rear quarter panel

[bmroyer]

Was wondering how to replace a rear drivers side quarter panel? They don't come off like a fender, you actually have to cut it out right? My drivers side is cracking at the bottom and has a rust hole starting under the little passenger window.

[Money pit Beretta]

Correct, that is the only way to do it.

[3X00-Modified]

If you have rust that far up on the car I'm guessing when you start cutting into this to do the rear quarter your going to find something that will either prevent you from continuing, or something that will strongly suggest you do not continue due to extreme rust conditions.

[bmroyer]

[bmroyer]

[3X00-Modified]

By the window appears to just be surface rust from where paint has chipped away, but I almost want to say it look like someone may have sectioned in a piece of quarter already and that's why its rusting badly right on the body line... May have be an (unprotected from the inside)weld joint there that just went bad quick.

[Cliff8928]

.... That's a lot of body filler.

My '89 was like that from a repair way before I got it.

[Rettax3]

.... That's a lot of body filler.

My '89 was like that from a repair way before I got it.

That was my thought too. Now we know why it is rusted-out so bad. These cars had a galvanized coating on the sheet-metal from the factory, to slow-down rusting. When a body-tech has to fix a big dent, they tend to grind-down the car's surface a bit, so the body-filler can grab onto something since glossy paint and clear-coat are too slick to stick to (and other reasons too -although I am not a paint-and-body person). When they are treating the dented area, oxidation almost always starts, and after several years, it can go really bad, especially if there is a lot of nice porous body-filler holding moisture against the metal.

The best way to remove the rusted quarter is to sand-down to metal all along the seam-line, and use a spot-weld drilling tool to separate it from the rest of the car. Most GM spot-welded seams are tacked about every four inches or so, so figure you will have a LOT of holes to drill. But after you replace the bad quarter, you are talking about a truly fixed part of the car. So long is the rest of what you are hanging the quarter onto is still healthy, and you prep the surfaces right, it can be done as good as new.

Good luck.