Rescuing Ruby, Extensive Quarter Panel Rust Repair

[Fleetw00d]

INTRODUCTION NOV. 23, 2012:

From this:

DSC02593 by Paul Kemme, on Flickr
[/url]DSC02596 by Paul Kemme, on Flickr

To this:


DSC08771 by Paul Kemme, on Flickr

Special thanks to:

- God for the ability to do this.

- My wife for putting up with me and the project.

- Dave Brinkman and Frank's CarStar in Fairfield, Ohio, for advice, encouragement, and the paint job.

- Majestic Honda (online) and Performance Honda (Fairfield, Ohio)

- RimWorks, Dayton, Ohio

- and the cb7tuner community!

ORIGINAL POST July 17, 2011:

Finally got started reconstructing my 90 LX. Don’t bother telling me it isn’t worth it (304,918 miles), I know that. I once made an unfortunate comparison between my wife and this car; her response, “You’ll get rid of me just like you’ll get rid of this car.” Soooo, I have to drive it until I die, or it gets run over by a truck, and hopefully those two events don’t happen at the same time.

It has been cut up since last summer, finally got started putting it back together. I figured I would start a thread and either get harassment or encouragement to pick up the pace.

You can see what I started with in the photos above. (edit)

Donor Quarters. It was a shame to cut the donor up; it was only lightly hit in the front. They wouldn't sell me the whole shell.

LQtrInner by Paul Kemme, on RQtr by Paul Kemme, on Flickr

Right side cut open





New outer skin and inner wheel well



Outer trunk floor and rear corner of inner wheel well patch



Forward inner wheel well patch



Next step is installation of outer wheel well.

[antonio7566]

You sure have alot of work to do but it's nice to see that your fixing it up rather then scraping it. Where do you plan on replacing the right qurter panel were you cut across showing in the small pic, or above that near the back glass?

[Fleetw00d]

I left the top of the old quarter in place for the time being to keep everything aligned. I was actually driving like that (on nice days) before I cut away the bottom of the braces at the back of the wheel well. The new outer part of the wheel well will overlap this area. When I'm ready for the outer skin, I'll tie it in at the seam at the rear window and several inches up the C pillar. I'll be spot welding the lap joints everywhere except the wheel well lip where I'm going to use 3M body panel adhesive (it will work very well as a sealer at this joint as well). Every internal, and every external surface that will be hidden by things like the bumper, will be coated with Eastwood rust converter/protector (orange color inside the rocker section).

[antonio7566]

I left the top of the old quarter in place for the time being to keep everything aligned. I was actually driving like that (on nice days) before I cut away the bottom of the braces at the back of the wheel well. The new outer part of the wheel well will overlap this area. When I'm ready for the outer skin, I'll tie it in at the seam at the rear window and several inches up the C pillar. I'll be spot welding the lap joints everywhere except the wheel well lip where I'm going to use 3M body panel adhesive (it will work very well as a sealer at this joint as well). Every internal, and every external surface that will be hidden by things like the bumper, will be coated with Eastwood rust converter/protector (orange color inside the rocker section).

Nice looks like you know what your doing, keep us updated and good luck.

[Lakersfan24]

Ha ha ha when I read the wife part I was laughing because I did the same thing. Looks like a lot of work but I agree with the post above it does look like you know what you are doing so keep up the good work. And hurry up

[thepowderblue]

Are you doing the work?

[Fleetw00d]

Are you doing the work?

I'm trying to. Despite previous posts assuming that I know what I'm doing, this is my first attempt at this kind of thing. Normally I hate body work, but I certainly can't afford to pay someone else to do it. The tricky part will be the seam across the C pillar and the rocker panel. A couple body shops that were willing to discuss the project and provide tips recommended a continuous butt weld at these areas. I may get it to that point, then have one of them weld it for me (I have neither the equipment nor skill). Any tips here are welcome.

Trial fit the wheel housing this evening. I need C-clamps with a deeper throat to clamp the seam across the wheel housing. I thought about drilling a couple small holes and using stainless nuts and screws to pull it together where I can't get clamps, then weld the joint on either side and just leave the screws in place to fill the holes. If you look close, you can see a few screws/nuts in existing holes helping to hold the wheel housing in the picture. Undercoating on the wheel side of the housing would hide the screw heads (who is going to look under there anyway?).

[foamypirate]

Instead of the nuts and bolts, you should look into something called cleckos. They may work for you.

http://www.eastwood.com/panel-holding-system.html

[cp[mike]]

instead Of The Nuts And Bolts, You Should Look Into Something Called Cleckos. They May Work For You.

http://www.eastwood.com/panel-holding-system.html

Wow!!!!

[vietkid_2006]

Looks good!

Clecos or gator grips will help you a lot more and they're small and fast to put on.

[Noridetoolow]

mad props to taking this project on yourself having not done it before. Major body work is one area I still have not ventured into. I gotta admit im freaking thrilled we dont have rust issues like that down here in GA though!

[Fleetw00d]

Thanks for the tip on the cleckos, but I found a third hand today that doesn't require drilling holes. Picked up a pair of vice grips with 16 inch jaws!



Did a retrial fit this evening; with the vice grips and hammer and dolly, I was able to persuade the vast majority of the joint to close up pretty well. Even though I lined up all the holes/features along the rear door edge, the bottom forward end of the wheel opening seemed a little too far from the bottom of the door. Spent a lot of time measuring/remeasuring to determine the exact position for the wheel housing so that the quarter skin winds up in the correct location relative to the door; once I start welding, I'm screwed if it is out of place. With all the clamps, I can't fit the quarter skin over it to check alignment. May have to wait 'til my wife gets home with the 93 sedan to do some measurements on an intact vehicle (this lower corner is GONE of both sides of this one).
Bought my wagon in FL; it needed some mechanical work, but it is rust free!

[CBro7]

No kidding about extensive... Btw, don't worry about the mileage. You could probably get this car to 500k, which deserves major respect from everyone here, so let us know when you get there.

[Fleetw00d]

Duh, figured out a simple way to measure. Put the wheel housing inside the quarter skin, then was able to measure from the forward edge of the bottom of the wheel opening to one of the square holes for the rocker cover clips. Got some of the welding done across the top. A little tricky using the 12 inch tongs in the back, may have to cut out below the tail light or switch to the 6 inch tongs.

[Fleetw00d]

Pretty much finished welding the outer wheel housing.


Pictures inside the wheel housing, looking forward and aft


On to the outer quarter! Might be a few days - two round trips to FL in the next week.