I'm replacing the quarters on a friends 70 bbody and I'm using the full quarters. I have totally removed one quarter at the seams all around. It was a remarkably tough job at the area adjacent to the roof and I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to fit the new panel into the old "space". Afterwards I thought that maybe people didn't actually remove the entire panel to the seam at the roof but rather spliced (butt weld or similar) just before the roof splice and down the B pillar. I'd like some input before I remover the other side completely.

Id say if the rear window area is nice, then butt and weld. Original fitment is better at the window. I think most people usually do it seam to seam. I had to in my case as window area was rotted, door gap was pulled back and top of quarter was pushed into trunk lid. It turned out great.

the 68-70 Dodge or Plymouth B bodies are pretty straight forward, sure it takes a little wiggling, but it'll fit in there, in fact you'll find your self probably removing it a few times to make some tweaks, or hammer dolly some flanges, etc, etc, so you'll get the knack of it, if your doing a 68-70 Charger, than yeah it can be even more frustrating with the sail panel of the Charger as it's more difficult to slide into place, make sure once you get it into place, just tack it in position, make sure all trunk extensions fit properly, test all glass and trim, bumper fit, wheel opening moulding, wheel house,any trim, etc, etc, cat wisker trim, make sure if there's any tabs/flanges, etc that you need off the old qtr are transferred to the new qtr before/during install,...cause there's nothing worse than installing and welding up any qtr used/repro/NOS and find out it's off, shaped differently, or missing something that needed to be added before it went on,...and do invest in leading the roof and rocker seams as original, you'll be sorry later if you bondo them up, vinyl roof car or not...


mike

The tab under the drip rail is very difficult to remove correctly (for me anyway) as the drip rail piece should be removed also. It appears it was installed after the quarter . I was able to get mine out by drilling 2 layers of spot welds and wiggling the tab out. Some guys cut the drip rail and bend it down to get it out and reinstall. To me it was a tricky area.

The drip rail area is tricky on the 68-70 B Bodies (non charger).
You have to remove multiple spot welds to get the drip rail out of the way...etc...
Make absolutely sure before you weld the qtr that the drip rail piece slides back in and lines up...

Alot of times guys will release several spot welds and just "bend"
the drip rail out away from the roof. This is bad because you don't
have enough room to "bend" it back and you end up heating/beating etc
and it most likely won't look right.

You may have to release up to a dozen or more spot welds 12" or more
up the roof rail to get this to "pull" out far enough to slide the
quarter in.... You can splice to avoid this... but I caution
you...the splice around that inner quarter window corner is tricky
too... You can do the cut with a cutoff wheel.. but the tricky part
is after you weld it... grinding it smooth without fffing that corner
area.... you want it to look brand new...not worked.... etc...

Test fit the drip rail endcap (if used) to make sure it lines up/fits correctly.
If the car has a vinyl top it is imperative that the drip rail lines up right,
other wise the cap and the sail panel moulding will end up with a gap
that will never look right.

Take your time in this area. if you have to, measure the width of the
drip rail at the end on the other side (that you haven't removed yet)
to make sure it is even on your replaced side....

Best of luck to you....

That is exactly the area I had the most trouble... just under the drip rail. Sounds like I'm dealing with the same issues as others. Sure seems like it would be easier to splice just short of the roof seam and just off the edge of the pillar, avoiding the removal of the layer under the drip rail... maybe not. Anyhoo, Thanks for the input. I was worried I was going to read "what the hell you removing all that for? Nobody does that!"

I wondered the same thing and I think a lot of people splice the tab under the drip rail. If you are anything like me, (which I think you may be) I bought a full quarter and I wanted to do it right. Right is removing the drip rail or at least as mentioned above, releasing some of the spot welds. I have a car where they cut the drip and bent it down. Looked a little shaky before all the mouldings were back on but it looks perfect now after I installed the roof rail weather strip channel, the drip mouldings and drip rail cap. Just not the way I would have done it. But, lol they probably spent a half hour on it where I spent 2 days.