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1969 Dodge Charger R/T - The Paddock Project Charger Part 3: Quarter SurgeryInstalling The Quarterpanels And Rear Valance. From the April, 2000 issue of Mopar Muscle By Brad Ocock
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Last month in part one ("Quarter Surgery,") and part two ("Wheelhouse Resto"), we showed you the proper procedure for removing bad sheetmetal from your B-Body in anticipation of replacement. As shown in the stories, removing a rotten quarterpanel is more involved than just cutting out the bad metal and dressing the edges in preparation for putting on the fresh quarter. The wheelhouse replacement article dealt with removing and installing a new outer wheelhouse. Last month we showed that... Last month we showed that the rear frame crossmember was bad on the edges. It needed to be replaced, because this is the foundation of the whole back end of the car. Mike Paremsky, owner of Michael's Autobody in Winter Haven, Florida, is performing the restification on The Paddock-sponsored '69 Charger R/T. Last month he gave us tips on the proper way to remove a quarterpanel, what and where to take measurements from, and how to prep the car for installation of the new sheetmetal. The biggest factors to a successful quarterpanel replacement are careful measuring, leaving the doors on the car for character line and gap alignment, and patience. This month we follow along as Mike hangs the new quarterpanel, as well as replaces the lower valance, rear crossmember, trunk floor extensions, and quarterpanel end caps we determined were bad during the removal of the old quarter. That's the other tip Mike gave us-expect the amount of work needed to snowball. It's rare that a car needs a single piece of sheetmetal replaced to repair a rusted or damaged section, even if that's all it initially looked like it would need. We also should point out that while these photos are laid out in a step-by-step format, in truth everything needs to come together at the same time. For instance, to put the lower valance in place, the end caps need to be mocked up to check alignment. But to do that, the quarterpanels need to be mocked up so the end caps are in the right place. However, the quarterpanels are the last things to be welded in place, because everything else needs to be right so that when the quarters are installed, the door gaps and body lines on the quarterpanel are in the right place. Remember the Rubix Cube? It's the same thing.  After removing the old brace...  After removing the old brace and prepping the area, spot-weld holes are located on the replacement brace.  Mike gets ahead of himself...  Mike gets ahead of himself and tacks in the trunk floor extensions before replacing the rear crossmember brace (the new crossmember hasn't arrived yet, and Mike's not one to sit around and wait). The whole back of the Charger is "woven" together during construction, and everything interlocks. The rear brace goes behind the back of the trunk floor extension and attaches to the top half of the valance, which goes on after the trunk floor extensions. You'll have to pry pieces into place in several instances while replacing the rear sheetmetal on a Mopar, so pay careful attention to how it comes apart. Once everything is located, the brace is spot welded into place.  After the rear crossmember...  After the rear crossmember is in place, we move inside the trunk and install the trunk floor extensions, or "drops." Here, you see the new panel being compared to the old one from last month, before the rusted area is removed and the mating surface is cleaned up in preparation for the new piece.  Don't expect new panels like...  Don't expect new panels like this to be a perfect flush fit. This is the front end of the trunk floor extension, where it butts up against the back of the wheelhouse. Though it's not a perfect fit, it is correct-this is precisely the reason the factory used seam sealer. Get it close, get everything properly aligned, and then apply seam sealer to literally fill in the gaps.  From underneath the car, use...  From underneath the car, use locking pliers or clamps to hold the down-standing flanges of the trunk floor and extension together for welding.  After the rear crossmember...  After the rear crossmember is installed, the rear valance has to be installed. Here's the new, fresh valance panel being held up to the car before the back end is fully disassembled.  During the removal process,...  During the removal process, as Mike begins to remove the rear valance from the car, he rethinks his decision to remove and replace the entire rear valance. With the number of spot welds that have to be cut out to separate the rear valance from the taillight panel it will be Swiss-cheesed and become pretty flimsy. Also, by removing the section below the taillight panel, there will be nothing holding the back end of the car in place, as both quarters are already removed. In essence, all that will remain if Mike removes the whole rear lower valance will be the top surfaces of the quarterpanels, the deck lid opening, and the taillight panel, with nothing to hold them up. Gravity will pull them down and completely blow all our alignment and reference points.Mike's solution is to simply leave the good part of the lower valance-between the taillight panel and the trunk floor-intact. He removes everything below the trunk floor (as viewed from outside the car), and cleans up the ragged edge.   Mike puts the new lower valance...  Mike puts the new lower valance in place, with the quarterpanels temporarily in place, and checks the fit and alignment of the valance and the end caps. Mike uses self-tapping sheetmetal screws to hold body panels in place during the fitting and tack welding stages.  Once everything is fitted,...  Once everything is fitted, it all comes apart and spot-weld holes are punched in with a pneumatic panel flanger (top) and crimper. Once the spot-weld holes are made, everything is clamped and screwed back in place, and the spot-welding begins. Here, you can see Mike using a bar to press the flange of the new lower valance against the old one. Mike uses a layer of seam sealer between the two panels to keep the moisture out and inhibit rust. After the car is painted, everything will be sealed.  This is what the back of the...  This is what the back of the car looks like before welding. Notice the gaps on the end cap. This is the way they were fitted from the factory, and the gaps between the pieces were filled with a bead of seam sealer before the car was painted.  While the rear valance is...  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...  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...  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...  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...  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...  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,...  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,...  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...  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.  Here's a look at the welding...  Here's a look at the welding progression across the top of the quarterpanel. Remember that the Charger's quarterpanel is better than seven feet long! Mike has way over 500 tack welds across the top of each quarterpanel when we get to this last shot, and he isn't done. When he is done, it's a solid line of tack welds across the top of the quarterpanels.  After the tack welding is...  After the tack welding is done, out comes the grinder to clean everything up. Even with this care, there is still going to be some filler needed, as the panel isn't perfectly straight. It's also important to replace your grinder disc often during the process, as a sharp disc cuts quicker and cleaner, reducing heat build-up and warping.  Here's what the back end of...  Here's what the back end of the car looks like with the new quarterpanel in place, ready to strip the black paint it's shipped in, a skim coat of filler, and priming.
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