Goodies came in the mail today from tabco. body work will start soon.

I am not really impressed with the quality of the panels, soft details, some small dings and they need trimming. I think I will only use the lower portion and I will need to grind out the little notch at the very bottom, but I think they will work out nicely with some finesse and a little hammer work.

Edited May 19, 201014 yr by grantf

I got some parts from tabco as well, and although the doglegs I thought were okay (just okay), the part I was really unhappy with was the rear lower quarters. The curve is TOTALLY off. I don't have even a fraction of the skill it would take to make them look right. Wasted money IMO.

darn I need to replace rust in the lower rear also, now what?

You know, the Tabco panels are made to be installed by a pro shop. They are always a little bigger than you need so you can mark and cut with a bit of an overlap. I'm not sure but I think you cut out the old, clamp the new one in place and mark it from behind to get a nice clean line for your butt weld.

Youtube has lots of welding videos if you are interested.

I would call a shop in your area to see what they would charge if either of you are uncomfortable with installing them. My bodyman installed doglegs for me and was pretty impressed with the fit. A little hammer work but they look great.

Good luck guys.

John

Maybe you are all old hands at this, but when I installed my Tabco doglegs, I tried real hard to match up the distances between the style lines on the old fenders and with the new doglegs. Lots of careful measurements, etc. What I should have done is had the fender installed on the car with the door in place as well, then match up the style lines between the fender and the door while adding the dogleg. As it was, I ended up cutting almost the whole fender width along the lower style line, repositioning the metal (read lots of hammering), then rewelding the gap. I think they came out all right, but it could have been a lot easier.

Hard earned lessons from a newbie bodyworker.

Like anything, if you don't have the skills and you want a good job, hire a pro. A good panel guy will have them fitting great in no time.

My body shop guy installed tabco doglegs on my car and they look perfect.

carl

Maybe you are all old hands at this, but when I installed my Tabco doglegs, I tried real hard to match up the distances between the style lines on the old fenders and with the new doglegs. Lots of careful measurements, etc. What I should have done is had the fender installed on the car with the door in place as well, then match up the style lines between the fender and the door while adding the dogleg. As it was, I ended up cutting almost the whole fender width along the lower style line, repositioning the metal (read lots of hammering), then rewelding the gap. I think they came out all right, but it could have been a lot easier.

Hard earned lessons from a newbie bodyworker.

I will not be using the "style lines" from the tabco panel as this area is not rusted on my car only the bottom 3 inches, I will trim the tabco panels and only use the lower portion, I am sure I can get them to fit just fine and don't mind a little hammer work, I most likely will order other repare panels from tabco, I will say that it did take some time for them to arrive but they said it would be about three weeks and I got them in about two.

ok I got a TON! of info from this video. I will do all of my body work this way!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK89Q9BnF2Q&NR=1

Please tell us you are joking.

I do hope you aren't considering using pop rivets.

Oh ya! but I need to find a dust buster to clean up

! Of all the videos on you tube you got stuck on the vintage section....

I think Jeff Foxworthy once said: If you use pop rivets to fix rust holes in your car, you may be a redneck.