Need HELP with rear quarter panel replacement... please!

[PrOxLaMuS©]

as you guys may have known I was in an accident and my rear quarter panel is well... pretty F*****.

So I was looking for my options.. I can

*Hammer and Hammer it out and fill in the rest with body filler

*Cut out the old quarter panel and weld in a new one. ($700 for a new panel plus the cutting and welding)

*Buy a fiberglass panel and bond it on! ($125 for a new panel)

However I had a question about getting a fiberglass rear panel.

Here is what the website mentioned...

-----------------------------------------------------

Looks original - This panel is

designed to be bonded over the

existing steel panel. This method

offers an easier and inexpensive

way to repair rust damage. A

permanent "full panel" repair - not

a "patch job". For professional

results use Super Glue Kit #10700

*Because of its high strength and resistance,

our fiberglass will hold its shape even under

severe stress. Strong impacts that damage

steel may not hurt fiberglass at all. Those

"parking lot" dents along the sides of your

just won't happen.

*

Generally speaking, they bolt on just like the

steel panles. No special fiberglass experience

is neccessary. In some cases parts are much

easier to install than steel parts, because

no welding or special equipment is neccessary.

Easily installed by yourself or any competent

bodyman.

*WHY NOT BUY METAL PARTS?

a) RUST -- "Rust proofed" or not, steel rusts.

A little stone chip in your paint

or undercoat and the inevitable

happens, ugly bubbles and rust

appear.

DAMAGE -- Shipping

c) HIGHER COSTS

d) POOR FIT -- Some aftermarket panels just

dont fit!

DO THEY FIT?

Absolutely -- We guarantee it.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway... how easy would this be?

Is this a good idea? Covering and fixing the body with a fiberglass panel?

Would it stick out a little bit and look wider than the other side?

This is the new panel I can get for $125 bux.

[ROOPZ]

Its just my opinion..but if you have the money...buy the steel quarter panel. That fiberglass may be nice but it isnt original, it is covering up the original and therefore will not give you the same body line without a LOT of bondo work. (i.e. it will stick out further from the car bu the thickness of the panel itself.) And it is not going to keep the metal under it from rusting either.

I have a 68 Camaro that needed new quarters on it and i tried to skimp and bought the re-pro skins. Big mistake...I ended up buying NOS quarters and having them installed. Very expensive lesson for me. I know it is a hard decision and I wish you luck!

ROOPZ

[EScanlon]

Unless the impact revealed some serious rust that can only be taken care of by replacing the metal, that impact does not look to be so major that a fender replacement is necessary.

Yes, it will involve a couple hours of pulling and bumping but if the body man is qualified it is not an impossible nor difficult task. The two hardest to work areas, as far as I can see, is the impact around the Gas Flap Door. Even if they have to remove the gas filler neck and the back part of the opening that mates to the fender it isn't impossible. The other area is back towards the tail light. That area is harder because of the internal support for the hatch area. Still, other than the difficulty in reaching back there, not impossible to get a dolly behind to bump it out.

The only other areas, are invisible in this photo. They are the side fender support, also known as the side panel floor (in between the rear deck floor and the fender, which closes off the inner fender) and the actual bumper mount channel. If they haven't suffered any damage, then it's an easy fix.

Yes the repair may run you about $800 to $1000 depending on what shop you go to, but I doubt that they'll recommend an immediate fender replace, unless they don't have a qualified bump man.

2¢

Enrique

[Zrush]

I agree with Escanlon. Actually the dent doesn't look to bad, at least from the picture. I would not cut into your Z. It looks as if it can be pounded out and I do realize Z skin is thin. To me the most important thing about that repair is keeping your body lines. Never try to blend fiberglass with metal, it might look good for awhile, but it will come apart due to vibration, etc. Your biggest expense will be the labor to fix it. Your Z is still beautiful! :classic:

[mdbrandy]

If you decide to cut and weld, I am madly trying to get my '78 280 parts car apart so I can get it out of my garage and my new 280 into the garage. That portion of the right rear fender looks pretty good from what I can see so far. If you want it before I have the carcass carted off to the recycler (hopefully within a week or two), it's yours for the shipping. By then, I should have virtually everything stripped off the car.

But listen to the guys in the previous posts. They know a lot more about body work than I do. Cut and weld might not be your best bet.

[Z Kid]

If you are thinking about bonding over a fibreglass one, you may do just as well to get in there with a cricket bat handle, bang it roughly out, then just fibreglass bog it up.

I couldnt see that a competent body man would have any problems beating it out, the question would be is it cheaper to use the panel off the parts car and have it welded or have your original one straigtened?

[EScanlon]

From experience, if the cost of welding in a new panel, versus bumping out the old one are very much close to each other, bump out the old. I wouldn't consider replacing the metal until such time as there were obvious benefits.

The reasoning is simple. Even if you do a continuous stitch weld (tricky to do on sheet metal) you will still have the overlap area on an overlay weld. That overlap area can develop problems way down the road. Hidden rust pockets, or areas that can cause your paint to craze or crack. Add to that that the welding typically distorts the panel to an extent, and you still have to use Bondo to blend in the irregularities. If you are very careful, you can keep the distortion down to a minimum. The only way to eliminate these two problems is to butt weld the panels (seamed edge to edge with no overlap material). But this is not as easy as it sounds.

If you are good enough to do butt welding on sheet metal, then by all means go for it, but butt welding sheet metal is definitely the pinnacle of welding ability. At that point, this discussion becomes moot. A welder of this experience can tack pull points on that car, pull and bump it out faster than it would take to weld. And being that good, his cost of replacing a panel is again almost insignificant.

Consider that unless you are getting a GOOD weld, whether, spot, continuous or butt, you are compromising the strength of that panel. I'm not saying that you can't get a STRONG panel out of a weld, but that if properly bumped out, the ORIGINAL panel is actually stronger and less problematic (rust, cracks, paint blisters) than the new weld.

2¢

Enrique

[PrOxLaMuS©]

Good news!!

I went to a place here in Colorado called "Classic Car Restoration" and they gave me a flat estimate, which the guaranteed to be within 5% of the original estimate when the final bill is made.

For the front fender repair and headlight and bumper repair, long with the rear quarter panel and paint and blending and etc....

$2152.05

So.. I'm set and i'm happy... the insurance company gave me $3,900 for my car, so I have some extra dough to spend!

[mdbrandy]

Originally posted by PrOxLaMuS©

Good news!!

I went to a place here in Colorado called "Classic Car Restoration"

Boy, I wish there was something like that around here. Even though I do most of my work on the Z's myself, it would be nice to have Pro's to do some of the harder stuff. Nobody around here wants to touch restoration work.

[dogma420]

Your insurance gave you $3900 for a 280z? Wow, hey, what company do you use? That's a great price....

[PrOxLaMuS©]

Actually... I recieved $4,200.... but then a $250 deducatble for the insurance company to look at the car... and then I had to pay $200 to get the car back (buy back)

so $3,750 bux back... I am actually trying to get more for the car.. I just need to prove why.

State Farm insurance

[PrOxLaMuS©]

Here's my car now... but sitting in teh garage awaiting a new vacuum water ****.. damn heater