I'm replacing both the inner and outer wheelwell. How do I join them together at the seem? DO I have to crumple(for lack of a better word) them together as GM did ?? A body shop guy was once telling me that this process of coupling together the inner and outter wheel well was the key to a proper installation. He claimed that once moisturea makes its way in at this joint it begins to rust. he mentioned sealing it with glue and then 'crumpling' it at the seam as GM did. What do i do???

**Also, how do I get teh butt welds out? I heard there a special drill bit to do this but people at the local Home Dept, Napa and hardware store were dumbfounded when asked! Where can i buy this drill bit??


Thanks, Chris

The inner & outer wheelhouses are spot welded together and the seam is filled with seam sealer. You can do a search on this subject and find a ton of good info. and how to's. You'll want to replicate the factory process by punching a hole in the outer wheelhouse every couple inches and tacking the halves together. Then fill the seam with sealer; 3M makes a good one. Guys will also say to use a panel adhesive and just glue it together. I plan on doing the former as I'm in the middle of this process myself.
From what I've read in past posts, most guys are very meticulous about drilling through each spot weld and almost surgically removing each half of the wheelhouse. Myself, I took the Jesse James approach and ripped the pass. side quarter panel, both wheelhouses and trunk extension off inside of 10 minutes using an air hammer with a panel ripping and a chisel bit. There was some "collateral damage" but nothing major. After that I'll do the same to the driver side.
There will be a ton of replys to this post; just read through them all, search past posts, and you'll know what way is easiest for you.

I like that , the " Jesse James approach ". Sawz-all is my best friend!

I don't know..seems there's never enough time to do it right, but always time to do it over..Using a spot weld removing bit and a low speed drill will remove spot welds quickly and you don't have to go back and straight all the metal back into place. Also, be sure to support the car well. With the entire real wheelhouse out may cause a little flexing in the body depending on how you have it supported.

Smoke wrench, BFH, mini-grinder and a cold chisel! :D Lots of vise grips too!

Measure twice, cut once!!!

-Mark.

V8:
Just finished mine on both sides and I used FUSION panel adhesive to put mine together and it worked great and I don't think they will come apart anytime soon. I am not planning on spot welding or crimping. Looks nice just like it is unless you just want the look of the crimp! I also coated everything inside with POR15 to help future rust. As far as getting them off, I bought a high dollar spot weld cutter and didn't like it. Slow, you have to predrill a small pilot hole to keep it from walking although it had a set pin in it and then trying to locate each weld. I took a die grinder with a thin cutting blade and cut just slightly above the lip of the quarter panel, not cutting the inner wheelwell, and then peeled it downward to where I could see the welds. Then with the same die grinder, carefully cut through the welds and removed the excess panel material. Then grind around the edge to clean it up. This did the least amount of damage in my opinion and went fairly quick. Three hours each side. But take your time!! Good luck!!