well guys i've got a 74 satellite. what i'm looking to do is some body work. i have only one rust hole that needs to be fixed and the rest of teh car is solid. it is right behind the drivers side rear wheel and has eaten around into the wheel lip as well. how do you make a panel with the wheel lip?


not my car but the patch is in the right place. i need to know how to make this/.

make a pattern in cardboard an transfer. it looks flat to the lip. should,nt be hard to do. i get flat patch sheets at the j/y, like roofs, van sides, hoods, trunks. on the inside lip contour make a cut carefully to butt edges and weld. you,ll get the hang of it. or spend the bucks at shermans. http://store.shermanparts.com/cgi-bin/sherman/product_list.html?img_num=305

I cut the piece out of the car. Gently tap the piece flat, removing any body lines, edges, structure, etc and then use that as my pattern to cut my patch piece. Once that is done, use body hammers to shape the patch panel. If you take your time it will work well. Of course, this system only works when there is enough metal left on the car to cut out

Let me tell you now, this is NOT going to be fun. The pic you posted will be deceiving to anyone who hasn't paid close attention to what the wheel opening on these cars looks like. I managed to find something on another car that had all the major angle I needed, and then I modified it from there to rebuild both wheel openings on a 73 Satellite I did last summer. It's difficult to explain how to do one. I've read lots on the subject, but it never really helped me. I just had to start cutting metal, and in the words of Nike, "Just Do IT!"

i will get a pic of the problem area today i'd hate to take it in since it will cost me an arm and a leg but i can't afford to have the whole car painted yet either and want to stop the rust from spreading.

I found a quarter skin for the left side, I had to make my own on the right.....Used quarters are out there, but be prepared to spend some $$$$ ( last quote I got was $450 a side, and then I had to find some way to ship them)...I decided I could settle for a little metal work and a little filler.( ok , alot of filler)....its not pretty yet, but its coming along.......

Cutting an old quarter panel up is easier of course, but you probably can't find one for a reasonable price. 4speeds makes a good point about the contour of the wheel opening. This is how I make them.
-Make a cardboard template of the wheel opening before you cut the rusted piece out.
-Cut out the rust....straight lines are easier to patch.
-Cut your patch.......make it lots bigger than the hole, bend the lip
-Clamp it on the car in whatever position is required to maintain the contour of the wheel opening.
-With the patch clamped in position, reach in behind with a pencil and trace the hole opening onto the patch.
-Remove the patch and cut along the pencil line.
-Tack and weld.

Take your time and remember......you can't make it worse.

-jr

the problem is the inner quarter is still there. the hole is only one the outside. i will try to trace the opening and see what i come up with.

I like the idea of taking a cutout of the wheel lip and looking for something with the same radius on a donor car and taking it. Best to do it at night, and very quietly. Porsche and Mercedes are known for using good quality steel....

I also need to do this on my 74 Satellite.

Thanks,
Trevor

Just made a rear quarter patch panel for my '67 Dart.
First I made a template for the fore/aft shape of the opening, then another for the body side shape at the wheel opening and at the other end of the section I planned on cutting out (about 1" from the rear bumper)
Then I cut out the rusted section, the upper was easy, but the lower part is continuous spot welded to the trunk wing at the bottom where it turns under. I finally ended up just gringing it loose full length.
I used 18 Gage Cor-Ten steel sheet from Lowes, but any flat sheet metal from a hood, door or whatever will work.
I cut out the patch panel using the removed section as a template. The next part is hoakey, but it works. Not having a brake, I rolled the patch panel to shape with a piece of 2" pipe in my lawn, just stand on the pipe and roll it across the patch, it take a little time, but you can get the shape perfect.
Then I templated the wheel well lip and cut out a strip to fit. I welded this the patch panel inside and out.
Eastwood sells a panel lipping tool, but I made mine from a pair of vice grips and a two 1/2" x 1" steel blocks that I hacksawed and filed to shape (take a look at Eastwood's tool) and tacked these to the vice grips.
Whether bought or made, lip the patch and fit it to the car (unless you are REAL good and can make an unbacked butt weld). Tack it in place and finish weld it out with numerous small tacks (where I am now) to prevent heat build-up and warping.

