Cutting a patch panel to fit perfectly

[ESP47]

This is my first time doing any kind of rust repair like this and I'm that guy that screws up and ends up cutting the patch panel way too small. What I'm doing is I'm replacing part of the trunk floor to the right of the wheel well and over to where the floor meets the trunk extension.

Are there any tricks to cutting the patch panel to perfectly fit in there to be butt welded? Do you guys just lay the patch panel on top and then go underneath and mark where to cut...and then cut a little bit wider than that and then slowly trim to fit? I figure either that or just slowly cut the patch panel, lay it on top and guess and check. I'm just not sure if there is a quicker, surefire way of getting the panel trimmed easier so I figured I'd ask before I got started on it.

 

[1968FormulaS340]

I cut them a tad oversized and fit them with hand grinder.

 

[Woods74]

You can use a cereal box. Cut it to fit, then use it as a template.

 

[Bodypro02]

cut the patch panel a bit oversize for what you need lay it on top of the area you need to cut out and cut through the 2 pieces at the same time that way your cuts will be exact you can screw or tape into place to hold it while you cut

 

[abodyjoe]

this is how we did it..

traced the part we cut out onto the donor piece.

cut it out a little larger.

slowly hand grind it to get the fit we wanted.

cleaned donor piece

welded it in

 

[my5thmopar]

cut the patch panel a bit oversize for what you need lay it on top of the area you need to cut out and cut through the 2 pieces at the same time that way your cuts will be exact you can screw or tape into place to hold it while you cut

X2. Same here and I tack weld corners, cut centers, tack centers, cut corners and finish.

 

[forphorty]

You can use a cereal box. Cut it to fit, then use it as a template.

Or a beer box. I go through more beer than I do cereal.