Chevy Nova Forum banner

Quarter Panel Full vs just a Skin?

14K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  asteeler4life 
#1 ·
So the drivers side quarter on my 65 looks like trash. The previous owner rebuilt it out of bondo and I don't find that acceptable now that it is mine.

Most of the top of the wheel well is trash. The area between the wheel well and the gas cap is out of shape and could be fixed if what it was attached to wasn't trashed.

So my question is what line do you draw between just reskining the quarter vs a full replacement? I think I can get by with just a skin if the panel includes the part of the quarter that wraps around the bottom of the wheel well.

Any experience you can share?

Bret
 
#2 ·
I was in the same spot as you. The quarters had a lot of fill in them, and the car had been hit prior to me owning it. The door skins were also FULL of mud! It was probably 1/4 inch thick in spots.

I ended up going the full quarter and door skin route. I wanted the car to be straight once I'm done, and I knew I was going to be going with black, so the less work with the new panels the better!

Here is my thread on the install of the quarters and door skins:
http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174647

I got the sheet metal from classic industries. I'm happy with the way they fit so far, although I haven't gotten it painted yet.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Gary
 
#3 ·
I have a 71 nova that had some rot and alot of bondo. about a week ago i just finished installing a half skin. Overall I really had no issues putting it on but no matter how careful i was to not warp the panel near the seam, it warpped. its not horrible but im diffentally going to have to do some shrinking to get it straight. I wish i would have just replaced the full quarter. it would have been easier in my opinion.
 
#5 ·
I HOPE THOSE PICS GIVE YOU AN IDEA, BUT THE PARTIAL SKINS AREN'T A WHOLE LOT CHEAPER THAN THE FULL SKINS ARE. PLUS IT'S LESS BODYWORK LATER :yes:
HOPE THIS HELPS YA!
GOOD LUCK! :thumbsup:
 
#7 ·
From what I've seen not all skins are equal. I have done skins on several 3rd gen Novas and the ones I used before use to be big and cover alot more area. Basically covered every thing but the door jam, trunk seal area and the sail area. The set I bought recently then took back and got full quarters covered a much smaller area. They were much shorter than the ones I used in the past. Might be worth asking how big the ones you are looking at are. If I would have used the last set I bought you would easily have been able to see the joint if you stuck your head in the trunk and looked. The ones in the past you couldn't see the joint, you had to reach way up and feel to find it.
 
#8 ·
Most of the skins will have the wheel well area you are referring to. There are some minor variations between manufacturers, but typically they will go to but not into the door jamb and to or slightly over the top body line. The OE style full quarters will go to the factory seams.
 
#9 ·
My 2 :2cents:, I installed a full quarter on my drivers side and a skin on the passenger side. If I were to do it over I would have installed a full quarter instead of the skin. Even though I had to modify the quarter to fit since they don't make them specifically for convertables, I am happier with the way the full quarter turned out over than the skin. Now all that being said, by no means am I a body man nor do I claim to be one.
 
#10 ·
Here was my cut out and fitment pics of my skins. I choose to butt weld the gap vs. the lap weld. Once i had the rusted parts cut out i also replaces part of the outer wheel house and made a section on the lower part of the trunk drop off.
Everything was then coated with POR15.
 
#11 ·
This was a skin I installed about 7 yrs ago on a project Nova I was building. You can see that it is a large skin and covers alot of area. The skins I just bought and returned for full quarters were much smaller in height and didn't go as far forward or back as this one.

 
#12 ·
I am doing full quarter replacement on my 67 sedan . I am using the coupe quarter. I am doing a lot of modifying because of the diff between the sedan and coupe, I didnt want to put on a skin because it takes twice the welding and to me the less i have to weld the less i have to worry about rust coming back thru down the road, besides my door jambs and tail light panel was full of bondo along with the rest of the panel . Cost a little bit more but to me it is worth it. I will post pics of it once i am done with the install . Good luck on you decision .

Bill
 
#13 · (Edited)
Skins are fine. If you follow about an inch below that body line from the tail panel to the door jamb they work great. Easy to weld, easy bodywork because you have the body line to use as a ground. The only time I would not use skins was if I was doing a top of the line show car then I would do a full qtr.. Difference is you can see the seem from inside trunk on a skin if you look for it.
 
#14 ·
Skins are fine. If you follow about an inch below that body line from the tail panel to the door jamb they work great. Easy to weld, easy bodywork because you have the body line to use as a ground. The only time I would use skins was if I was doing a top of the line show car then I would do a full qtr.. Difference is you can see the seem from inside trunk on a skin if you look for it.
Thanks for all the comments everyone.

This is what I have been leaning towards (using original body lines). This car is going to be a driver, so I am not worried about the seam (as long as I take my time and don't warp it). I am willing to accept the seam inside if it gets me out of the alignment issues with the full quarter.

Chevy Restoration World is just down the road from me. I want to go look at the skin before I decide though. If it doesn't look like what I have pictured in my head then I will go full quarters.
 
#15 · (Edited)
You will have alot of bodywork no matter which way you go if you are looking for perfection. Don't think that because you get complete new qtrs they will not need bodywork. That was my assumption but boy was I wrong. I went with full qtrs but still had a lot of work making them as near perfect as possible. The 62-65 qtrs are the most difficult due to the teardrop bodyline over the wheel. Almost every first generation nova is wavy under the mid bodyline over the wheel. It is very difficutl to block the qtr strait while maintaining the teardrop. After a dozen times of priming and blocking I was able to get the waves out by bonding a "c" channel to the inner qtr. After the "c" channel install I was able to make my qtrs near perfect and better than any other I have seen in person. My qtrs only had minimal rust behind the wheels and I would install patch panels behind the wheels if I had to do it over again.

Blasted ready to go back together
 
#17 ·
I GOT LUCKY I GUESS, MY SKINS WERE A GOOD FIT, THEY WERE NOS. BUT I BELIEVE IN NOT USING MORE THAN YOU NEED. ORIGINAL METAL IS ALWAYS BETTER. THE MORE YOU HAVE REPRESENTING YOUR CAR THE BETTER YOU FEEL. :yes:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top