Hope this helps

Goodness......how I know. Gotta do something with my 70 Swinger as well. Seems every A body I look at in the junkyard, above the rear wheel well and front and behind are rotted. Naturally..the more you dig, the more you find. Good topic!

any one have any pics on the process or can recommend some books on how to do this right. i will most likely be doing it over my christmas break and would really like to have the car ready to paint come spring time.

Actually, I think you are very fortunate that the inner fender is still intact....I had to patch mine up before I could even start thinking about making outer patch panels.....if it helps, you can drill out the spotwelds to separate the two, the area you are talking about should only have 2 or 3 holding it in the wheel well area....once you grind off the paint its easy to see where they are....

Another thing I have done with compound curves is to make a wooden bucks with the curve of where you fold the edge over (female and male bucks). After you have the piece cut out to the proper size, you clamp the metal between the bucks with just the 1 inch edge (which you need to fold over to make the wheel lip edge) sticking out, then you knock this edge over 90' with a body hammer making it flat on the end of the properly shaped wooden buck. If you can figure out what I explained here, you will have a very strong patch panel in a compound curve with a factory looking folded edge in a curved shape not a straight shape. It really isn't that complicated but a bandsaw is needed to properly cut the wooden bucks. You could make this piece in about 1 hour with practice.
Go to your library and rent a book called metal shaping by Ron Fournier. You don't have to read the whole book, but it will show how to do it properly and not get frustrated.

Sheldon

I never thought of that before, Sheldon. Only problem he'll have is that wheel opening is done in 2 45º angles about ½" apart, instead of 1 @ 90º. I'm SO glad I've got a 72!

I agree with 4speeds, you are just going to have to jump in and give it a shot. Shaping metal is something that takes practice. On 90 degree bends I use some modified vice grips to bend the metal. They keep the panel from arching when you make the bend. The metal is going to want to kink around the wheelwell so your either going to have to notch it or work the kinks out with a hammer and dolly. Easiest and fastest way is to notch, and weld the seams when your done.
I always try to find a donor panel before going through all that trouble. Find a late model car that closly resembles the curve you need and start from there. It will turn out much better in the end.

Yea, I see what you mean 4speeds....naturally, I could find rear quarters for a 71-74 Charger at Tabco(which are supposed to be thick sheet)...but nothing on a Plymouth. I always thought that they shared quarters.....quess I was wrong. Not up on the later B bodies. http://www.tabcobodyparts.com/

BTW....."somebody" is rumored with coming out with new Swinger sheetmetal(patch), higher quality/thicker sheet--Laysons is one person who has mentioned it. Have the Shermans quarter...and would rather use a good thick OEM piece patch or quarter if I could find a good one. Those Repops are thin.....but it is an option. Pisses me off when my bud breaks out his numerous Camaro supply catalogs..and what he can get!(but wouldn't stray)

I have hesitated to say this, but what the heck! What I have done in the past with a complicated piece like this is to take my steel and mark the lines I need to bend along on the backside. I then take my die grinder with a thin wheel, and I "scribe" it. As it thins the metal out along where it needs to be bent, it makes shaping the curves much easier. Then I set my welder down low and weld along the inside where the scribe is to add strength. It's probably not the best way to do it, but it's strong, makes life alot simpler for a novice, and certainly gets the job done.

I like to cut out the original piece to good metal, take the piece you cut out and flatten it out to use as a pattern for the new patch, cut the new patch, and bend to the contours of the existing metal.

It takes practice, practice, practice!

I haven't had much trouble cutting and forming patch panels for a perfect fit, but I've had a terrible time preventing major warping. I'll slowly do ~20 to 50 little tacks, and then slowly do stich welds from there, but with a TIG, I just can't sem to keep the part from getting too hot.

Molloy, try taking a water-soaked rag and cool down the area after a couple of welds.

I had the same problem until I started doing this.

I use air to cool down the welds. Seems to "shock" it less...but maybe that's just me...

Jerry, Make sure when you trim out he rust, to get to good metal. Rust does not weld well.
My 72 Charger had the rear body lines wiped out in bondo. I knocked all of that out and made sheetmetal pieces in a bender to put the body lines back in. The edges by the wheel well radius, I made cuts every 1/2 in. or so and genlty bend them in to fit the radius. after wire feed welding ,it ground down pretty smooth.