Rear quarter panel

well...

Today I decided to bite the bullet and discover the extent of filler in my rear quarter panel. (It's cracked in last winters frost and has been getting progressively worse over the last few weeks)



OMFG!!!

I must have chipped off getting on for my own body weight in filler!

Basically the whole quarter panel was covered in a fairly thick layer. The panel underneath looks like it's been attacked by golf balls and small arms fire!!

(Sorry no pic of this but I'm really not joking!)

So, five hours chipping and grinding back to metal today (plus the obligatory extra hour to get the rear bumper off!).

First job for tomorrow is buying 3 litres of filler...

But, I'm wondering if I would do better to cut out the mess and to weld in a section from a donor car???

Has anyone actually done this? There looks to be a number of internal structures that are spot welded to this panel and it is a structural part. Body work is not something I have done much of in the past, so I'm in uncertain territory with this.

Thoughts welcomed.

I guess this marks the point where owning an F becomes more like owning a midget.

Bugger.

Hi, what a dilemma you have.
You can purchase a new quarter panel, ALH460080, costs around £220.00 including delivery, but of course you will need to drill out all of the spot welds to remove the old panel, then fit and paint the new panel. But, you need to fill and paint the existing panel anyway!

Also consider the condition of the existing sill as well, as this may need some work doing on it.
All in all, a new panel, fit and paint may cost all in all around £1000.00,( gulp,) if the work is done in a body shop. Probably more than the car is worth!
So, you need to examine how deep your pockets are here. A relatively large outlay for this damage if you replace the panel, or if you fill and sand yourself, then a body shop treatment and paint, a cost of around £250.00 plus vat.
Over to you.

Good luck on this project.

David

I've welded in a patch an started filling. Most of the panel - aside from the dents, hammer marks, pull rod ends and clico scars is rust free.



More pix to follow as I build up the layers...

Slowly building up the correct shape again. I can see why there was so much filler on there.

One really essential gadget in these situations is a long profile gauge.



Take a profile snapshot from the good side, flip through 180 degrees, and offer it up to the side being built up to see how close you are to the correct shape.



Run out of light (and its beer o'clock!)

More tomorrow

Good work on a nasty looking mess.

When I tackle a job like this over several days I often spray a film of primer at the end of the day just to protect any exposed metal, it also helps show the high spots as you sand.

Keep up the updates.

Yup I use either primer or just a cheap can of black to spray over the filler to protect any metal and to highlight the lowspots when sanding.

Finished building up the shape now, sanded progressively to 400 grit, first two full coats of primer on.




After a cup of tea and a snack I shall attack that with some 800, then get a few more coats of primer on working up to 1200 grit. A few pin holes to fill too.

Should I feather out the edge of the primer and hope when I spray the gloss and topcoat that it blends?? Or should I just take it as far forward as the door and the joint line on the sill? Easier to do, but more than double the amount of primer, gloss and topcoat...

From bitter experience I know how difficult it is to match BRG, and as Hesketh has obviously been resprayed, I don't hold out much hope for a perfect mid-panel transition. I will probably err on the bigger area but obvious edges route.

How many rattle cans for a full quarter panel several coats???

Thoughts etc...

Whole panel rubbed down and primed.

I've run out of primer and had enough for today, so that's all for now.

That's a really good job , well done. :clap:

First coat of BRG on, looks patchy as not sanded (nor particularly even!) But will do as a start. I'm reasonably happy with colour match, so will order a couple more rattle cans now.

And now that it's finished - a few more pix









It is far from perfect, and certainly looks better in the rain than under bright sunlight. But for a quick job with rattle cans to stop the panel rotting through, well... I'm quite pleased with it.

If it lasts until winter when I take Hesketh off the road for a complete rebuild and respray I shall be happy.