Well so far....new front frame rails, floors, firewall, 289, C4, rear frame rails, trunk, fenders, wiring, brakes, hood and here come the quarters! I want to thank everyone for their help so far. It is starting to look like a car again!

 

where did you order the quaters from? they look to fit really well, were they heavy guage metal>

 

Jamie, I got them here in Kansas City from Mustangs Plus. They are heavy gauge steel. The picture is the first test fit and it did fit really well. I have some tweaking to do though which is to be expected with a repop piece. Jeff

 

what did the tops of the old quarter panel look like, i bought mine from dads mustangs and they told me if the top ridge on them in in tact cut 2 inches below that for a better fit.
I have a lot more to do before quarters though...

 

The top edge of the left one was ok. The right has pin holes right in the top ridge. So that one was going to be a full quarter regardless. I had every intention of doing skins. I had even purchased them. I went back and forth for a long time as to which way to go. For me, I decided that the full quarter was probably the better way to go even on the side without the pin holes. It keeps the amount of filler on the car to a minimum and minimizes the possibility of popping out or cracking in a couple of years.

If you do the cut like they said, are you going to just overlap the panel or flange it? I tried my hand at doing the flange and it seemed to bend the metal above the step. This would have created more work. Also, I couldn't figure out what you do on the ends where it wraps around the door jamb and the tail light panel. If you overlap the panel it will be higher in these areas and tough to blend.

The only other option would be to leave a 2-3" or so edge all the way around except for the wheel well area and the area behind the tire and overlap everything. That puts a lot of filler on the car and is a lot more work, and that is if you can get it welded in without warping the metal....

Just some thoughts from a novice body guy!

 

Looking good, good luck too.

 

Looks better than mine does! Well the 71 anyway.. What are the plans for the outer wheel well?

Flanging takes patience and time, you gotta go slowly and in multiple steps to avoid making a mess of the metal. I do butt welds, there is no overlap, both pieces are at the same level. It takes more precise cutting, and a bit more time setting it up, but the filler required is much less. Also take your time with the spot welds, I am sure you already know not to just lay a bead down the seam, right? The ones you put down on the seat riser will work good for that part, but dont try that on a quarter panel.

I found that old audio speaker magnets placed behind the two pieces works pretty well to align them for a butt weld. Dont weld on the magnets, they tend to break or shatter. They are un-fond of heat.

The door jamb and tail light panel had overlaps from the factory. Make the seam as close as possible, and be sure to remove the old quarter panel metal from that area. You dont want three pieces stuck together there. Makes the doors difficult to shut. The way I do them is a tack weld on the closest spots, then tap it down either side of the weld with a flat faced body hammer. You want small spot welds, less welding and grinding means less heat and warping in the panel. You want the spots to eventually look like one long bead, all touching with no light holes between them, but it takes time to do that. You need to let them cool a bit before doing the next set.

Fun doin this stuff isnt it?

 

Thanks for the replies and the ideas! I know, slow and easy on the spot welds. I have 2 new outer wheel houses that I am going to put on. Both sides were bad. I have been looking at that...not really sure how to get in there to get to the spot welds that are at the very middle of the wheel houses. Looks pretty tight. Any ideas?

And yes, this stuff IS so much fun!

 

I too am a novice body guy

i am still in the air on whether to flange it or do it like ive done quarters on newer cars, i just cut and have no over lap at all put the skin over some original quarter that i didn't cut off and cut them at the same time with a grinding disc, this has worked for me in the past very well, then mig weld the panels together every 1 1/2-2 inches, grind, bondo paint, but a classic mustang i want as little bondo as possible so i may do a flange on this, i have a pnuematic flange tool so it would be relativeley simple, if anyone has tried this way and the my way please tell me what is easier/and what looks better with the least amount of filler

 

wow i failed to read THMPIN's post and then realized i posted virtually the same thing,
sorry about that