Quarter Replacement Prep and Measurement

[gzig5]

I will soon be starting the process to replace both quarters, outer wheel housings, tail panel, trunk drops and roof skin with new AMD metal.  I could have gotten away with quarter skins but several knowledgeable people suggested using the full quarters for speed and quality of fit.  I may repair the factory tail panel once I have it out and can properly evaluate it. My biggest concern is where to measure to establish appropriate references for the new panels, once all the old is gone.  I've done a lot of body work, just never panel replacement on this scale. I have a couple ideas and it was recommended to adjust the trunk lid for best fit and even gaps, but I wanted to poll the collective as to which points or areas you use for reference.  I did some searching and really didn't come up with what I was hoping for.  The car has already had everything on the bottom replaced from the firewall to the rear bumper using AMD pans and Dynacorp rear frame/seat/trunk assembly.  It will almost be an AMD special, but not quite.  The doors and front half are still OE metal.  I appreciate any guidance or pictorials you all can provide.

[Cuda Cody]

Line up the doors first to the old panels first.  And put the truck lid on to make sure all the old panels are where you want them.  Make sure to put the front fenders on too and the hood.  THEN you can leave the doors on to use to line up the new panels.  By keeping the original factory line ups it's pretty easy to make it all fit better than it was originally.  The key is NOT TO TAKE EVERYTHING off before you start.  The FIRST STEP IS TO LINE UP ALL THE DOORS, HOOD AND FENDERS.  If you are using replacement front fenders, hood or deck lid, use those right parts to do your original line up.

[Cuda Cody]

Also, make sure you put weight in the doors (if they are empty shells) so they will fit exactly like they will with all the guts (window, regs, hardware) in them.  Use chain along the bottom of the shell and shot for around 52 pounds.

[Cuda Cody]

Take your time and go slow.  Don't cut off more than you need to.

[gzig5]

The doors are full weight.  Hinges are rebuilt.  I was going to replace the driver side door with one from another car do to damage, but I'm considering re-skinning the original door because it is a bit cleaner overall.  The extra set of doors that came with the car apparently sat on a dirt floor for a while.  I supposed I need to do that first or should I be able to adjust the reskinned door to the same alignment?

I might have an additional challenge on the passenger side because the passenger rear door jamb is new and needs to be set.  The quarter was cut to remove it at the shop that did the floor and A pillar work.  It looks like it is where it needs to be, but only screwed in. I do have some measurements for that from an unmolested 72 Barracuda that was in the same shop.  Probably have some more questions about that work specifically. 

[RUNCHARGER]

What Cody said: Set your original doors first and make sure they fit right, then mount the doors you are going to use and make sure they fit before cutting anything. I don't cut more off at one time than I have to and I make sure all the original stuff is fitting right before I start anything.

[gzig5]

Thanks gentlemen.  Need to make a trip to the storage unit this weekend to get the parts we took off before doing the cowl, A-pillar, and floors.  I really need a bigger garage/shop.   

[RUNCHARGER]

Ha, ha. Things are so tight in my garage that yesterday I'm welding in the trunk on the Charger and I thought I had ran out of CO2 gas. What really had happened was as I was moving around my butt was rubbing the gas adjuster on the bottle and turned it off. That's how much room I have in the garage!

[jimynick]

All good advice, to which I'd add that the lock pillar should be set initially to the length from your measurements. Remember that the 1/4 skin hangs over it and that, to a large degree determines your ability to get a decent door/quarter gap. The doors and fenders can move a bit, but the 1/4 is fixed and your placement also needs to take into consideration the gap between the deck lid and it's length. If you're not careful, you can get a good deck to 1/4 side gap only to discover that the end of the 1/4 doesn't butt evenly at the end of the panels. With the amount of panel replacement you report, I'd fit the whole shebang together and ensure your gaps before welding any of it. It's a PITA, but it beats getting to the back of the car and realizing that things just don't jive. If you don't already ahve them, a package of Clecos can be your friend here. Remember the old adage, measure twice and cut/weld once. 

[gzig5]

Thanks for the additional input.  I intend on reassembling the car and getting the doors, fenders, and hood lined up. Then the back half will come off, do the quarters and everything back there.  I have Clecos and a couple fresh boxes of 1/2" long self tapping screws to test fit everything together.  The welder won't get turned on until everything is fit, including the new roof skin.  I have some patching and repairs to do on the front inner fenders around the hood hinge areas and the radiator support so I will probably try to get anything that might affect fit taken care of immediately and then go back and beautify it all later.  No better time to pull the brake master and do the front brake lines than now with everything off and the engine out.

I never thought I would get into the car this deep when I got it.  But fate dealt a different hand and I'm rolling with it.  On the good side, the car will be very solid and safe when done.  Just going to take a bit more time and $$ to get there. 

[jimynick]

"I never thought I would get into the car this deep when I got it.  But fate dealt a different hand and I'm rolling with it.  On the good side, the car will be very solid and safe when done.  [i]Just going to take a bit more time and $$ to get there"  Man! If we both had a dollar for every guy who's said THAT, we could afford to have somebody else do this! LOL    By the way, don't forget to make all your panel fits/adjustments with the weight of the car on the suspension. Did you put in SFC's? I can't recall, but if you haven't you might want to give that some consideration, too. It'll all be just a dream one day laddie! 

[gzig5]

SFC'c??

Even if I won the lotto, I don't think I could afford to pay someone to do this car start to finish at$70-90/hr. I wouldn't want to anyway, that's a lot of the fun of it. Just getting the hidden accident damage to the A/B pillar and rockers have set me back quite a bit on my "planned" budget.  That budget didn't survive the first battle of the war.  Parts costs aren't that bad, you can get every panel from AMD for what I consider reasonable money, but the labor to have it all properly fitted is a real wildcard.  It's shaping up to be quite an undertaking, I think I might need a new TIG welder to do it right....

[RUNCHARGER]

If I was going to do another car I would buy a TIG as well. And no way I would pay someone to do work on my car either.

[blucuda]

I believe that he was referring subframe connectors (SFC).  You should check out the kits at US Car Tool, that is the kit that I put in my "unmolested" 72 Barracuda    I didn't think it was too costly for what you gain in strength.

[gzig5]

I believe that he was referring subframe connectors (SFC).  You should check out the kits at US Car Tool, that is the kit that I put in my "unmolested" 72 Barracuda    I didn't think it was too costly for what you gain in strength.

Ah.  Connectors make sense.  I'm either making my own similar to the US Car Tool stuff or if I am short on time/space/patience I'll pony up the cash.  I've got a couple other ideas I need to noodle through for additional reinforcement in other areas, short of a roll cage.  I'm not looking forward to doing all that welding under the car, with the lift or not.  Might have to cobble together a rotisserie. 

Your uni-body is unmolested compared to mine.   
Do you have color on the car yet?  You need to post some pics.  It looked like that blue was really going to pop.