Appearance, Paint & Body Work
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By teal_dx
#14101 That's pretty bad, I don't know if it is able to be saved at the point where it is eating up the door jambs. After so much corrosion in that area, the structural rigidness of the car comes into question. I hate to say it, but it would probably be worth your time to start looking for another hatch and swap any aftermarket parts over to it. You need to figure how much time and $$ you would put into yours to get it back to normal. Then add some because rust is always worse than it looks from the outside once you get started. And then there's still the chance it can return.
The only reason I would attempt that was if I had good experience in body work, all the tools and a welder, and had the hook up for a paint job. Then it might be worth the time & money. You'll definitely have to do some fabricating and unlike my fabricating, yours is on the surface of the car where it will be seen so it needs to be perfect.
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By Ej2-B16a
#27976 dude.. :thumb: thats all i can say..
By Joshsayswhatt
#87322 I really need to do this to my driver side. It was hit before I got it and below the gas tank lid back to the tail light and down from there to the wheel ( like a triangle portion ) is missing in my quarter panel. What do I need to put a new one on. Will an arc welder do the job? I have a grinder, will a regular metal cutting bit work? And lastly about how long would it take to replace just one side?
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By teal_dx
#87348 an arc welder is heavy duty, a mig would be ideal. not sure how much damage there is or how you work, it could take a while.

Maybe try to do one side as a weekend project, and paint it the next weekend?
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By hatchie
#94031 nah the adehsive stuff still sucks stick to a welder cuz the adhesive after being through hot and cold a couple times it starts to crack and show through again i took two years of collision repair and we shaved the handles on a car and the handles are popping out now and that crap was expensive! i go with welder like he said
By REDCIVICOUPE
#111368 was it you that made the Shape of the wheel or you bought a panel for the car would it be possilbe just with sheet metal on the outside ? i was suposed to pay a body shop to do it but there charging me about 1700$ and i find thats way to much help thx
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By 92egdxhatch
#111391 any body else have rust up in the roof by the spoiler?
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By Dubcity-EG
#121127 I used an adhesive called Lord Fusor specially made for putting on quarter panels. GM actually uses it. Its a tube of 2 different things: adhesive and hardener. You put it in the gun (you have to buy the gun with it) and then the tip of the tube mixes it together and it comes out mixed and easy to apply. I pre drilled holes through both panels applied the adhesive to the back of the panel then put screws in tight to pull it against the car. Then instead of removing the screws i ground the tops of so they were almost flush with the panel. You then put on fiber glass and then finish it off with bondo or whatever body filler you want. mine is very strong and i have no problems with it. I would highly suggest this method over welding, It is a lot easier, you have no chance of warping or burning through the metal. Though it does cost about 45 bucks i thought it was well worth it.
By midnight
#156810 awesome write up...glad i found the thread as I will be doing this soon!

where did ya find the panels?
By mxracer84
#163206 Teal after you welded your quarters on did you put body sealer on them then body fill on top of that ?
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By teal_dx
#171555
mxracer84 wrote:Teal after you welded your quarters on did you put body sealer on them then body fill on top of that ?

After welding I first smoothed them, cleaned them and painted them with self etching primer. Then the filler.
The sealer is really more for filling seams/gaps
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By teal_dx
#172475 It was probably 20 or 18 gauge, I had it laying around.
However, now the company that sells the rear arches also now sells the rocker panels. The link is in the very first post of this thread. I wish they were available when I did mine, building them from sheet metal was a PITA...
By pinky
#172704 If someone paid a shop to do this, how much would they expect to pay? I will be looking into it soon, since I don't have the time or equipment to do it myself, and I wanna know if I'll be getting ripped off or if its a decent price. I know it depends on how much will have to be replaced and how deep the rust is, but still. I have rust on both rear quarters.