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Body line repair eep

2649 Views 9 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  sweatybetty
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HOW DO YOU FIX THIS BODY LINE?

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Ouch. I'll take a guess till someone who knows what they are doing (gets payed to fix these things) jumps in, but I bet a chisel shaped wedge could be used to bang it out right in the middle of the body line. Good luck, doesn't look like any fun.
As stretched as the metal is there now I would say it's time for a patch panel. It looks as if you have some rust in the lower part to anyways.
It needs to come most of the way back out and then use filler to finish. A GOOD body man would be in there with a propane torch and just tap it back with a hammer. I've seen it done, but I've never attempted it.............



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The best way to do that would be a stud gun. It is a gun that welds a metal stud on the outside and then you can hook a slide hammer to it. Here is a picture of a repair I did when I was replacing a roof panel. The top of the hatch was hit pretty hard. Im sure you don't have access to one of these but if you do its the trick. Also you can get behind the dent with pry rods and good old hammer and dolly. You need to get it as close as possible before filler. If the panel becomes "metal worked" or streched to an oil can you can use a acetylene torch with a rose bud tip on it. You can heat a small spot to orange and then hammer and dolly it then cool. You will be shrinking the metal and it will tighten up.

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Check out the arrow. Do you see the shadow its pointing to? Thats a "high spot". Metal has "memory" it likes to go back to where it was before it was damaged. When pushing out on the dent just below that shadow have someone hit the high spot with a body hammer to "relieve" the tension there. It will help the metal relax and go back to where it belongs.

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I hate to be the bad guy in all of this but damage like that is best fixed by replacing the quarter panel. Unless you're ready to spend many hours massaging the metal I wouldn't attempt it. You can get a complete new (and straight) quarter panel for the car and replace it. To be honest that's probably fewer hours of work then repairing the one you have. You just drill out the spot welds all around the panel and then talk it into coming off. Put on the new on after grinding off any rust in and around the panel joints, then tack weld it back on in the same spot weld hols.

The spt welds would be at the door striker panel, the rear extension, the ourside wheel well and at the C piller. It takes some time to dril out the spot welds but less then trying to pull out and fix the damage you have. And even if you do suceed in pulling out the panel damage you're going to have bondo in there which over time IS going to show cracks, shrink and all, then you'll not be happy.

Just my two cents.

Dan
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I also don't wanna sound like a jerk to you either but calling a aftermarket "skin" straight is a stretch. I gaurentee you could straighten that panel in much less time than you could removing and replacing. Its not that bad of a repair at all. Second of all your going to have to section a new panel in down the entire side of the quarter panel. You can't go to the c-pillar as they don't even make a panel that goes up there. So in the end your risking tons of metal warping, welding, and grinding, and then filling the entire seam with filler down the entire side of the quarter panel. Risking all of the body filler prolbems you listed, that in the last ten years of doing bodwork I have never seen. Why would bodyfiller show cracks and shrink? Unless you are doing it wrong bodyfiller will last for a very long time. I think in the end you would be much happier with a repair than with a replacement. Just my .02 cents.
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Teeto said:
I also don't wanna sound like a jerk to you either but calling a aftermarket "skin" straight is a stretch. I gaurentee you could straighten that panel in much less time than you could removing and replacing. Its not that bad of a repair at all. Second of all your going to have to section a new panel in down the entire side of the quarter panel. You can't go to the c-pillar as they don't even make a panel that goes up there. So in the end your risking tons of metal warping, welding, and grinding, and then filling the entire seam with filler down the entire side of the quarter panel. Risking all of the body filler prolbems you listed, that in the last ten years of doing bodwork I have never seen. Why would bodyfiller show cracks and shrink? Unless you are doing it wrong bodyfiller will last for a very long time. I think in the end you would be much happier with a repair than with a replacement. Just my .02 cents.
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I agree this is not that bad of a repair it could be straightened and when done have a skim coat of filler in it you just need to have someone who knows how to work metal to do it. their is no way i would put on a quarter skin to fix that you would end up with more problems than you already have.
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Teeto said:
I also don't wanna sound like a jerk to you either but calling a aftermarket "skin" straight is a stretch. I gaurentee you could straighten that panel in much less time than you could removing and replacing. Its not that bad of a repair at all. Second of all your going to have to section a new panel in down the entire side of the quarter panel. You can't go to the c-pillar as they don't even make a panel that goes up there. So in the end your risking tons of metal warping, welding, and grinding, and then filling the entire seam with filler down the entire side of the quarter panel. Risking all of the body filler prolbems you listed, that in the last ten years of doing bodwork I have never seen. Why would bodyfiller show cracks and shrink? Unless you are doing it wrong bodyfiller will last for a very long time. I think in the end you would be much happier with a repair than with a replacement. Just my .02 cents.

[]{} check out this site http://www.autobody101.com/forums/
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