1949 Chevy Project Project Purple Pig New Hind Quarters - Hung, Drawn, and Quartered

A little hammer and dolly work later, and the upper quarter was in reasonable shape to accept the repair panels.

Clamped to the new inner lip, I could now mark where the upper edge of the repair panel would be.

As the new panel is stepped to ease fitment, I trimmed the old quarter 3/8 inch below my scribed line. I also took the opportunity to prime the new steel before it became hidden once and for all.

At last, I could tack-weld the new panel in place. Clamps and lengths of scrap steel were used to align the new and old panels during welding. Eyeballing along the length of the quarters enabled me to adjust the clamps to provide the perfect curvature, as removing the bottom of the quarter allowed the top to bow outward.

As I have non-stock taillight openings in my rear fenders, I cut the new panel at an angle, to retain the old section around the light. I shan’t finish this area now, as I will be fitting a new rear pan and trunk floor section next month, so that clamp will stay for a while. The small angled section allows the new and old steel to sit flush for welding.

With the rear of the quarter tacked in place, I moved to the front. As you can see, I’d already welded a repair section here years ago, but the remainder of the front section was dented, rusty, and generally tired.

The EMS repair panel is designed to fit all the way into the door opening, but as my wiring harness is already installed and runs beneath the sill plate and on through into the quarter, I didn’t want to risk melting it by welding so close, so I opted to join the panels halfway into the opening.

After much trimming of both the new and old panels, I again primed what would become hidden. The aluminum plate by the B-post is there to protect the wiring harness from weld spatter and will be removed after the welding is complete.

The EMS panel fits the bottom corner of the door nicely, though as with the other side of the car, I will have to move the upper section of the quarter-panel rearward slightly to attain a uniform door gap.

The only area that wasn’t a perfect fit was at the characteristic hump in the quarter. With a couple of self-tapping screws this area was pulled in to tack-weld, but the corner required a couple of heavy taps with a hammer and cold chisel. This area is heavily pitted as it usually sits under the stainless trim. I’ll cut it out and patch it but it’s important to align the panels now.

As well as the brazed patch, the quarter-panel had also been the recipient of some slide hammer work to pull a dent, rather than remove the interior panel and use a hammer and dolly. I did the latter, and will now weld the slide hammer holes closed.

While locating patch panels, and before any tack welding, ensure they align with adjacent panels. Though the bottom corner of my door is bent inward, you can see by looking down the panel that the body lines flow through the door into the quarter. Checking this now will pay dividends when it comes to bodywork and paint time!