1. Who makes the best and longest lasting rear qtr panel? Or are they all the same?

2. How much better (if at all) are full qtr's vs skins??

3. Which is better to do, full qtr's or skins??

4. Should the new Qtr skins/panels be coated with something on the backside to make them last longer or keep from rusting... or is the black coating good enough?

5. If using skins is there some sort of sealer that should be used to seal the back side where the old panel meets new (overlapped area)?

Thanks in advance!!!
Buddy P

I'm not a body man, but I've done a bunch of Camaro resto's and this is my $.02:

1) If you can get your hands on 'em (ie - AFFORD THEM!) NOS factory quarters are the best. Even though the dies were getting flogged towards the end of the ir life, everybody agrees that these are still the best quality parts around. If you can't get these or don't want 'em, most all the other sheetmetal is made by Goodmark. Their stuff is pretty good but may be thinner than factory metal and will take extra time to 'fit' onto the car. How long will they last?? Well, if your car never sees weather again, like mine, they'll last virtually forever!

2) Skins don't replace all of the metal. On my latest resto, I used Goodmark 80% panels. I should have bought full qtrs as I ran into a lot of rusty metal in the door jambs and found out that the interface to the tail light panel was dented, rusty, and mostly made of Bondo!! So IMHO full qtrs are better.

3)If your car is in basically good shape, skins are arguably a bit easier to install. Most pros agree the full quarters are better and ultimately easier to install since you run into fewer fitment problems and you aren't missing any metal that you need as I described above.

4 + 5) In the areas where you can't see, behind the door panels at the rockers, trunk filler interface, I used 3M inner panel coater. This is a rust inhibitive coating (Rusty Jones?) that gives a lot of protection to these areas. Weld thru primer can be used before the panels are assembled, and the wheelhouse interface can be done with structural adhesive instead of welds for even more corrosion resistance. Hell, todays epoxies and adhesives are so good you can bond the entire panel on if you want. On the upper seam, I cleaned it up and primed/painted the panels.

Helpful??

Paul D.

Yes, deffinatly helpful! The way my car sets right now is this. I bought it with 1 qtr skin already done/fitted/welded on. The other qtr is cut out and the skin is fitted and basically ready to be welded on. The only part of the other "20%" of the original qtr is inside where the rear window was. I would have to weld in new metal to replace those "window jamb" areas.

Didn't know you could still get NOS rear qtr's??? Where can you get these and how much $$$??

So basically if my rear qtr's are already skinned, don't bother putting on full rear aftermarket qtr's?

Thanks again!!
Buddy P

NOS Quarter on EBay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7915859935&category=33550&sspagename=WDVW)

Here's an example of what a NOS quarter is going for.... and this one STILL has 5 days to go before it's sold! It'll fetch a pretty penny for sure. When you're talking NOS, you're talking bucks.

Just take a gander at these NOS convertible quarters..... NOS conv. quarters (http://www.camaros.net/cgi-bin/cyber/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=30334&exact_match=on&photo_size=full)

More..... NOS quarters (http://www.camaros.net/cgi-bin/cyber/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=30298&exact_match=on&photo_size=full)

Goodmark is tooting that they are using new dies for the 100% quarters. They also lowered the price from somewhere around $525 to around $360. I bought 2 of them recently from the new dies and they measure out correctly and look AWESOME. If there is a difference in thickness from the original it is extremely minimal. I'm taking it all in Monday to be installed... I'll let you all know of any problems encountered.

david,
I have a question for you about your quarter panels. I talked to goodmark and they said that the new stampings are in goodmark boxes and the old stampings are not. A dealer for them said the new stampings are in a golden legion box and OER boxes are the old stampings. What did your boxes have on them? I just wanted to know before I order.

Thanks for your help,

Markus

One came in a Golden box, one in a Goodmark box. They look exactly the same, and measure the same, and the same new price. They both have good crisp complete bends, edges & corners.

