Need some advice here on a 73 charger project..........

OJ86

Promoted Users
So I took in this job as basically just a refinish on the outside. Just some basic shit.. I noticed a few cracks in the passenger quarter and the owner knew there was some work on that part of the car. So I dug into it a little and I found trouble!!!!

What I need help on is, there are a few companies that offer quarters, but I am hoping someone will chime in and let me know the quality of these parts before I tell the owner which one to purchase.

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AMD has decent Mopar sheet metal. However never assume that repop panels will drop on and fit perfect. Work is almost always needed.

That is quite a mess. I’ll bet that isn’t the only panel like that. Floors etc are likely crap. I would dig deeper.

Don
 
I'm not digging any deeper than this panel! His budget aint that great and I'm not working for free! I don't mind a little work to get the panel to fit, I just didn't want to have to deal with a complete disaster of a part. This damage was from an accident not rust. You can see where they drilled and tried to pull it out. Overall the car is pretty clean(well as clean as it can be for a 73)
 
First thing I'd do is get it all off and see if you can repair what you got. Anytime I see filler over paint I think amateur or a real quick hitter. Damage may not be so bad that you can't work it out. Type of job it is, I'd always try to repair before replace.
If you go the replacement route, like Don said count on having to do some work to the panel to get it fitting. Stuff never fits like OEM. One reason I suggest trying to repair is sometimes you have a lot of time just correcting fit issues on the replacement and end up spending as much or more time that repairing it.
 
I agree with that. Ill have the panel stripped this weekend. I was just digging real quick while paint was flashing on another project. Not only was the filler on top of paint, it was on top of the factory stripe(sticker).
 
I agree with stripping it. Did a '65 Buick Convertible for a guy and it had a crack in the quarter panel that he thought would be a minor fix. Unfortunately the deeper I dug the worse things got.
Deep Bondo.JPG


Someone had scabbed the rear half of a quarter panel over the existing using sheet metal screws and then caved it in with a hammer and sculpted the rest with filler.
Never know what you are going to find. Maybe in your case it won't be as bad as it looks.
 
Dang '68 how did that 65 Buick I did end up in Arizona? Hey it wasn't that much filler, your picture just makes it look worse than what it really was.;)

Had I known it was yours I wouldn't have posted it. LOL

This car was so bad that I told the owner he was wasting his money but he insisted I fix it. The trunk floor was covered with some kind of cloth and then soaked in a tar like substance. Check out the quality of the floor patches.
Floor pan patches 3.JPG

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The cross brace was completely rusted away.
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Here's the trunk floor goo:
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Trunk Left.JPG


What was left of the trunk floor after removal:
Trunk Floor Left.JPG


I could go on and on . . .

Ended up replacing floor pans with Goodmark (the fit was terrible, the center seam drifted apart the last 1/4 of the way to firewall). Had to get a used quarter panel to replace the bondo replica.
Floor Pans in Epoxy Primer.JPG

LH Quarter - Poly Primer.JPG
 
Im always amazed seeing some of the filler work you guys find. What in the world are some people thinking.
 
Hey, at least they used metal in the floors, even galvanized! I've come across antifreeze bottles, coke cans, window screen, newspaper, to name a few. It never fails that the vehicles getting restored are much worse than they look. There was some pretty good sculpture artists back in the '80s and '90s. Too bad they rarely straightened the metal first. I'm doing a Super Beetle right now that looked pretty good until stripped. There was literally patches on top of other patches, and I would guess 2-3 gallons of filler just on the body itself, not counting the fenders. Almost everything on these cars is single wall, and with some hammer and dolly work, I have everything in 2K and used less than 1/2 a gallon on the whole car. Sanding filler sucks. I know a restorer that only does Mopars, and he replaces lots of sheetmetal. His take on the replacement panels is they are a rust free place to put bondo:)
 
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The 73 has nice trim around the wheel openings, you will be taking those off anyway, that will give you a look at the outer wheelhouse. Looks like pretty straight metal to make a patch or just cut out the skin you would be replacing and turn it over on a table and beat it back to shape and weld it back in if there is no rust damage. Pretty sure you know what you are going to find if you try to cut off the entire quarter for replacement and dealing with the connected panels.
 
21mm thick! Reminds me of high school friends 68 charger.
Hit the right NY pothole and "whoops- another gallon of bondo!" : )
 
I've been searching around on the internet at some Mopar salvage yards. Hopefully I can find something.
 
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