Couple of questions on sheetmetal/bodywork

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RogerRamRod

RogerRamRod

The Older I Get, The Faster I Was
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I am tackling the sheet-metal work on my 68 dart project. I seem to be progressing OK, albeit a little slow. My intention is to hand all the prep work off to whoever I have paint the car so that the prep work is done the way they want. I have all AMD sheet-metal and so far it seems to go together quite well. I am working on the drivers quarter panel and hit a snag and I am not quite sure what to do. Overall the panel is fitting in nicely but the small details are causing me frustration. In the pictures below you can see the body lines are lining up nicely but at the top of the door the curve and body line don't seem to be as pronounced as those on the door. One picture kind of exaggerates it, but even though the tops are lined up, the fold is off by about 1/8 inch. I can't raise the panel, because the edges line up, and the other body lines are lined up. Do I have to get in there and start working the metal, or does this fall under the paint prep department and need to get worked in with some filler or something? It seems to me like it would be an awful lot of filler, and in a highly susceptible place.:burnout:
 

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Did the sheet metal get pulled down when put on that might have caused that?
If not, I'd be on the phone with AMD because that is just not acceptable in my opinion.
 
Not pulled down. As you see in the second picture above, The body lines are lined up well. I know I still need to work the gaps, but gaps don't help this. Here is another shot of the top, from the side.
 

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AMD would be the source for the best quality repop sheetmetal.

I say, go back and get the lines and fit OFF like ma mopar did at the factory!!!! Ha

if you havn't found it, look for the paint tutorial I think under body thread.

lots of good info IMO

congrats on doing this work yourself!!
 
Yeah, Mopar body lines are known to be on par with body by Flintstone. I specifically went with AMD because of the good things I've heard. I fully expected some fudging and working of things, but I'm really not skilled for this type of problem.

thank you for the congrats, it sure is a lot of work, especially your first time around, and the occasional good word sure helps.
 
Has anybody else used AMD for dart quarter panels? Did you have the same issue, or am I looking at a manufacturing defect?
 
funny thing I found way back decades ago rebuilding these things, I found the front fenders had a little variance between factories!!!! I swear. if I pulled fenders off a parts car made in one factory and put them on a car built in a different factory, it always seemed to be a little fit problem. using fenders from parts car from same factory, they always went om pretty good!!!! ha
yes the door is adjustable. I myself hate trying to line up panels!!!!!

yes an attaboy always HELPS!!! I just pat myself on the back, no one else here to do it!!! ha I thinking when I paint the next car, she will utter the words " that looks pretty good" ( pretty decent"? OR maybe it looks better? or maybe, it still looks like chit!????) Ha
 
Thank you for the replies so far, keep them coming.
The door is setting perfectly in the opening, nice straight gap all away across the bottom, all gaskets meeting their curves correctly. Correct me if I'm wrong but if the door was high, the top edges would not line up, or the body lines wouldn't line up, correct? I might need to log into a regular computer and look at this thread, maybe the photos don't show that too well.
 
Boy, that's a tough one!! From the first pic you posted it looks like you need to raise the crease (body line) on the rear quarter so that it will line up with the same crease in the door BUT the crease (body line) on the lower door is lined up so raising the quarter panel would mess up the lower line. It almost looks like you need to split the quarter panel (horizontally) somewhere between the two body lines so that you can leave the bottom half in place and still move (push) the upper crease a little higher to line up with the door. The quarter seems to be attached in the correct location at the very top because the very top part lines up with the top of the door.
Could the door be messed up? If the door hasn't been modified I'd say that the quarter panel was made incorrectly....but without seeing it in person I can't say that with any certainty.
A cut off wheel would easily cut a slot horizontally so you could raise the upper body line without moving the lower line and without moving the very top area. Does this make any sense???

Treblig
 
Treblig said:
Boy, that's a tough one!! From the first pic you posted it looks like you need to raise the crease (body line) on the rear quarter so that it will line up with the same crease in the door BUT the crease (body line) on the lower door is lined up so raising the quarter panel would mess up the lower line. It almost looks like you need to split the quarter panel (horizontally) somewhere between the two body lines so that you can leave the bottom half in place and still move (push) the upper crease a little higher to line up with the door. The quarter seems to be attached in the correct location at the very top because the very top part lines up with the top of the door.
Could the door be messed up? If the door hasn't been modified I'd say that the quarter panel was made incorrectly....but without seeing it in person I can't say that with any certainty.
A cut off wheel would easily cut a slot horizontally so you could raise the upper body line without moving the lower line and without moving the very top area. Does this make any sense???

