Learning to do it yourself can save you hundreds of dollars…or more! Body hammers, angle grinders, sanding equipment and a welder are the bare essentials. Additionally, a vice-mounted sheet metal brake will make bending the sheet metal much easier. Prices will vary, of course, depending on the equipment and materials you choose to purchase. This means sanding down the rusted area to find out how deep the rot is.
Expose enough metal that way you know where to cut and have good, clean metal to work with. A variety of abrasive tools can be used to get down past the paint and primer to bare metal.
After the rust has been exposed you can start identifying where to cut. So, before you cut, really think about the size and shape of the panel.
Make quick sketches and draw a sturdy pattern for yourself. Once you feel confident with your sample, you can break out the cut off wheel. Take care and move cautiously , as angle grinders can be very dangerous. You can use a gauge wheel to measure the thickness of the steel or a number of other tools designed specifically for this task. Once the old panel is cut away, you will have access to the area and can take your measurement.
Note each template is marked with its location. A second, oversized piece of sheet metal stock is placed in the rear fender well to size up the new wheelwell lip. Schrock butts the new metal against the existing inner quarter panel to guide the line he will cut to form the lip inside the rear quarter panel.
To pound the template shape into the outer quarter panel, Schrock uses a body hammer with a convex face to further shape the metal. The convex-faced body hammer also helps keep the sharp bends in the quarter panel, all the while leveling out the panel for a smooth surface. Some bending was required, so he bent the new outer quarter panel by hand to match the lip piece he created.
Once the pieces were lined up in the ideal location, Schrock drew a line across both pieces to mark the proper place to tack weld them together with a wire-feed welder. Schrock used a power shears to cut the sheet metal that will form the lip top metal sheet. Welding the two pieces together can be tricky at the lower part of the fender, due to the size and contours of the metal.
Schrock slowly tack welded from the top to the bottom of the fender, bending and hammering the outer quarter panel to match the lip as he worked down from the top of his new patch panel.
His tack welds were widely spaced and were intended to simply hold the pieces together until they would be completed wire-feed welded together.
The weld was then grinded smooth, and the new panel was ready to be mounted on the car. A piece of thick flat metal stock is placed along the edge Schrock will begin bending the metal to form the sculpted bends. The thick bar metal stock works well for make sharp bends, but softer bends do not require it.
A second duckbill pliers is used to bend the inner edge of the new quarter panel patch piece. Schrock used a convex body hammer to finish off the edge of the outer quarter panel after initially using the duckbill pliers.
Schrock lines up the two metal pieces he fabricated — the outer quarter panel patch and the lip inside the wheelwell — and determines where they should be welded together. Now that the pieces are tack welded together, their seam can be fully welded and the weld then ground smooth. The new piece is ready to be installed on the quarter panel. Old Cars. Old Trucks. Once the old panel is cut away, you will have access to the area and can take your measurement.
Then, once you have the right gauge of steel, you can move on to shaping your panel. Shaping the panel will take the longest amount of time. You can always cut it down to the appropriate size later. If you were able to keep the piece that you had to cut away, use it as a template to help out during this part of the process. Metal brakes and other shaping tools go a long way, but with patience and practice you can shape panels with basic hand tools such as body hammers.
And remember that no two panels are the same, so you might have to get a little creative. A butt weld will make for the cleanest fit, so as you are shaping you will want to make sure the edges line up perfectly with the cut you made. And before you move on, bevel those edges to help with the welding process. Once the panel is properly shaped, you can move onto welding.
Once the panel is tack welded in, you can move to butt welding. Those built-up welds will need to be ground down for a flush finish. Angle grinders and other power tools emit a lot of heat during grinding so, again, take your time. The high heat can warp the sheet metal just like a welder might. After the welds have been ground down, you may still need to use body filler to finish shaping the panel.
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