My new project car is 100% rust free.......................

I weld in the chassis stiffening kit yesterday and all went pretty well, removed the undercoating to expose the perfect rust free metal underneath so welding was no problem at all, except I cant see as good as I used to.

I get done with that and decide to strip the paint around the dent in the rear drivers quarter panel and start removing the dent in it. Well, the dent had some bondo already around it, all around it actually and then I notice the whole fender has bondo on it, all over it. I scrape, grind and make this huge mess of white dust everywhere to find out the panel was shaped entirely with bondo. I knew the rear quarters were both grafted from other cars as one is yellow on the inside and the other one is a bronze color.

On the side of my house, I have somehow kept and entire rear quarter panel from another car but had forgotten about it. My option is to try to make the existing panel straight again or cut it off and replace it making sure it is fitting properly. Which is something else I found when removing the bondo from the car. See the pictures below and take note of the door gap and where the steel ends. You can clearly see the line.

What would you do in this situation? Cut the panel off and start over? Just get it as straight as you can and bondo the rest? I am open to suggestions.

What are you going to do with the car?

If it's going to get a body kit anyway, and you can do both options with equal skill, choose whatever option will get the job done quickest.

If it's going to be a stock bodied car, well, that's a tougher choice. Either way, the fender isn't original.

I'm not a big fan of body filler, but it has it's place autobody work today. Lead is a lost art, and most guys in body shops will replace a fender rather than repair. It's just cheaper in man hours, especially if the fender is bolt-on. (Obviously, ours aren't.)

Do what makes ya happy, Scott.

To me it looks like a simple measure of time:

How much time would it take to make that panel right?

How much time would it take to weld on a new panel?

It looks as though you have good metal but just body damage (read: dents). It could probably be hammered out properly with a little care and patience. If not, simply weld in the proper metal down there and be done with it.

get it down to all metal.
I find that a propane torch is faster than a sander...
Do all the safety precautions (If I did not say that, someone would chime in, steal the thread and talk about it anyways...and I know your a big boy)

Anyways...
The front part of the fender, think about a scissor jack, and two custom built bucks, one to spread the wieght of the scissor jack, and the other is pushed up against the back of the fender...you can push it out, and hit with a hammer to get it pretty close to original..

Its worth a few hours to try anyways..if at that point you just cant get it back, or loose patience with the metal beating process...start up the drill and take it off.

I suspect that it will take quite a bit of time to remove and replace it, and get all the gaps correct, but certainly can be done.

I would rather beat the fender to as close as I can get it..bondo works fine if its thin..then paint ..

Rich

if you're going to try to right the exisiting material you might consider looking into one of john kelly's shinking discs.

k

If most of it can't be straightened and just glazed then its a toss up. Most production cars have body filler on them. Ain't nothing worse than a wavy bondo job which you block sanded for weeks on.

Scott, I know with 914's you are the can-do-anything man. Although, I would just suggest replacing the whole panels with untweaked ones for ease. You're going to end up stripping for paint anyways and it would take you a lot less time to weld and apply a light coat of bondo than hours upon hours of hammering, jacking, hammering, jacking filling, finishing then finally prepping for paint.

Well, of all things I kept from all the cars we cut up here, I found a perfect, straight complete drivers side rear quarter panel. I just have to decide what would be easier to do and the best end result. I think for resale value, the new quarter might be the best route as there would be minimal bondo involved. Funny thing is, this rear quarter is from the exact same year car, just a different color.

do the whole panel. cutting and welding is faster than trying to make a nice line/surface with bondo.

it'll be much cleaner (and lighter!) ...
Andy

Hmmm... Plasma cutter and welder, or hours w/ a hammer and sandpaper...

Chop that thing off of there and put a new one on.

BJH

I would throw a chalonmower kit on it





do whats easiest and achieves the end goal you are looking for

Leave it like it is ..... no one will notice ..... it'll never get out the garage anyway




















You expected less from Slits ..... silly person

Since the "lead thing" was brought up here....are there any left?
The guy who re-did my sailpanels in '79 was a Frenchman they called "frog". They didn't have replacement panels then. He hand-beat the things & leaded them in - no bondo whatsoever.

I know body quality lead is extremely expensive & that a lot of the "workers" have died off, but was the trade tought to new generations? Sure beats bondo!

I was told during my body work classes that most shops won't do it because of EPA.