On my 72 charger, behind the rear tire, where the form bends in the middle of the body(horizontally) there are some tiny pitted rust holes along the line of that form bend. There are also some decent sized chunks that we cut out at the bottom of the rear quarter.

My dad wants to cut at the fold and replace the whole lower piece with some 20 gauge steel. My issue is, that I will loose the original form at the bend in that lower piece because it is not just a straight curve it has two different degree angles on it that keep the form of the body.......

Do they sell these little rear quarter pieces?Should I cut it.......?Is it a big deal? really we have been thinking on this for months now and need to move along......Input much appreciated!!

I'm thinking that a litte bondo covers a whole lot. If it's a matter of stressing on this or moving the project forward, just realize this is something that you'll spend little time with once you're behind the wheel.

It's almost summer. Let's drive 'em!

JK

I'd cut out the rot and install patches. I'd cut out as little as possible. You can shape a small patch before you start welding. Just useing bondo will just by some time. Rot is rot and will keep growing if not cut out and replaced. But it doesn't sound like you need to cut much out.

I'm with the bondo idea. If its a major rust hole, use masking or duct tape behind the panel then slap the bondo on. If you can't get behind the panel to tape it that's fine, stuff it with newspaper then bondo it. Hell I've even fixed frames this way!












NOT !!!!

get an idea of how much of the area is rusted use a wire brush to knock the paint off. Cut and form the new piece of metal to the area by bending it so it sits on the area flat without rocking before you cut the rust out. Then cut the rust out test fit your piece tweek it if you need to. tack it in check it again if it's good stitch weld it in but keep the area cool so it won't warp on you I use a wet rag then clean it sand it fill it paint it and drive the bloody snot out of it. Sorry I don't have an after picture

If you can post a pic that would help. If you weld in a new piece of metal and the curve is not exact, you can put a little bit of filler over top and shape it. Obviously the better shape your patch is, the better off you'll be and the less filler you will have to use.

I can get you AMD quarter patches ,it'll take out all the guess work and you'll have a perfect pieces to replace your rusted areas

heres the right rear quarter

2nd pic

Make sure you get the patch panel before you cut the car,you do not want to cut more off the car than the repair panel will cover. You have to make sure you cut enough of the panel off to get rid of all the rust,or you will be looking at rust bubbles around the areas you patched within a year. Sometimes the area around the rust spot may appear to be solid,but it may already be rusting from the inside out. You would be better off to cut beyond what you think you'll need to,than not enough. AMD makes good thicker than original patch panel with nice crisp lines. I would cut that above the body line,by how ever much is necessary to get to clean metal,and butt weld it together,if thats all the quarterpanel needs. If the car has spots of rust in front of the wheels,and over the wheelwell too,then you would be better off to put a full panel on the car,as your time and labor of doing the patch work thing will quickly outweigh the cost of the full panel,and there will be no seems to blend. The full panels are available for the 3rd generation Charger now. There's nothing worse than having rust return on a freshly painted car.

I definately agree, this patch panel is my only rust problem aside from the rocker panels. The rest of the rear quarter is in mint condition, it's one of the reasons why I bought the car. I am going to have to look in to these patch panels then, I'll be sure to wait like you said and then cut the car when I have the actual panel patch in my hand.

That's the right way to do it. I'd get the patches and cut off every thing the patch will cover and butt weld the whole patch on. Stuffing with plastic is not the answer. It will be bubbling back up in less then a year and you'll be doing the same job twice. Do it right once and it won't ruin a new paint job.

As far as I have learned bondo is only used when making a surface level true. This is only after you have attempted to do as much autobody/metal work to bring the metal to a true surface, covering rust is not a good idea, it's a temporary fix, although I was thinking if they didn't sell panel patches that I would try and fiber glass the tiny pitted holes to save the true body form.

The only way to stop rust is to cut it out. Useing plastic or fiberglass will only cover it up for a short time. It will keep growing and bubble your new paint. Only lasting repair is to cut it out and weld in clean metal.

I had a similar problem on the right rear of a Challenger. I'm no great bodyman or welder but I was able to carefully cut it out and fit a patch panel. I butt welded the panel on the top and used weld through primer on the lower laps. With some time in smoothing, body lines are fine. I'm confident it will hold up... and I do drive it in the rain.

Bondo repair lasts until the first time it gets wet or 3 months... whichever comes first. Fiberglass on rusted steel isn't much better... don't ask how I know.

Patch panels are readily available and not too expensive. Even if you are slow like me its less than a weekend project.

I'd cut it off as wel. I wasn't fortunate enough to have decent patch panels available. So I made my own. I used 10" pvc clamped to my bench. I slid a paint stick under each end of the pvc to hold it up off the bench. You can slide the metal under the pvc and roll it up around the pvc to get the curve you need. Trim to fit and butt weld it a little at a time. An hour spent welding slowly and letting it cool will save hours of headache later.here are the results.
Doug

The patches

The cut,I had already fabbed the quarter extension drops and welded them in.