Well, finally made it to the hard part. I knew I could handle everything else, but this is starting to frustrate me and make me wish I had left the old rusty bondo covered quarter in tact.

Everything lines up nicely except the bottom of the 1/4 closest to the door (from about the side vents, down). The gap also narrows as you can see in the picture. The rubber mallet has made it look a bit better, but I think it has slightlybowed the panel at the bottom. So, I have almost come to the conclusion that im going to have to cut this panel into pieces just to make alignment any better. Well, what you'll think?

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How are you installing the 1/4? The sail panel area? Is the car sitting on the suspension? Can we get some full shots including all the seams and jams.. See what we can do from there. Was the car ever hit before.

 

Sometimes you need to tweek the metal so get out a hammer and dolly and make all the adjustments before you start tacking on the quarter i am about to hang my rear quarter myself take your time and it wil be worth it

 

Well, i've been rebuilding the car nearly from scratch, so no suspension in place yet.

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Could you adjust the door to reduce or improvethe gap?
Jim

 

It appears that the door is about as far forward as it will go. The first picture shows how the bottomthe left1/4 (same as the right) is not flush with the door frame. The second shows how I might should adjust the back or rear of the 1/4 up (again, this is the same for both sides), but for some reason they would always catch somwhere on something not allowing them to go up any further. Plus, with them were they are now, they align up pefectly with the rear trunk panel when it's mounted into place.

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If you have a Ford Service Manual, it has body alignment measurements that you might want to apply. Check the front to rear frame rail measurement under the car. On one of my cars, due to an almostwell covered up accident, I found the left side frame to be 3/4 of an inch back and the right a 1/2 inch back. After straightening (and a new radiator support which was why the car was in the shop) the doors did not fit - too far forward. The shop did something with some heavy duty hydraulic rams to get the 'A' pillar moved back to reasonable. In your case, a port-a-power ram may move your 'A' pillar forward, and the 'B' to the rear.
Jim

 

Remember the windshield trim will cover the gap of the fender to cowl line. If you can move the front fender foreward that will help. We are only talking 3/16 maybe. The door can always be moved forward even if you are bottomed out on the hinge slots. Modify the slots. I found there is a lot of adjustment in the doors and the pillar. As far as the lines where the quarter and the door align, it's looks pretty damn good to me. You will skim coat the body lines anyways and then it will look perfect. I found too that there is a point of compromise. Mine are not perfect but people still drool.
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I don't know what to tell ya, I'm keeping my frankenstein quarter panels so as to avoid exactly this problem. I would say that you need to clamp the taillight panel in place and even put your trunk lid on and make sure everything fits nicely before welding the quarter panels in.

What is the clearance between the striker latch pillar and the quarter panel lip? Is it flush ? If it is then it isn't sticking out anymore then the original.

 

One other thing you might do is clamp your rear valance on to make sure the *** is spread enough[8D] The idiots who replaced the quarters on my car set the quarters about 1 1/2" in. I had to cut and customize my rear valance to fit.
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