Treblig
Click to expand...

o k I see it now!!!!! I would send that pic to AMD snd ask what the heck with that panel. I would not want to have to slit it even though looks like that is what it would take. most all panels need a little "tweaking" but..... that's major surgery!????
 
It makes perfect sense. Thank you very much, I had not thought of that because the thought of cutting brand new sheet-metal just doesn't sound right. Like I said though, I expect some fudging and working, again thank you.
 
barbee6043 said:
o k I see it now!!!!! I would send that pic to AMD snd ask what the heck with that panel. I would not want to have to slit it even though looks like that is what it would take. most all panels need a little "tweaking" but..... that's major surgery!????
Click to expand...

I agree, a little tweaking and a little putty and a little pulling and pushing are all part of replacing panels BUT when two line on the same panel don't line up something's wrong.

Good luck, the best AMD could do is refund some of your money because it would be easier to split the panel than it would be to replace it?? I would tell them that "your body man", even though you might be doing this yourself, wants to charge you and extra $200 to fix the panel so that you don't have to put 1/4" of putty on you new panel!!

treblig
 
Is that quarter permanently welded in yet? Or just temporarily tacked?

First off I am NOT a body man and these are just my opinions or observations.

So...looking at the pictures.
First, I would make sure the door hinges are perfect with zero slop. You can get a rebuild kit with new pins and bushings. No sense making things even with worn parts involved.

If you put a thin shim between the upper hinge and door, that would lower the top of the door at the quarter and help to even up the bottom vertical gap where the door edge meets the quarter. But the bottom gap would be reduced. If the front was tacked and the rest was free to move I'd be tempted to put a hunk of 2x4 against the panel at the latch area and drive it back about a eighth inch or so, then tack the rest of the panel to hold it. Do not do any final welding until it's as good as you can get it.

AMD are reproduction parts made from new tooling but they may be off a little and not fit every single car out there. You may have to compromise everywhere so the differences are not as abrupt and even things up with welding in filler material or plastic body filler. Lokk at the interiuor of the door and see if it has been pushed in during it's life and filled with bondo to cover the crease. That would cause the door to grow vertically.

It looks like the straight edge on the new panel where the side of the panel meets the short concave panel under the window needs to be "adjusted". Again, with me not knowing much I would consider making a bar maybe 3" wide by 1/8" thick with one of the 3" edges rounded over. I I don't know maybe 10-12" long. I would hold the rounded edge against the inside of that crease and use a hammer on the other end of the bar to drive that crease upwards. Not too hard, just bump-bump-bump to get that edge higher with a little sharper angle between the two surfaces. It still would probably need some filler but not as thick as what is needed now. I may be all wet but that's what I would try. Good luck!
 
First, good luck getting AMD to give a return, or refund. I had a problem with their bumpers, and they kept dragging it out until I just used them. As Treblig said, splitting the panel, and raising it seems to be one of the better ideas. I remember seeing it done on one of the car shows, but I can't remember which one. As was already said, start with the door hinges first. Then line up the door to the rocker, and to the quarter panel that's been mostly attached, except for the area needing to be modified. Then split the quarter to raise it in position. Expect to make the cut longer than you think. You don't want to kink the panel pulling up on it. Then weld in your filler piece. Some bondo will take care of minor issues.
 
I agree, slitting, adjusting then welding is what is done now days to make right, sounds like *** pain but, im sure its less than taking it back off and returning it only to get something worse, look at what you have and work with it, its not that bad, latest Mopar Muscle mag shows just this exact type of fix in the tech section
 
I have not bought anything from amd that fit.A friend of mine put on 2 quarters on a 70 duster
and there was a 1/2 gap between the top of door and where the top of quarter meets.I also put a full quarter on my 70 duster same thing.Amd said well this is the first we have heard about a problem.THATS BS.They knocked of 100 dollars.We had to split it all the way down and reweld it .If they have a bunch of quarters that are bad they are not going to throw them away.They will send them to you and knock of a few dollars until they get rid of them.They send the good stuff to chip foose and grave yard cars
 
And it is bs that you have to split a new quarter to make it fit.Look how much a body man is going to charge you to do this plus the price of the quarter. Then you have a new quarter with bondo in it.
 
I had the 1/4 panels patched on this 72, retained as many of the original body lines as he could. Still gonna be lots of time blocking to get this old dog straight before paint. I however will be doing the body work and epoxy primer before having the final paint put on. Good luck with it and post pictures. Lot of good help on here
 
Thanks again for all the input. I knew someone would tell me something that made me go AHA!.
Not even tacked yet--Lots o' HF Vice-Grip knock-offs on Quarter, wheel house, & trunk extension.
 
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