have passed on plenty for various reasons that had full quarters put on.

 

your car is only original once.

[latoracing 256]

the more you replace the less original your car is and the more taiwan it becomes so the more like a KIA it becomes . a good shop can flange the metal and make a clean looking splice and a really good shop can butt weld the metal and grind it flat removing most evidence of a splice . i have never automatically passed on a car simply because a piece of a quarter panel was spliced in instead of changed out with a taiwan one but have passed on plenty for various reasons that had full quarters put on.

 

your car is only original once.

 

 

Much like this? (With a TiChen patch)

 

 

 

Patch all butt welded, metal finished inside and out.

 

If it not totally killed, or completely rusted away (like my KIAtang) then you do what you have too to make a good repair.  I chose to tackle a rust bucket and had every intention on putting a bunch of metal in it a I could care less about having an original F code Sprotsroof. Mine was purchased to modify.

 

These cars are only original once, which is very true. At least some of these less original cars are back on the road and not being swept up (like the trash can of rust particles out of my car) and thrown away.

 

The OP's car has all ready been modified and needs a repair that HE can do.  

[Caseyrhe 650]

Originality? Will have its limits, unless you have gobs of money and can actually afford "those parts" on eBay. Originality, one must ask, are the seat covers original? Carpet? Dashpad? Trim moldings? Stripe kit? I seriously think not. My Mach is almost finished at the paint shop, and I had to ask myself, did it originally come with a coat that shiny and deep in Black Jade, heck no! Can you find lacquer or enamel paint that went on in 69 to keep it original, heck no! So the flat black hood, do I search the world over looking for the correct match, heck no, I went with what I thought looked and matched the best.

When the car is finished, it will be the car You built not bought with what you could accomplish and afford.

[Cason 4]

 

 

I am just starting to learn body work but my question is the large holes running vertically up the quarter behind the door--is that from an old school puller? Seems like a very large set of holes. Maybe I'm not familiar with the tool used to pull dents like that.

 

Yes, my guess is that is from a puller-- this whole area was hidden under bondo.  as you can tell the holes were not sealed, the inside had strings of bondo coming through the holes.  

This repair was "completed" sometime before 1989 so techniques may have changed over the years :)

[barnett468 418]

Originality? Will have its limits, unless you have gobs of money and can actually afford "those parts" on eBay. Originality, one must ask, are the seat covers original? Carpet? Dashpad? Trim moldings? Stripe kit? I seriously think not. My Mach is almost finished at the paint shop, and I had to ask myself, did it originally come with a coat that shiny and deep in Black Jade, heck no! Can you find lacquer or enamel paint that went on in 69 to keep it original, heck no! So the flat black hood, do I search the world over looking for the correct match, heck no, I went with what I thought looked and matched the best.

When the car is finished, it will be the car You built not bought with what you could accomplish and afford.

 

The body is the integrity of the car and where most of its value lies . Other value lies in having the original engine in high value vehicles like Shelby's etc . It sounds like you are perfectly happy paying the same price for a car that is all Taiwan metal that is full of bondo to try and get it to line up as you are for paying the same price for a car in the same condition but with all original sheet metal . Unfortunately as a car dealer, I never ran across people like you . My clients preferred as much original sheet metal as possible.

 

As far as original seat covers, I can make all you want if you have the money.

[Ridge Runner 1,114]

The part that really bothers me is bondo ,it is blobbed on, and a car is sculpted from it .That is not original .you may think it will not crack but at some time it will no mater how it is applied ,40 something years of restoring cars has shown me this .Bondo was not meant for this purpose ,it was meant to hide door dings and very small imperfections .You would have to see this 67 fast Back it would make you sick HAHA ,i swear it is 1 inch thick and the entire car is coated with it .The only thing that can be done with this one is a total reskinning because i am sure as hell not sanding it all off ,it would look like it was snowing HAHA.

[barnett468 418]

 

 

Much like this? (With a TiChen patch)

 

 

 

Patch all butt welded, metal finished inside and out.

 

If it not totally killed, or completely rusted away (like my KIAtang) then you do what you have too to make a good repair.  I chose to tackle a rust bucket and had every intention on putting a bunch of metal in it a I could care less about having an original F code Sprotsroof. Mine was purchased to modify.

 

These cars are only original once, which is very true. At least some of these less original cars are back on the road and not being swept up (like the trash can of rust particles out of my car) and thrown away.

 

The OP's car has all ready been modified and needs a repair that HE can do.  

 

 

There ya go . Not to complicated and you have preserved your ORIGINAL spot welds in the jambs AND the date code that is stamped into the quarter .  I would take a car repaired like yours any day over ont that has had an entire Taiwan quarter put on it and obviously you would too . Xlnt job.

[Ridge Runner 1,114]

This 66 is a coupe ,all Dynacorn sheet metal was used to build it ,I built it with no bondo other than a very slight skim over the quarter joints ,to think that because it is reproduction metal it will require a ton of bondo is wrong  .It all depends on your knowledge of panel fitting and the panels you actually use .I found only one tiny ding in one quarter that i smoothed out with out any bondo at all .the fenders were a different story though ,i did have to regap and they were ford tooling but that wasnt that big of a deal ,it was also done without the use of bondo ,as i said i can't stand bondo .I recently sold this body as it is pictured for $17,000.  listed as  a conversion with it original coupe vin still intact .And this isn't the only that brought big money for a bare body .so originality will only make a difference to a concourse builder .

 

 

 

[barnett468 418]

been doing this 40 years . dynacorn spent over $20,000.00 making their 67/68 body straight for the sema show . we also test fitted many of dynacorns panels at their request . they once sent us a door skin that had no place for the handle . it had no hole and was perfectly smooth, lol . another dynacorn quarter panel was around 1/4" too short and you can't body work a quarter panel to be 1/4" longer.

 

its also sometimes easier to line up an incorrectly made taiwan piece with another one instead of with an oem one because the two incorrectly made pieces are sometimes both incorrectly made incorrect the same way.

 

also, the ford tooling fenders weren't all that close to the originals because they may have reshaped the mold when they did them so one of the affected areas was where the headlight door mounts to the fender . the retooled ones were much rounder for one thing.

 

i bought a 1969 nos ford service hood made around 1974 for $1800.00 and it was a 70 style and was painted black and weighed around 8 lbs less than an orig hood and you could squeeze it and bend the metal . it was such a pos that it took around 30 hours of body work to make it right.

[Ridge Runner 1,114]

Of course it wouldn't let me post the last pic !!