I picked up a parts car locally. It turns out it's really rough (hidden by a LOT of filler) and almost makes my car look like a good candidate for restoration . The only thing going for it is that it doesn't appear to have been in an accident. I'm trying to save the rear quarters. I cut my quarters off as shown below.

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I have yet to strip the paint off of what's left of mine and clean out the goop underneath, but my bet is that what's still on my car is better than the same section on the parts car (especially around the door handle area). So, assuming mine are better (I'll know once I strip the paint off my car's quarters next Spring), my plan is to cut the quarters on the parts car and splice them into what's left of mine. The problem is, the donor pieces of the quarters will need significant repair and I'm not sure if they are usable and, if so, what is the best way to go about repairing them. Below are pics of each quarter and its respective trouble areas.

Right quarter full view:

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Right quarter repair at door sill. The patch on the bottom is just covering rust that was pushed in, but I can't figure out what was going on with the long vertical weld line. The quarter has been pushed in all along and in front of the line, but it doesn't look like was accident damage.

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The pinch weld at the taillight area looks good

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Bad patch and a rust hole below the taillight area. The patch did not retain the shape well so there was a lot of filler over it.

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Some rust, even after cleaning with an 80 grit conditioning disc.

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Hammer marks?

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Here's the left quarter:

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For some reason the whole edge at the door sill is missing and was just filler. I wouldn't have to make too much of this because my cut line will cut off most of it.

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Someone ground off the edge at the wheel well in spots. There's about a 4 inch section below this more obvious piece shown below.

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There are dents and rust holes on the rear of the left quarter.

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And kind of a gouge at the end. Someone brazed a circle, but it doesn't look like it was a patch??

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A dent/kink with a hole.

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The channel is quite pitted, which concerns me. Look at how much filler had been added to the edge of the fender; trying to get a nice seam on the trunk lid?

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There is also rust pitting in the taillight area.

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Also some rust at the lower front (seems to be a common area on these).

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And some major scratches along the bottom.

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So, what do you guys think? If I cut out the bad and MIG in replacments, knowing there will be filler needed, are they usable? The rust pitting in the channel really concerns me, but I'm guessing/hoping that the method of sandblast-rust convert-epoxy prime will work.

If you don't get replies from them, PM Dion and bbrock. They've both got big chunks of their quarters off their cars and can maybe offer some experienced based perspective.
If it were me, I'd try and find better quarters. That looks like a lot of work, beyond just getting them off one car and onto the other.

Just my $.02.
Best of luck on your build and keep the pics coming.

I would go the route you are saying. I guess it depends on how pretty you can make the repairs and how pretty you want the repairs. I was building a driver, so pretty was not that important to me. Yours looks very fixable even to the point of pretty. I would try.

There is bad filler on the inside of the fender, above the door handle and above the tail light. If you haven't gotten it out, you should. That is what caused the rust in those two places. I remember using a small pick and digging and digging and digging. There were pockets and openings and cracks in the filler that loaded up with water and rusted thru from underneath.

Good Luck

Thanks. With any luck maybe they’ll reply here. When I have time I’ll update my original thread with this summer’s progress.

Thanks Malcolm. I’d like them to be pretty; it’s a sickness I have.

I'm not sure my experience will be very helpful because I only had to cut the quarter from the wheel opening forward. I think your donor quarter is usable with work and the right skills. The parts that would make me nervous are the repairs around the tail lights with complex curves. If it were me, I'd probably start there, and if I got nice, pretty repairs, I'd forge ahead with repairing the panel. The rest of the repairs look fairly straightforward. I still struggle with how much pitting in hidden areas is acceptable. But in spots that are structurally sound, I'm leaning toward your approach of media blasting, converter, and epoxy to protect, followed by a thin skim of filler to smooth them out if needed.

The other bit of concern is the amount of brazing in the repairs on your donor parts. My understanding is that brass and welding don't mix. So all that has to come out to get clean welds. Hopefully a REAL welder will correct if that is wrong.

Also if it were me, I'd fish around to get an idea of price and availability of a clean donor. I'm cheap, but if I could get a solid piece not needing repair for $200 or less, I'd go that route. I hit a similar snag with my project. I had panels donated to me for both sides that I thought could be used to replace my rusted sail panels, door jambs, and front section of quarters. But the donated panels were rusted and poorly repaired so I wound up buying new RD pieces for sail panels and jambs, and will fix the minor rust on my original panel for what is left. I've also been reading up on easy grind MIG wire and am going to give it a try on my non-structural sheet metal repair. Sounds like it might make life a little easier.

If you haven't seen it, check out Cary's recent posts on Raynekat's build about channel repair. It starts about here.

Good luck, and post lots of pics of your repairs if you go that route!

Thanks, Brent. That raises another question... Should the repairs be done on the parts car before cutting/removing the fenders? I'm thinking so since they are firmly held in place and I'd be able to ensure a good fit (at least to the parts car).

I'm still learning as I go myself, but I agree with doing as much as you can while it is still on the car. Then after you take it off, you can finish up the stuff that requires better access to the back side. Sounds like a good plan anyway.

Ok, thanks for your advice

Those quarters look pretty rough. If it were me replacing them I would try to source some better quarters to start with. There appears to be a lot of donor cars out there with parts available for pretty reasonable prices. Shipping can be the pain in the butt, depending upon the distance. Or you could always post that your (new) quarters need a lift to your place and hope someone is driving close to you and can haul some parts. It will make the job and life much easier.

Now if you are an experienced body-man and metal fabricator, then go with what you have. Regardless, keep a photo record of your work. Cheers.

Yeah, I'd much prefer better quarters. But, the only one's I've been aware of are out of my price range (like crazy $$). I'll keep my eye out over the winter and if anyone has some very good ones (not filler covering everything up etc.) for a reasonable price, please let me know.

If you have not done so, place a WTB in the classified section. I would try to get both from one person so the shipping is not as bad as getting them from different sources. That way they can be boxed or wrapped together.