[Lil John SVT]

I need to replace both quarter panels on my 67. I'm going to replace them with 68 quarter panels because i don't like the fake scoops on the 67. Ok heres my question, on the driver side the quarter panel was rusted into the door jamb. I cut the rust out and replaced the door jamb rusted parts. I had to cut the quarter panel almost to the top of the door jamb, and had to remove all the panel that wrapped in to the jamb. How far does a panel skin wrap into the jamb and to the to the top of the jamb? The trunk drop offs are gone also will be changed at the same time. The passenger side as the usuall rust, around the wheel well and the bottom behind the tire. I think i can just skin it. Any help would be appreciated.

[rob497]

I had this same conversation with a buddy of mine just last week. He's a bodyman and said the skin will be less expensive to buy, but the cost of working out the line on the body and paint will be excessive.

[Lil John SVT]

Originally Posted by rob497

I had this same conversation with a buddy of mine just last week. He's a bodyman and said the skin will be less expensive to buy, but the cost of working out the line on the body and paint will be excessive.

Yeah i figured that the body work would be more with a skin instead of a full panel. But i will be doing all the body work myself, i do that on the side anyway. I just don't know how far skins exstends into the jambs and to the trunk drop offs. I don't want to order skins and they don't go into the door jamb and the top near the 1/4 glass on the driver side and connect to the trunk drop offs.

[Jay H 237]

From what I understand the skins are just the exterior portion, there is no wrap around into the jamb or where the trunk and taillight panel joins.

[kidney_bean]

I know it's not for a '67, but here's a good how-to article in which they replaced both sides (one with a full quarter panel and the other with just a skin). There are a lot of photos, so you can get a pretty good idea of what's involved...plus, you gotta love those side burns!

Mustang Quarter Panel Repair - Mustang Monthly Magazine

[flash-1295]

Mustangsunlimited says their skins wrap around into the door jam and connect to the tail light panel. The skin stops at the top near the edge though so you will end up having one long weld. The article kidney bean sent is the best one I have found as well. I used the cut both panels at once method on a fender I am working on and it works really well. I used a cutting wheel instead of the reciprocating saw though so I didn't have to worry about cutting stuff behind the panel with the saw blade. It definately produces better results than trying to get two seperate cuts to match up. Warping is the main concern when welding the whole seam though. I just started keeping a wet(damp) towel close by.

[silver69]

Another method I have used with great success is to cut the existing fender 3/8" longer where ever it is to be joined creating an overlap on all sides of the new panel. Then using a Flanging Tool (Harbor Freight / Northern Tool - $30-$40) flange the car side of cut off areas on the car. What this does is create a recessed lip so when you lay on the skin the new surface is almost perfectly flat so there will not be 20 lbs of filler on a NEW panel.
Now also consider a couple of more things here, leave enough space at the cut areas all the way around so when you weld the edge of your new skin into the recessed lip you are still "at or below grade" on the surface of the panel. this will minimize copius amounts of bondo and make your patch stronger with the lip the flanging tool creates - small as it is. Secondly, when welding on this skin or any big piece of work, do not weld continuously anywhere. Weld the size of a small tack on spot and move completely to the other end and tack, imagine a clock face and start at say 12, jump to 6, recheck everything and tack at 9, jump to 3,then 7 then 1....... the point being no one spot is getting a lot of heat. take you time this is not a 2 hour weld job, if the whole panel warms up stop and go do something else for 30 minutes, no direct fan either, uneven cooling/heating spells warpage and ultimately= filler. grind down the tits on your tackwelds, again controlling heat - grinding is friction and gives off heat and rust proof then do bodywork and no one will know anything. also the flanging tool makes the insde of the repair much less obvious. On replacement panels it is imperative you trial fit nad make the new panel fit tightly everywhere, some of the key lips are usually under bent like the 1/4 ti rocker fit - make it tight. Lastly take plenty of pictures so when the car show or sale time comes you can prove the quality of your work.
Also you really need to make a template for all the key areas where you have to meet other body lines, use anything - wire, tapemaesure for sure, if you are cutting out the 1/4 where the ribs in the door are - measure everthing point to point. I mean to say from the lower door rige to the highest crest on top of the fender and so on, if anything is shortened, extended, wrong place it will look horrible. Set up and match up ten times if you have to , weld once and be happy. if a 1/4 line is out and you move thedoor to match then the fender will have to move too and the hood, wiper grates, on and on andglass,striker, weatherstripping.
Trust me it will hard if not impossible to fix. Sorry if I yapped too much
best of luck, Joe