replacing quarter panel

[picker45]

Well I've been hashing this around in my head for some 6 months, and I've decided to lap joint my quarter than butt weld it. I know that some don't like it but when I cant get to the crest of the quarter to hammer the weld, nor to be able to seal it, I've decided to flange the quarter and no water will get into the joint it will be totally sealed. What you all think. Of course I already said I'm going to lap joint vs. butt so I only want your opinion, lol Bh

[Run-em]

Most that butt weld do it to keep water OUT. If you take care & do the same, I should think it will not make any difference.

[NDFabrications]

I did a set of quarters on a 72 chevelle wagon about 15 years ago lap joint with a crimper tool and the car was diven year round. Had the car for 12 years and never showed any signs of corrosion. I think lap would be just fine

[chevynut]

I personally wouldn't do a lap weld, but it sounds like that's what you've decided to do, so I'm not sure what opinions you want.

Do you plan to spot weld it, or make a full weld bead. The full bead is going to cause just as much distortion as a butt-weld and it will be harder to straighten. A spot (plug) weld seam won't cause as much distortion, but it will leave lots of area for moisture to enter. If you seal the entire seam, you can alleviate that and it should work...but imo that's not the "right" way to replace a quarter on a restoration...maybe for collision work on a regular car. Some would call it a hack job. To me, it's as bad as sculpting the body with 1/2" of bondo...sure it'll work and last for many years, but it's not right imo. If I bought a car with a quarter that was lap-welded, it would come off and I would redo it right.

Sorry, you wanted opinions, so that's mine.

Here's how I did my quarters. I made a seam about 5/8" behind the door and all along the top of the quarter, about 3/4" from the original seam. I also had to remove the "dip" since the quarter is made for a hardtop......it's all butt-welded:

[chevynut]

Here's a couple more in epoxy primer. By the way, I had a guy call me a few months ago about problems he was having installing his quarter panel. Someone talked him into flanging and lap welding it and it was giving him fits. He couldn't get it to stay straight, and was having all sorts of problems. I convinced him to cut the flanges off, and butt-weld it. He called me back later and said it worked a lot better that way.

The important thing when butt-welding is to take your time and get a perfect fit before you start welding it up. If it fits then, there's no reason it can't be made to look the same after welding.

[chevynut]

I just noticed you are doing a 57....and a sedan at that. There's a lot less welding on a 57 since the fins have a pinch weld. There's a lot less welding on a sedan or HT because the rear window area is formed on the quarters. I had about 11 feet of butt-weld per quarter because for some stupid reason they don't make wagon quarters.

I believe they now make quarters for a 57 sedan......I would definitely use them.

Also, if you don't use the sedan quarters, be SURE to round the "dip" area at the corner or you will get a lot more puckering there.

[BAM55]

Looking good Chevynut, I also do not do lap joints unless it was like that from the factory. Butt welding makes for a nicer repair that you can metal finish and use little to no filler. Lap welding a body panel will limit you ability to metal finish (double layer metal) and cause you to use way more filler.

[chevynut]

Bam, I agree with you that it will likely be harder to make the panels straight if they're lapped, and will probably require more filler.

I did those quarters quite a while ago as you can see by the dates. It took virtually no filler to make them smooth, except at the joint to the rocker. I sprayed a couple coats of SlickSand over the epoxy, and that's about all it took. I replaced both quarters.

This is the car now, in final primer....

[BAM55]

Its looking great man. You've done a wonderful job. I'm also a fan of slick sand. It fills and sands so easy. I was going to start a thread about it. Just to let people know how great I think it is.

[Romax55]

Just my opinion , but I'm with the guys who say no to the lap-weld ; even the best lap joint is a harbour for moisture , and like Chevynut says , it's okay for a normal car , but a resto of an old car demands you get it butt-welded . They finish up with less BS and if done carefully , need next to no filler . When you're done you don't have to sweat every time it rains or you drive through a puddle on the highway . Just IMO . Be safe...Bob.

[Romax55]

Its looking great man. You've done a wonderful job. I'm also a fan of slick sand. It fills and sands so easy. I was going to start a thread about it. Just to let people know how great I think it is.

Damn , I like that 55 dash in your pickup ; did you have to narrow it ? Be safe...Bob.

[BAM55]

Damn , I like that 55 dash in your pickup ; did you have to narrow it ? Be safe...Bob.

No narrowing was needed but a lot of slicing and dicing to make it flow.

[Rick_L]

Picker, back to your original question, I just did a Sherman quarter panel on my 55. Butt welded everything. I can't imagine straightening or hammering lap welded joints. If any end up high, you'll have a difficult time hammer and dollying them down. I had to hammer and dolly just about 100% of the welds. The only exception was the joint along the top of the quarter - it didn't requre much. But if you lap welded that, I'd be afraid of the whole seam being too high or too low with no recourse, because once you flange that, you're stuck wih what you flanged.

The Sherman quarter is a hardtop quarter, and you have to do what Cnut described at the belt line dip. A wagon doesn't have one, and a sedan's is further back than a ht.

Your best bet may be a quarter made by Gold Star. Resto World sells them. They are true sedan quarters. The only deal on it vs. the 55 Sherman quarter are how they stamp and shape the wheel cutout and rocker area. I can tell you that on a 55 Sherman panel the wheel cutout is not as crisp as original and the rocker is not bent far enough. From what I've read on the "other site" those areas are not right on the Gold Star 55 sedan panel either, just different. I was able to work through the issues on the Sherman panel. I have no idea what the issues are on 57 panels, but I'm sure there is something.

One more thing, and this may be worth thinking about. There are two ways to do a lap joint. The one most used is to use a flanging tool. But there is another way, and it may turn out better. Rather than flanging the panel, use a separate piece as a backup. In other words, you have a separate piece of sheet metal 1" wide or so under the seam. That eliminates distortion from a flanging tool, but the joint is still stiff and can't be hammer and dollied. With either the backup sheetmetal or a flange, you're going to be tempted to weld a continuous bead and that's going to be a warpage problem.

[picker45]

Thanks guys for your comments. Now the rest of the story. I've a friend who had his convertible restored by Patricks Classy Chevy in Phoenix who has the record at Barrett Jackson for restored convertibles of 55-57, his resto mod 57 conv this year hit $245,000 and guess what? he lap joints all his panels. That's where I got the idea from. I agree with all but how do you hammer the weld on the ridge of the quarter. You cant get to it. I don't know how otherwise without the lap joint. You've got the inner fender well blocking you from getting to it. YOu would need two people to hammer and dolly that. I thought you all would like to know that the guy who holds the record, lap joints and bondo. His comment was, these are show cars and won't be in rain. They won't wash them?
Dropped off 283 motor to have it bored to 4". Guess where I'm headed with that puppy? Later BH

[Rick_L]

You can get to virtually all of that joint on a 55-56. Much of that joint is covered by the crown molding on the fin on a 57.

The hardest area to get to for me to access for hammering the weld was the seam at the front door jamb. Since I have a sedan and the quarter is for a hardtop, I made the seam about 3/4" back of the door opening, keeping the oriiginal jamb.

I won't argue with a man that can lap joint quarter panels and get $200k + for a car. Still doesn't change my mind.

Also, there are two ways to do lap joints. One is to flange one of the panels. The chance of distorted metal is high before you even get the welder plugged in. Another way is to fabricate a strip, say 1" wide, that goes under what would otherwise be a butt welded joint.