BJ62 quarter panel dent repair (1 Viewer)

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I put a big dent in my passenger side rear quarter one day when I backed into a cement post. Guess that's what happens when you're used to huge plate bumpers and you leave em at home!

I swore an oath to the cruiser gods that I'd fix it someday, so here I am... learning to weld. Hopefully spending 10x as much time reading about welding as playing with my welder will help me not screw it up.




This was a sad, sad day in my life
 
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Here's the replacement panel section from my ornamental/parts 62. I started to wonder really quick whether I'd done a stupid thing attempting to cut this exact shape.

I had to cut a really awkward shape because my replacement panel was rusted through on the bottom, and luckily the original quarter was still saveable just up to that point. I basically cut around the bad parts of two panels to make one.


I spent about a week of my spare time just measuring, drawing, cutting, grinding, holding it up, bending the old panel, measuring, drawing again, cutting off a tiny bit more.

I read that the "right way" to do this is to put the new panel over the old one overlapping, and then cut through both. Because of the bent shape of the old quarter and the complex shape, I was worried this would leave me with a slightly mis-shapen or poorly cut replacement section once all was tacked in place.

After doing my reading about welding thin body panels and doing some practice welding I also decided that I would rather attempt to weld the panels flush rather than leave a gap (it appears there's some debate online among professional welders about this), so I didn't want to have even the cutting disc-width gap between the two (extra challenge!).
 
I used a flapper disc to get down to bare metal around the edges of both panels, then primed with weld-through primer.

Before priming I also used a rust-removal acid product called Krud Kutter, which I figure will help with paint adhesion and to ensure nothing was lurking under the paint of this panel that I wasn't able to cut or grind off.


Here's the new panel section with just a couple tacks holding it in place. Considering all the little angles and shapes that are in this section of the quarter panel, I am seriously surprised and relieved with how good I managed to get it. I will probably cut those tacks off and trim a tiny bit more off the top, I have some room to do so and the bevel line running the length of the truck (what do you call that?) should match up perfectly then.

 
that's a hell of a challenge for a first project.

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Hell yeah!
Im currently doing similar work as you are and and like you, decided to read as much as possible. If you havent seen this thread (different forum) Welding in patch panels - The Garage Journal Board I would recommend you check it out and you will notice pretty quick that one guy in particular(MP&C) does some amazing work and is very good at explaining how and what he does. When I practice with what I learn from him I see results immediately. His tips on planishing the welds as you go has saved me lots of frustration, almost a lifesaver.
 
Thanks for the moral support everyone!

Welding in patch panels - The Garage Journal Board ... His tips on planishing the welds as you go has saved me lots of frustration, almost a lifesaver.

Nice! Yeah actually I did come across that thread and learned some, maybe I'll go back over it again.

I haven't been planishing... it's hard to get my arm around the back side of the panel, and I worry that I'll just cause deformation by hitting it with a hammer with nothing behind (I also don't have a dolly or the right hammer...)

One thing I'm having trouble with is getting a good ground... Can't clip alligator clips to the panel, and the magnetic ground I have doesn't seem to do a good job of getting past the weld-through primer. Anyone have any tips on that?
 
You really need to get down to bare metal somewhere nearby to establish a solid ground. I have seen some guys use stranded copper wire stripped of insulation under their clamps when having contact issues which seems like a good idea.
 
Thanks that helped. I flappered the primer back off and got a better connection but it was still bad in spots. Discovered that the heavy magnet I was using to hold the panel to shape was soaking up some of the charge... pulled it off and I got a good ground all around


You really need to get down to bare metal somewhere nearby to establish a solid ground. I have seen some guys use stranded copper wire stripped of insulation under their clamps when having contact issues which seems like a good idea.
 
That looks great Josh. Welding thin sheet metal is very finicky. Might want to do some stitching from the inside cus as you grind down the outside welds it will weaken it a lot. Keep doing what your doing with small stitches everywhere and try not to get the panel hot as it will warp in a heart beat. Reinforcing it from the inside with angle or flat bar might allow you to grind your welds flush for bondo but still keep it strong. Your fitment it very close. Nice job. Tighter fitting makes your welding so much easier. I must say I'm impressed.
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