I ordered them in June and one of them didn't come in until July 20th.

I assume the new qtrs come with the window pins?

OK here the skinny on the Qts and any other sheetmetal you might need. As an ex-vendor, you learn who makes what and where it comes from. ALL Sheetmetal comes from Tawain (cost)and is a US owned comapny named Golden Legion. They purchased the GM tooling a few years back. They re-released the First Gen qtrs about 6-7 years ago and found that the pass side was real bad, so it was pulled untill corrections were made. The new items were re-leased once again around Nov-Dec time frame of 2001. I personally sold over 20 sets of them with NO COMPLAINTS at all. The only difference I noticed was the stamped # up near the inner trunk lip curvature where the trunk filler panel tie's into. To answer your question about who's metal is best is easy. Who ever offers you the best deal. Its all made by Golden Legion Lic under GM Restoration Parts. Some companies such as Goodmark add there stamp to it as well. Note. Look at the Hoods that come from Goodmark. It has the GM Restoration Blue Logo and the Red Goodmark logo as well. This all goes for the Qtrs, fenders and door Shells. So shop around for the best deal. I hope this helps.

BTW

Classic Industries is selling them for 359 a side (Normal Price), but their shipping is Horrible. Skins actually take more man Hours to put on correctly than a full Qtr. If done correctly, a full Qtr is BY FAR the best way to go. Looks and Integrity for the car. You'll be much happier knowing you did the right thing instead of a thin Patch. Tom

Tom, that lays a lot of questions to rest. And makes sense.
Thanks for the heads up.

NO Problem. If you guys need any help on what is crap and whats fair for your reso project, just ask. I'm getting sent back over to the sandBox for 5 months, so I may be a little slow responding. USAF (Heavy Equip Op)

Originally posted by BuddyP:
I assume the new qtrs come with the window pins? No pins. Fine by me, I'm going to try something different and go for newer style flush mount molding. Plan on driving my Camaro regularly when I get done with it, and those chrome strips suck (moisture, pine needles, etc).

Originally posted by Tom Weaver:
I'm getting sent back over to the sandBox for 5 months, USAF (Heavy Equip Op) 5 months? Lucky you. I KNEW I shoulda stayed AF instead of becoming a grunt. :rolleyes:
Good luck and keep your head down. Armor-up that bulldozer!
graemlins/thumbsup.gif

thanks to everybody with their answers. I called the supplier and am going to pick up everything next saturday.

Mark Antrim

Thanks for all the info guys, and thanks Tom for the details. I pretty much assumed they all came from the same place and knew that they were from Taiwan (which send shivers up my spine) but is much easier to come up with $360 vs $1000 a side (for NOS).

Anyway, as my car stands (the way I bought it) the RH side qtr already has a skin on, fitted and welded in place. Actually whoever did it did a very good job. The other side has the skin fitted but not welded on. So what it comes down to is should I leave the RH side alone or just get a full QTR, and should I use the skin on the other side (since all I have to do is weld it in place) or go ahead with a full new QTR?....What it all comes down to for me is this, I don't want to spend 10 years restoring a car only to have rust start on it in 3 years.

Thanks again for all the info!!!!
Buddy P

I would replace with a full quarter. Mine was skinned 8 years ago and now i'm putting on fulls this time. It will be a lot less filler. just my 2 cents.

Mark Antrim

Mark, what happened to yours that you are redoing it after 8 years? How did you prep the skin the first time around? How often do you drive your car?

Thanks!
Buddy P

I think I paid 1200.00 for my car to be repainted including all body work. The guy did a nice job at the time but the drivers side trunk drop off was not replaced. It rusted in a few years and the quarter panel moved while going down the highway. It caused where he installed the 80% quarter to show where he seamed it together. Now the car is completly apart and now is the time to do it right.
I drive me car all summer long and cant wait to get it back out( it's been four and a half years).

Mark Antrim