1969 Dodge Charger R/T - The Paddock Project Charger Part 3: Quarter Surgery

While the rear valance is being fitted, the quarterpanels are also being fitted to the car. Here, Mike is putting one of them in place, however, this really is a two man job. The quarterpanels for a Charger are around seven feet long, so they bend easily, especially after we removed the metal from the top edge of them.

Here you can see where the quarterpanel fits behind the taillight panel. Notice the slit (arrow) Mike made in the flange of the quarterpanel to get the alignment right.

After the quarter is set in place, holes are drilled for the quarterpanel extension. Here you can see that the end of the quarterpanel doesn't exactly line up with the extension.

Mike has to massage and fit the bottom edge of the quarterpanel to get it to match the extension, and you can see that the end of the quarterpanel now lines up with the extension perfectly.

Once the placement of the quarter- panel is dialed in, it is secured with self-tapping screws and locked into place.

At the door jamb, Mike fits the front edge of the quarterpanel. As you can see, the gap between the door edge and the jamb is a little wide, and not even the whole way down. However, the highlight from our camera's flash is hitting on the body line that runs down the side of the car, and is exactly level on both sides of the door gap. That character line is the important factor in hanging a new quarterpanel-if it doesn't line up between the door and the quarterpanel now, it won't when the car is done, the doors won't be aligned correctly, and the side of the car will never look right. To compensate for the gap between the door edge and the quarter, it can be fixed with a light application of filler, or welding a small piece of rod to the edge of the quarterpanel and grinding. But the welding and grinding will create excess heat which can warp the panel, so Mike prefers to use filler.

At the front of the panel, spot-weld holes are put in at the flange that wraps into the door jamb. Holes are also located in the wheel lip, where it attaches to the outer wheelhouse. After all the holes are made, the surfaces to be welded are cleaned down to bare metal.

The holes are all spot-welded, and then cleaned off with a grinder. At this point, the quarterpanel is attached at the front and back, and it's fitted along the top seam.

Mike starts the arduous task of welding the seam along the top of the quarterpanel. Here's where patience is a virtue. You can see that he's tacked the quarter in place, with tack welds about every six inches. That's how the whole quarter gets welded, to minimize heat build up and distortion.