Want to hang a 55 quarter panel .tips needed

[bsa_bob2]

I am sure i can probably get this panel on the car.BUT...The thing i am not seeing is this. I need to know how to place the tape lines on the kar. I mean.Do you hold the new panel up to the side of the car by hand Align it up.How does the masking tape or how do put it on, while holding this big panel to the car.? thanks bob s

[chevynut]

I have no idea what you're referring to as far as masking tape, but if you're replacing quarter panels, I recommend making some templates of the stock panels to use to fit the new ones. I made templates every 12" starting at the door jamb. I made the templates out of cardboard to fit the curve of the quarter with reference points at the top. They really helped when getting the top seam in the right spot so the quarter ended up the right shape. I used duct tape to hold the panel in place for the initial fitting, then trimmed the body and panel to fit together. I did this all by myself without another helper.

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[bsa_bob2]

SEE what you mean!..............However, the masking tape is---or seems to me --to trace the new panel on to the old panel,that i am replacing. When i see this tape its always stuck to the body in what appears to me.. (the new guy) at this.its for penciling around the new quarter.Just not seeing this idea of the templates you've shown, Appear to.correct me if i am wrong. The curvature top to bottom at different places along the horizontal plane. I just want to get the new panel hanging where its supposed to be..............then trace .............then cut with the thinnest wheels i have.If repeat myself sorry i have a habit of that.Thats where the masking tape comes in, i believe? thanks Bob s

So! as i look again at your pics, i now see the duct tape is what holds your quarter panel right up there so it doesn't move .THEN trace around it. right?


while i am here quetion 'Iwas planning on cutting my new panel...say...inch back from my door jamb edge to weld it. Also have you heard or seen a black 55 H/T panel being made that is much more complete up over the topside leading edge?saw one yesterday he had no idea who stamped them .but is getting me a part# on this panel. .Its like the "black off shore quarter" full panel- on the top edge.

[chevynut]

i now see the duct tape is what holds your quarter panel right up there so it doesn't move .THEN trace around it. right?

The duct tape just helped me hold the panel in the correct position so I could trace around it, once I verified the proper positioning with the templates. If you don't use the templates it's hard to tell how far in or out the quarter panel needs to go. It would be easy if they made quarters like the factory did, with the top pinch weld on them but they have no flange on top...that's where the templates come in. I'd have been happy if they just made WAGON quarters when I needed them. :eek:

[bsa_bob2]

thank you chevynut! large help today!:) bob s

[Rick_L]

I can't contradict anything said so far.

If you are doing a "almost full" quarter like Chevynut did, you have to make some initial cuts on the old and new quarter - leave lots of overlap on both to get started.

I did almost of my work by myself, so I needed far more than duct tape to hold the quarter to get the process started as I marked and trimmed. I found that a couple of bungee cords got the quarter up there on the car so I could free my hands to better place it. I then used clamps and later on Cleco's to hold everything in place. There will be things in the way at first where things overlap. So I trimmed 2 or 3 times leaving a progressively smaller overlap. Your goal is a perfectly trimmed butt joint with no gaps anywhere. This takes a lot of patience and finesse as you get closer to a final fit.

One tip that was important for me. No matter how hard you try and how careful you are, somewhere you'll end up with a gap that you don't want. What I do to recover from this situation is to weld a 1" wide piece of the trimmed sheet metal to the edge, then planish and metal finish the weld. Now I have something to work with as far as marking a new perfect edge with no gap.

[bsa_bob2]

thank you Rick! good to hear from you! bob s

[bsa_bob2]

Chevynut Iwas setting here thinking ..I'll' ask chevynut. Whose panel for 55 are you using . I want to get the right one first thing. thanks Laz bob s

[chevynut]

My Nomad is a 56, Bob. :)

[bsa_bob2]

Getting old , and tired- are not good at the same time Very
Sorry ...about that. chevynut. Lets try this again ok?If you had a 55 2-dr sedan and needed Apanel. Which would you choose. For some reason i am having a time getting the right one in mind. One will say the reliefs in the USA made are better.-- than the off shore black full panels and so on. And i get alot on "NO Danchuk" panels.This may be the end of this 55 if i don't decide Damn soon Never had this problem chopping my tops! all of them. or ALL THE BODYWORK Ihave done over the years, I am part way there. And Inow know i can install any panel while on my rottisserey Thanks Laz
bob s

[Rick_L]

Bob I thought you had asked this question some time back.

I used the Sherman panel on mine. It is a hardtop panel and requires that you use the existing forward upper original panel, cutting and welding it like shown in Cnut's photos. For me, it was a pretty good panel. The bead around the wheel cutout is not as crisp as original but I fixed that. The rocker area in front of the wheel cutout wasn't bent far enough and that had to be fixed too. The area around the gas tank door had the contour flattened from punching the hole and that was fixed also.

My only knowledge of the Golden Star panel is what I read on these forums. It has some problems too. One area is in the wheel cutout. The Golden Star panel is a full factory style quarter panel including the quarter window frame, and the panel goes over to the trunk lid cutout (the Sherman panel stops at the vertical peak).

I think Danchuk sells both of these panels. These are the only two you should consider - no half panels, etc.

There may be some photos and discussion here, but I'm sure there is far more at trifive.com. if you do a search.

[chevynut]

Bob, I've never used a 55 panel so I can't really answer. That said, I think there's only two choices, the Sherman panel and the Golden Star panel, as Rick explained.

That said, I think I would personally deal with the Golden Star panel from everything I've read about them. As Rick said, they include the correct "dip" at the quarter window so you don't have to weld there. The dip on a HT is different and you'd have to cut it out.

I did see one panel for a 57 that had a vertical cut at the wheelwell and it was spot-welded together. I would NOT use a panel like that myself.

Also, two areas that were problems for me with the Sherman panel were the door jamb and the taillight area. As you can see in my pics I left the original taillight sheetmetal on the car and cut it off the Sherman HT panel I used. I also cut the door jamb area off and left the stock one in place, because I didn't like how the bend was formed. To me, Sherman would have been better off just eliminating the door jamb and taillight in their tooling.

I think you're going to run into some mal-forming issues with any aftermarket panel, so be prepared to do some hammer and dolly work.

Are you sure you even need to replace the whole panel? How bad is it?

[Rick_L]

The Sherman 55 hardtop quarter panel has the same issue as Cnut's 56. I didn't use it at all, instead making a weld seam about 3/4" back from the door opening.

My taillight openings appeared to be OK, but I had already done some work on the original taillight openings so I elected to cut and weld in the taillight area similar to what Cnut did.

When one complains about taillight openings, keep in mind that the originals were not all that consistent either. Same with the trunk lid opening.