Full Quarter Panel installation for 62-65 Nova 2dr hardtop w/(too many) PICS

In the beginning:

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/bondoquarter3.jpg

My quarters weren't the worst ever, but the driver's side had been hit and repaired many times, and the passenger side had old pop-riveted rust repairs, and both had a TON of bondo in them, and rippled like the high seas, so they had to go.

After the quarters are cut off, you can see the inner structure of the quarter,the outer wheel houses, and the trunk drop offs. The driver's side wheelhouse had to be pulled out some where it had been hit.

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters-005.jpg

Looks bad, don't it? I would say it's pretty typical for a midwestern car that has spent time outside, and better than average for the pacific northwest, where this car spent most of its life. Always cracks me up that southwestern folks might think this car is unsalvageable, whereas northeasterners would call it 'rust-free!'

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters-024.jpg

A quick once over with a nylon strip disc knocks off most of the surface rust. The green is factory primer, and I saw no need to chase that down to bare metal.

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters2-008.jpg
After that, we brushed master series silver rust primer over the whole area, taping off our spot welds. It will still get primer sprayed inside the quarter later, but why not do some rust treatment while you can?

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters-015.jpg

One important point, it would be very easy to mangle or cut through the outer window ledge support that is welded to the sail panel (outlined), so when you are removing the original quarter, keep an eye out for it.


Months back, when I got my Dynacorn full quarters, I was less than impressed by several differences from the factory quarters http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40276 that I knew would have to be dealt with. The body guy was quick to point
out that the differences from the quarters on my hardtop are probably there to make them work with convertibles and sedans as well. Keep in mind that aftermarket parts are often made as a one-size-fits-all solution.

So, if you are putting full quarters on a hardtop, remember:

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters2-026.jpg

1) The very top inside of the door jamb, the part that has the small rectangular bumper on it, should not be removed from the car. The replacement quarter does not have it. Furthermore, you will have to cut the adjoining window notch to the correct width.

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters3-010.jpg
2) The replacement quarter panel has a small extra bump that sticks out at the very front corner of the quarter, projecting into the quarter window opening. I don't yet definitely know if it would interfere with the window or not, but if you want it to look factory, it has to be taken off for a hardtop.

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters2-023.jpg
http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters-012.jpg

3) The replacement quarter panel has no notch at the sail panel area. This is almost certainly to make it work with other body styles. If you want your trunk lid gap to be right, and your quarter window opening to be the right width, this has to be dealt with. Our solution was to use the cut-away part of the notch, flip it over, then weld it to the sail panel, and lap the new quarter over that, as shown.

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/QT_040707-004.jpg

4) Don't forget to have some means of locating your reveal window molding clip holes, if you are going to keep the reveal molding, as they are not present on the repros. We kept the old pieces as a template, and drilled new holes

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters2-013.jpg

After the notches are cut at the sail panels, we were amazed that the quarters did fit quite well. Gaps are pretty good, the panels were straight. If you are doing full quarters, keep your deck lid and doors on the car. It may seem obvious, but if you want to do it right, they have to be there to constantly check the gaps as you work.

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters3-017.jpg

The filler neck hole lined up perfectly, and the metal seems to be reasonably thick, not flimsy.

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters2-030.jpg
http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters2-028.jpg
http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters2-004.jpg
http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters2-002.jpg

You can see that the gaps are pretty good, though not perfect, with the quarters mocked up and held in place with a few screws, but as they are clamped and screwed for final welding, try to push and pull them as necessary to optimize the gaps. This is where the art and experience of doing dozens or hundreds of quarter panels really comes into play. I guess it goes without mentioning that in order to hang quarters, you have to have the doors, (with good hinges, I replaced one of my lowers before starting this) and deck lid on the car to constantly check the gaps.

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters3-001.jpg
http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters3-003.jpg
http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters3-004.jpg
http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters3-006.jpg

After mocking them up many times and making adjustments, We drilled holes all around where the plug welds will go, welded 'em in, and ground down the welds.

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters3-009.jpg

Some amount of filler is always necessary when you get to the blocking stage, but overall the Dynacorn full quarters were proclaimed 'Way above average' for aftermarket sheet metal. Don't come after me if you get a bad one though. I wouldn't be surprised to see them vary widely. I ended up getting mine from http://www.justsheetmetal.com

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/Quarters3-019.jpg

They're not in primer yet, but they're hung, and they fit, so there you go. I'm pretty jazzed to have a major part of the sheet metal work done! Hope it helps someone going through the same process. Next: Door skins!

Awesome post!!!! Very detailed pictures and great explanations. Hopefully you saved some other guys some work by showing what to look out for. Great job.

