point of no return.....

[JPotter57]

Well, I did it..finally cut off the driver side quarter panel of my Custom.  When I started stripping the paint, I found the reason why the driver side seemed to have less tire clearance than the passenger side.  Some time in the past, the car was hit pretty hard, and instead of being pulled back out it was piled full of old style filler.  I had bought a cheapie lower rear quarter for the fender opening, and was never happy with the fit or appearance, as the body lines were totally different.  Glen provided a good useable quarter, needing only very minor rust repair in the lower rear.  I have it repaired and ready to go back on the car now.  Stay tuned....

[Ford Blue blood]

at least the under pinings look solid.....

[gasman826]

Is this the extreme way of changing out the inner quarter brace??

At lease you have a solid car to work with.  I would rather do collision repair than rust.  It will be better than new when you're done.

[RICH MUISE]

You do have a nice solid start there....you'll end up with less work than if you had to hand form rebuilding sections for the wheel well. LOL...Nice to see you working on your '57's again James..been a while since I've seen any "in progress" posts from you.
Rich

[JPotter57]

Yeah, Rich, progress pretty much stopped when I bought this house last April.  I had a couple remodeling projects to do, and had promised my wife that they would be done in 1 year, so that she could have folks over and not be embarassed, lol.  Now that they are done, I plan to have my `57 presentable enough to drive to Cruisin` the Coast this fall. 
The car is in fair shape, I have repaired most of the rust now, which was a small amount. This quarter panel was just killed though, it had been knocked in a good bit, the fender lip was flattened and had been just built back out with Bondo.  The driver side tire almost touched the fender lip, and I had over an inch of clearance on the passenger side.  The new quarter looks good though, I'll post another pic when I get it hung and roughed in.
Gasman, yeah, that brace needed replaced too, lol.  It had some rust holes in the bottom, I'll get that one swapped out while I am at it, then everything gets POR'ed, both sides.

[glen b henderson]

The only way to do it right and just think of all the welding practice you are going to get! I did a little math and I think it will take 4397 spot welds to stich it back in!

[JPotter57]

Thats about how many I have to drill out, lol....I swear, on the trunk drip rail, there were about 2 spot welds per inch on the quarter I got from you.  That quarter is dressed out, ready to reinstall except for squaring up the B and C pillars.  I still have to dress out the car now, drill out all the spot welds on the trunk rail, and at the rear door jamb.  This quarter is in so much better shape than the one I cut off.  I went ahead and did the patches on the sawhorses so I wouldnt have to lay on the ground welding overhead.  All the patchwork was on the bottoms anyway.  I also went ahead and welded up the Custom 300 trim holes on the quarter, will drill the new ones when it is on the car.  The last thing I did, I think is very trick.  On the rear quarter, just in front of the wheel opening, where a lot of them rust, you remember the opening cuts back toward the tire just a bit.  Well, I piecut that portion, and made the opening drop straight down, so the opening will be away from the tire just enough to look tough.  Now, if I decide to ever tub the car, I can put up to a 31 inch tall tire without having to modify the fender opening any more.  I will post pics when I finish it up, havent ground the welds down yet, actually have to do just a bit more welding on it, then will get some pics.

[gasman826]

Since it was hit so hard in the side, have you checked to see if the whole body moved on the frame?  I'm sure that is very unlikely.  When I took mine off the frame, the body was twisted on the frame as far as it could and still match the mounting holes.  The core support mount was elongated to make the front fenders line up with the body.  Was this done at the factory or collision damage??  The front clip was not original, but the rear quarters.  Just a thought and now is the time to check!

I know about spot welds!  Those little 1/4" ones 2-3 to the inch.  I skinned the roof and the donor cars roof.  I sympathize.  How many spot weld drills did it take?

[JPotter57]

Just two drill bits, lol..
The rest of the car is ok, I believe what they did was hit something stationary, like maybe a pole or somethng, and kept driving, because the fender lip was flattened from about the midway point, to the rear of the fender opening, and whatever it hit, also took a bite out of the doorjamb edge.  It left a square hole that was filled with old heavy plastic filler.  It was under the first repaint, which was red, so I assume it had been quite a while since it was repaired.  the car was last driven in `68, and the last repaint was Highland Green, apparently a hot color back then...I thought it sucked as bad as the original doeskin and white, looks pink and white to me....terrible combination.

[Zapato]

We always referred to that pink as salmon, and it never was said with a complimentary tone. Not sure what looked worse all salmon or half-n-half.

Looks like you're making great progress.

Zap-