I have a few pin holes right at the rear tire mainly at the top of the wheel opening should I replace the whole 1/4 or just put a skin on it.They will be coming from Ricks anyone used their 1/4 or skins before,and is one easier to replace than the other?

skin it around the wheel well.
you wanna keep as much original metal as possible.

What is the difference between the skins vs.the 80% quarter?

I think they are the same. :confused:

I have some pieces that you may want to use. They are original quarters and may suit you for repairing those areas. Email me and I can shoot you some pictures if you are interested.

Georgia,

The 80% skins are different than regular skins. The 80% are MUCH higher quality. The cost difference is minimal, and they include up to the base of the sailpanel, and also wrap partially around the jamb.

O.K. Belair thanks graemlins/thumbsup.gif


There you go Buck.

Take a look at the pics in my sig. I was planning on using the 80% quarters. The issue I keep running through my head is to run them all the way up or try to patch the lowers. I hear it would probably be much easier to run them up to about an inch from the top.

Dawg said to leave as much original metal as possible.All I have is a couple of pin holes at the wheel opening,The rear bottom of the 1/4 and by the doors is good.

You will need to determine the condition of the outer wheelhouses. Pull the wheel, scrape the crud off and have a look. Check out the lip of the wheelhouse and 1/4 panel all the way around very closely. If you truly only have a couple of pin holes and they are at the top of the wheel well, there is a remote possibility that the damage can be repaired so that it won't show fron inside the trunk. That will have to be done by someone that really knows what they are doing to avoid warping the 1/4 panel.

If you have to replace the 1/4 and you don't want the repairs to show, consider a full 1/4 replacement. More expensive and a LOT more work. That's the way I've always done it but I'm old, crotchity and something of a perfectionist.

If all you have is a few pin-holes, then why not just get them brazed in...

hey georgia , this is a subject I am well familar with , the 1/4 skin's are the way to go , the 80% 1/4's are much harder to install and the set I worked with were less than perfect , the 1/4 skins can be put on with a minimal amount of filler , skins also allow you in to work on (IE CLEAN OR REPLACE) the outer wheelhouse ,
good luck graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Once again, if all he has are pin-holes, then why in the heck replace with any kind of skin and then have all that welding & grinding to do... why not simplify and just braze or "lead".

hi there, if all you have to worry about is the wheel lip area definitely use the qtr skin its the easiest to install. make your cutline about 1 1/2" down from the top of the qtr, in about 1 1/2" from the back of the door jamb and about 1 1/2" in from the back of the tailpan, and if you can, stay above the 1st style line at the frt of the quarter above the rocker panel. behind the rear tire you can use the full panel all the way to the bottom. this is the easiest way to do it as it will leave the original body lines on the car and you can align your new panel to them. then i use a flanging tool on the body side which will put a nice S crimp in the metal and will allow you to lay the panel flush into the body, then make short 1/4" welds at differnt points along the panel to keep warpage to a minimum. also once you have your panel off check your outer wheel house lip and also the back 12" of the out wheel panel a very rust prone area, good luck to you, regards tom

I could never get anything to stick to braze or lead , I have tried epoxy , body filler over lead and braze , have done everything I could think of but those are two thing's I can not work with , I am sure they are a way to do it but to me it just ain't worth it , good ole welder and some good ole bondo will do it and do it to last ,

Pinholes! You have pinholes and want to use a quarter skin to fix it? That's a whole lotta work when pinholes could be fixed with a welder or with a small metal patch. Just my humble opinion....

No I dont want to put a 1/4 or even a skin if I can fix it with a mig,I know how to weld.Thats why I posted the question so someone more experienced than me in this area could offer suggestions.But I also dont want pinholes again in five years either. If welding the pinholes will be a good fix then fine but if it needs 1/4 fine too.

The problem with pin holes is that you don't know how soon the next one will appear. I got bit on a couple of customer cars merely welding the pinholes shut. Six months later, they were back with new pinholes.

As for brazing, it's very hard to get the fluxes completely neutralized. This is why you get bondo and paint pops 6-12 months later. The flux residue continues to react with the metal and bondo. I probably went through 100 yards of brazing rod before giving up on it. 95 percent of the jobs held, but that 5 percent just wasn't worth the risk.

John

Brass will always have to have ALL the flux ground off for anythink to stick to it. Same with lead. ALL tinting fluid and acid must be completely ground off. Think of this stuff as new metal. It has to be completely clean before you can do anything else.

As mentioned above , pin holes typically mean something else is going on. Probably rust forming between outer wheel house and quarter panel, just like every other non California/Arizona car. All you'll do is chase pin holes with bondo or whatever and it will look like it. Now , if you do decide to replace metal, and really care about what it will look like , do as much of the quarter as you dare. I would put seams where GM put the seams , not all the way down the face of the quarter ( ie 80% qrtr ),a perfect sight line for viewing imperfections and ghost lines, which are inevitable when seaming. It's all in what you want.. Good luck ! there , that's my $.02

And 2 more cents worth,, unless Goodmark has changed their metal guage,, stay away from them,,,they are too flimsey , to thin, will crease and bend at almost anything including a polisher. I realize that some gm panels out there are high dollar but you are gonna pay one way or other...They are the only company got burned on.

Pace I have dabbled in Paint and body for some years now,but replacing a 1/4 is a little above my head without prof help,I agree with you on the face lines.I'm not building a show car but I do want a very nice driver.I dont want someone to look at the car and say what in the heck happend here and point to a seam in the middle of my 1/4.I think I am going to put full 1/4's on it,alot of money and time but worth it in the long run to me.

zdld17 what panel do you suggest?