Looks Good, I Just Went Through The Same Process, Had The Same Issues As You But I Am Happy Overall, Still Have To Grind All The Welds Down And Do The Finish Body Work , But The Hard Part Is Done, As Far As The The Dii Quarters, I Had Got One Bad One And Had To Send It Back For Replacement, It Was Just Not Right , But They Worked With Me....., I Will Try To Get Some Pics Posted Soon

This is one heck of a post, hats off bro. I hate to even add this comment as it clutters, but I couldn't resist.

THANKS,
Kenneth

:( all I'm getting is the dreaded red x:confused:

:( all I'm getting is the dreaded red x:confused:
Me too! Like to see the how to's.:(

Ha! You guys broke my bandwidth. I knew I had too many pictures. They should be back now.

How about adding this one to the "best of" section along with your floor pan writeup?

VERY good thread, thanks. I don't plan on having to do my quarters, but it sure is fun to see the how-to of it.

One of the few positives of having all this work to do on the car is being able to help others in the process, so I'm glad to do it. Carl added some great progress pics to the floor pan thread, and if anyone wants to add to this one, feel free. :D

acd65post sent me this in PM:

Is there supposed to be a separate inside quarter piece that runs down the front of the quarter in the door jamb?

Yes! There is an inner structural door jamb. Sorry I didn't get a better pic, but it wraps around and is attached to the interior quarter wall.

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/QuartersIJ.jpg

Looks great. I need to tackel the same thing but I think I'm going to put it off till next winter. I'll use your pics as reference thanks for the post!!

Ha! You guys broke my bandwidth. I knew I had too many pictures. They should be back now.

I still have the red boxes that show nothing. How are you guys viewing the pics?

If you connect with AOL, I know that they don't give you a real time version of the internet, only a cached one. Bottom line is, check back in a while, hit refresh, and they will show up.

acd65post sent me this in PM:



Yes! There is an inner structural door jamb. Sorry I didn't get a better pic, but it wraps around and is attached to the interior quarter wall.

http://www.nocturnaloner.net/Nova/QuartersIJ.jpg

After I sent you the pm I went out to the garage and checked the passenger side of the car .The passenger side is original to the car.The inner structure only looks to be a small piece that holds the door latch bracket.
The car is a 65 two door post.I am wondering if post cars are different in this area ?

After I sent you the pm I went out to the garage and checked the passenger side of the car .The passenger side is original to the car.The inner structure only looks to be a small piece that holds the door latch bracket.
The car is a 65 two door post.I am wondering if post cars are different in this area ?

my 66 2dr hard top looks just like that, has the same piece you have marked in red

so why did you go with dynacorn over goodmark if you had to do it over again would you go with nos quarters.

so why did you go with dynacorn over goodmark if you had to do it over again would you go with nos quarters.

Keep in mind: I needed full quarters. Goodmark does not make full quarters for 62-65. Only Dynacorn makes the full quarters for 1962-65 Novas.

It's hard to see in that top picture, but the many dings and dents on my quarter got up into the top bodyline, and into the end tips near the tail light, and I didn't think that a skin would cover it.

If I could find NOS quarters, and could afford them, you bet I would go with NOS.

loved it!!!

Greg,That was a Great Post.Thanks for taking the Time.Nice looking Repair also.I talked with a lady from that Site that you posted,Nice people.Looks like you will have a solid well built car when it is finished.

Greg,That was a Great Post.Thanks for taking the Time.Nice looking Repair also.I talked with a lady from that Site that you posted,Nice people.Looks like you will have a solid well built car when it is finished.

She was really cool to me as well, and they had the best delivered price I could find. All of their sheet metal prices look good. Also, the shipper they used got the panels to me in perfect shape, which if you look around at other threads, is a big deal. :D

Outstanding work Greg!!! I'm just amazed at the progress that you are making.:D

Thanks, Jonesy!! :D I will have this thing in paint by year's end, at the latest. :mad: :mad: :D

Looks awesome Greg!! Still trying to find examples of thoese wheels for ya~!

Thanks for showing the section you cut at the sail panel area. I am having to use a 2 door quarter to fix my 4 door. I coild not get the the welds from underneath so I trimed the new quarter like you did. Made life easier for not alot of extra work. Your ride is going to look good.

Thanks for showing the section you cut at the sail panel area. I am having to use a 2 door quarter to fix my 4 door. I coild not get the the welds from underneath so I trimed the new quarter like you did. Made life easier for not alot of extra work. Your ride is going to look good.

Thanks! The body turned out pretty straight. Here's my car profile (http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85575&highlight=Greg_R_63%27s). Not a show car by any means, but it is all coming together. It's good to know when I post something that helps others. Did you make a thread for your moredoor?

No I have not made a thread for it yet. Here is a link to a blog I started for it. http://www.dadsshopandhobbies.blogspot.com

No I have not made a thread for it yet. Here is a link to a blog I started for it. http://www.dadsshopandhobbies.blogspot.com

Hey, your blog is great, and you should post the quarter panel repair pics in Body and interior. Especially since it's a moredoor, and there are not many repair threads specific to them. Call it 63 4-door quarter panel repair, or something to that effect.

