So the other night I was messing around spinning and smacked a tree on my driver side quarter panel. I was just gonna do the job myself and wa wanting some help as to if anyone knows where all the spot welds are for it to be drilled out. Or what the best way to fix it would be it's beyond repairable by just pulling the dent.

 

I got pictures but not sure how to post from an iPhone

 

Gm does not make qtr's for our cars anymore. You would have to get a used one. It also welds in under the sail panel so you would have to figure out it you wanted to replace that to to do it right or cut it right at the base and weld and use filler to make it look right.

 

If you have to ask where the spot welds are, you will be in over your head very quickly! that kind of of repair is best left to a body shop.

 

I am in the process of doing one on an 02 SS...I have located all the spot welds in the rear of the car behind the bumper/cover, in the hatch galley, behind the sail panel, down the inner door jam. I too am curious how it is attached in the front where the quarter meets the rocker there is a small seam that seems to run right between the top of the rocker and the bottom of the quarter any one with knowledge on how to detach this section please post it up...

 

If you have removed one previously help the OP out. Posts like "leave it to the professionals" don't help anyone. Those guys are pros because they got help from someone.

 

hmm i might be in a similar boat, found a nasty dent hidden under a crappy bondo job on my t/a. Turns out they bondoed another part as well...

 

Yeah I have the same issue on my 02 SS some jack leg body guy decided that he was gonna patch it up like an old John boat...lol...kitty hair and bondo...it looks okay at best 20 ft or 20 mph...so I've got a doner lt car that I'm gonna use the quarter off...just not much info on how to seperate the quarter skin from the unibody. I found most of the spot welds and can't decide whether to remove the sail panel and risk breaking it or try to cut the quarter on top somewhere and weld a seam there...also I need to figure out how it's attached to the rocker in front of the rear tire...I see how it's attached in the door jam but unsure in the wheel well...basically I see this being a pita...if anyone finds any useful info at all please post it...if anyone has experience with this sort of thing I would greatly appreciate it insight, constructive criticism, tips, or pointers...other guys get started let's go through this one slow and make a complete write up from multiple vantage points and abilities to assist the others...it appears that most people are scared or daunted by this task and either half *** it with bondo or pay dearly to go to a body shop...

 

To do it properly, you need to get behind the sail panel. Basically you need to follow the seem behind the sail panel and drill or grind every spot weld, go in the hatch area, behind the tail light, in the wheel well and in the door jamb. It is a long and tedious process, but nothing impossible. Since you are replacing the one on your car, you can cut it up so you can see the backside before/while removing, if that helps. I bought a rear half of a car and just went one spot weld at a time until I got it off. Took me 1/2 a day to get it off probably.

 

Good advice. When you saw in the wheel well are you saying in the fender lip or no? Can you be anymore specific as to where the welds may be around the wheel well or at least in the lower corner between the door jam and the wheel well opening above the rocker?

 

The best way is to just follow the entire seem, grinding the paint away as you go. That way to can see where the welds are and where they end. It is hard to describe, if you just follow the entire seam one weld at a time, removing the paint as you go, you will be able to tell where it ends.

 

Thanks for your help. That's what I started on Saturday I just removed the paint and seam sealer and started cutting one weld at a time, I got up into the hatch jam or whatever that is called and then started thinking about the other side...so just started to inspect as much as I could pretty straight forward in the back looks like there might be some hidden welds up front but like you said nothing is impossible

 

Depending on how good you are with your metal work, you can always just cut and patch OR get to the inside and work the dent back out with hand tools.

The latter is usually the easiest. I have a thread on here showing it done.

 

I am anti bondo as much as possible. I rather change the quarter than throw mud at it. It is more work, but well worth it in my opinion. Just take your time and do it right.

 

Your gonna be using mud whether you change the quarter or not.

 

Please explain the logic in that?? If you replace the panel you wont have to mud anything. Unless your a dumba** and use a shitty panel for replacement...its not mudded on from factory I'm surely not gonna mud it on now...and I am with ringmaster mud is brown and belongs on 4x's

 

If you change the quarter, you better only have mud on the seems, none on the panel itself. Bondo shrinks, no matter how good it is or how good the body man is. Over time, you WILL see some remnants of the bondo, whether it be shrinkage, scratches or what. It might take 5 years, but it will show.

 

Quality body filler does not shrink. Primer does. Go look at any mirror finish hot rod and ask the painter...for perfection it has been skimmed with body filler and blocked flat. Primered and block flat again until everything is perfect. Those paint jobs hold up fine.

 

Actually, I have to agree with you and retract my previous statement. However, the primer cant shrink into bondo/sanding scratches, or edges if there is none to shrink into lol.

 

If you prep your panel correctly it will never show because there will be no scratches or edges to shrink into

I haven't seen the OP's quarter panel but chances are he's is going to open a big can of worms trying to replace the whole thing. Much easier (and cheaper) to beat it back out, fix it and be done with it.