This is a great tread, but it left me with some questions. I thru out the top portion of the door jamb not knowing I would need it with the new panel. Well I got some used ones but still did not know what to do with the opening where the qtr glass comes thru the jamb. I was confused by the photos on this tread. We were told to trim the bulge on the top front of the qtr but how is it done. Well, luckily I have two novas and I took the lt qtr window molding off and took some photos to make it more clear what to do. I also took some measurements if you are in the same boat as I am.

This photo shows the cut out which is 3'' down from the top of the panel, 2 1/8 from outside the bottom of the cut out to the outside of the qtr, and the cutout is 1 1/8 wide. Notice its at the same angle as the glass.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm299/1floho/maroon%2063%20nova%20400/000_0003-1.jpg

This photo shows how the inner lip looked oe. This is where the bulge in this tread needs to be trimmed off. The panel is strait on the top of the qtr, but the cutout leans out at the same angle as the glass.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm299/1floho/maroon%2063%20nova%20400/000_0001-1.jpg

This photo shows how the top of the qtr is strait.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm299/1floho/maroon%2063%20nova%20400/000_0002-1.jpg

More confused than ever?

We were told to trim the bulge on the top front of the qtr but how is it done. ?

Well, there are two ways you could go about it.

1) cut straight across, following the original line of the quarter, then weld in new metal to complete the flap that is folded down inside the quarter.

or,

2) cut a slot in the bulge, and using a hammer and dolly, fold the edge over in a straight line, following the original line.

Since you have original cars there, you have perfect examples of how it should be, and if you can put on the rest of the quarter, you definitely have the skills to fix that little kickout.

Greg r 63 you have done an excellent job on this tread. I hope you don't mind me adding some supplemental photos of the process to help fellow members out, I don't want to hijack your thread.

Before qtr cut. Note this is the opposite side of the other photos. You can see the bulge that Greg R 63 pointed out that has to be cut at the very top rt of the photo.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm299/1floho/1963%20Nova%20SS%20resto%20mod/JOHNSNOVA035.jpg

I made the mistake Greg r 63 warned you about, I removed my qtrs before I had the new ones and did not realize I would need the top portion to the door jamb. Luckily I was able to find these pieces here close to home. So this is how I did it . I used the pieces and made a template for where to cut the new Goodmark full qtr.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm299/1floho/1963%20Nova%20SS%20resto%20mod/JOHNSNOVA039.jpg

I then used a scribe to mark where the cut out goes.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm299/1floho/1963%20Nova%20SS%20resto%20mod/JOHNSNOVA040.jpg

I then cut out the notch, leaving about 1/8 extra next to the scribe mark which if needed can be trimmed back . On my other 63 nova the hole is larger that it needed to be and I think there will be less chance of wind noise or leaks.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm299/1floho/1963%20Nova%20SS%20resto%20mod/JOHNSNOVA043.jpg

I overlaped the piece by about 3/8 of an inch and welded it in. It still needs some grinding and bodyfiller but thats about it. You only need the inner piece and it comes out nice. You may notice the angle of the cut out matches the angle of the qtr glass, its not strait verticle.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm299/1floho/1963%20Nova%20SS%20resto%20mod/JOHNSNOVA057.jpg

I used Goodmark full qtrs and they must be different from Dynacorn, I plan on t.i.g. welding the qtr where it meats the sail panel and blending the weld into the bodyline on the sail panel. After the weld cools I plan on using bonding adhesive on the underside just for safe measure. But there is more than one way to skin a cat and this is the way I am going to do it. If you did not already know the sail panel is the sheetmetal between the qtr glass and rear glass.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm299/1floho/1963%20Nova%20SS%20resto%20mod/JOHNSNOVA038.jpg

Hope this helps you quys out. I would recommend changing the full qtr over a skin but it is a little more work but you save on the extra welding and filling.


Thanks again Greg r 63

Great stuff here guys! I need to save all of these pics for when I am ready to do mine.

Great pictures. Very helpful as I'm starting what you show in pictures.

I’m trying to find a tail panel for a ’65 nova. I have found them for a 1966 but no 1965. Will that work? If not, where could I find one? Same thing for the trunk floor extension/drop off. I find them for a ’66 but not a ’65. Any ideas? Thanks,

Great pictures. Very helpful as I'm starting what you show in pictures.

I’m trying to find a tail panel for a ’65 nova. I have found them for a 1966 but no 1965. Will that work? If not, where could I find one? Same thing for the trunk floor extension/drop off. I find them for a ’66 but not a ’65. Any ideas? Thanks,

The dropoffs for 66 can be modified to fit the earlier years, so if you can't find original, get them. I would email dale at novasrus.com to see if he could help you with your panel needs. Here's a 62-64 panel up on ebay right now, which might help, depending on what you need:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/62-63-64-65-Chevy-II-Nova-trunk-tail-taillight-panels_W0QQitemZ260521202070