Rear Quarter Damage Uncovered

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Jan 12, 2017
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USA - Florida
My Car
1972 Mustang Mach 1
2011 Mustang GT
The rear drivers side quarter was obviously damaged at some point in the past.  Someone did a terrible job "fixing" it and i believe that's what caused much of the rust in the trunk area.  So my question is...what sheet metal do I need to fix this?  Obviously quarter panels which I planned on doing anyway.  The taillight panel and the trunk floor will also be replaced.  What is this piece circled in red below? Is this the quarter panel extension?  

Also how about the strip of metal with the red arrow pointing to it?  What is that called?  Could I maybe straighten that out w/out having to replace it?  



 
+1, I purchased these patches as well, and they have the damage bits you need.

I will probably not use them as they are. These patches are spot welded in a hurry in that region and need a massage to fit nicely.

 
+1 on the massaging that will be needed for the new panel in that area. I just replaced those areas and part of the quarters on both sides and had to drill out half of the spot welds on the panel for proper fitment. Once I got good fitment, I clamped them in place and will be finishing the new spot welds this weekend. As far as the rear cross member, I had to replace mine as well. Got the new one from NPD and it took just a little bit of grinding the ends to fit properly. If you change it out, it would be a good time to check all of the measurements of the rails and so forth while down there. I checked mine because the rear had been hit, everything was rusted out and I want to be sure. The measurements are posted in a few threads here. Good luck.

Tom

 
+1 on the massaging that will be needed for the new panel in that area. I just replaced those areas and part of the quarters on both sides and had to drill out half of the spot welds on the panel for proper fitment. Once I got good fitment, I clamped them in place and will be finishing the new spot welds this weekend.  As far as the rear cross member, I had to replace mine as well. Got the new one from NPD and it took just a little bit of grinding the ends to fit properly. If you change it out, it would be a good time to check all of the measurements of the rails and so forth while down there. I checked mine because the rear had been hit, everything was rusted out and I want to be sure. The measurements are posted in  a few threads here. Good luck.

Tom
As I'll be busy on this in a not too far future (just received my tail panel and my floor pan)

If you have picts of the massage... please

Also, I could locate the spot welds of the rusty tail panel on both sides (to lower quarter), but haven't located yet where they are on the lower part of the panel.

If you have some hints about where they are (how many), its a moon landscape on mine and hard to "spot" them...

 
When you do go back with your new panels many have said to clamp them

in place. There are times when you cannot clamp them so just use sheet metal screws. This will allow the trunk lid to be installed and check all the gaps on the quarters and tail light panel. Once you have everything right then you can start to tack weld the holes as you remove the screws.

I do not think that some of the brackets are included with the trunk floor. Like the brackets for the bumper and the bracket in the center where the trunk latch mounts. You might have to look for a donor if your are trash.

If you do use sheet metal screws drill the outer panel where the head will be larger than the one that the screw will bite into. Makes it easier to pull them together.

They do make what is called a Cleco but they do not have much force to them. Here is link so you can see what they are. Not suggesting you buy from Eastwood just a quick reference. Also I do not like an overlap joint in an outside panel. Over time the lap joint usually shows up through the paint.

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

They do make some clamps that pinch a butt weld joint together and do work sometimes depending on the amount of shape in the panel. They sell them at most body supply places and also Harbor Freight item number 60545. Here is link to theirs 8 for $6.99. https://www.harborfreight.com/butt-welding-clamps-8-pc-60545.html

When you get your weld wire be sure to tell the welding supply what you are doing. The softest wire is usually the best for sheet metal. You should also ask them about a copper back up plate for closing up holes with your wire welder. The copper plate allows you to fill in a hole much faster that just trying to weld the edges. Maybe google it for a video of someone using one to fill in holes.

You will learn as you go just go slow. Get you some scrap metal to practice welding on. Welding is like anything it takes practice.

 
Has anyone on here purchased the Goodmark skins from Rock Auto? There seems to be a ton of options out there for these repro skins and I'm sure they all come with their own issues. Are there any that are actually a heavier gauge steel or better fitment?

 
The 2 patches discussed above were Goodmark i think, robust enough and ok on the outside, tho, I wonder how one can cut nicely the side lights emboss that aren't. I'll reuse the old ones as the bad part is way bellow.

The Tail panel came from jegs via E-bay (made in Taiwan) I don't recall the brand, its less thick than the one I bought years ago that was NOS. Its 0.9mm, and where the lights are to be bolted on inside, on the original, its way thicker. There is rust on the old ones, but i'd say +-1.5 mm, on these it's preformed and welded with 0.9 as well.

@david

Thx for the tips,

my piggy is under recovery atm, but this copper baby is going to be mine before I start.

https://www.vocor.nl/las-gereedschap/1799-magnetic-plug-weld-tool.html

I can't resist to have these relatively cheap smart tools :) I have some copper plate that I've folded like a spoon and use also aluminum sometimes (mainly because I can't find my spoon back). Looks a bit like the flat one here, but many times more ugly!

https://www.vocor.nl/las-gereedschap/1801-welders-helper-3-stuks-vlak-gebogen-en-haaks-koper.html

The magnet added gives you a third hand and forces you to not stay too long on same location to move it (sometime I want just one more bead done and its often a bad idea on side panels) Ideal for welding from above too.

Can't see picts on the freightharbor site, as they block content for us far away people. I can order blindly tho. One smart dev behind the site they have...

On this shop they also have these holders and more handy stuffs.

https://www.vocor.nl/109-clecos

As about the brackets, loooong ago, I was missing them and made copies of the left overs I had with square tubing.

Will prolly do same for the 71.

Here a bad pict of ancient pictures.



 
+1 on the massaging that will be needed for the new panel in that area. I just replaced those areas and part of the quarters on both sides and had to drill out half of the spot welds on the panel for proper fitment. Once I got good fitment, I clamped them in place and will be finishing the new spot welds this weekend.  As far as the rear cross member, I had to replace mine as well. Got the new one from NPD and it took just a little bit of grinding the ends to fit properly. If you change it out, it would be a good time to check all of the measurements of the rails and so forth while down there. I checked mine because the rear had been hit, everything was rusted out and I want to be sure. The measurements are posted in  a few threads here. Good luck.

Tom
As I'll be busy on this in a not too far future (just received my tail panel and my floor pan)

If you have picts of the massage... please

Also, I could locate the spot welds of the rusty tail panel on both sides (to lower quarter), but haven't located yet where they are on the lower part of the panel.

If you have some hints about where they are (how many), its a moon landscape on mine and hard to "spot" them...

Fabrice, when I took my tail panel off it was mostly rust, so I didn't really take any good pics. Almost all of the lower portion of the quarter panel that butted up to the trunk drop offs were either completely rusted or dented up really bad. I cut a lot of the tail panel out and the just ground down along where the tail panel was welded and used an air chisel and walked it back and forth between the sheet metal to find the spot welds. Then I used a spot weld removal drill bit and drilled them out to remove what was left of the tail panel.

For the massaging of the new panel, I drilled some of the spot welds that connect the section that goes between the quarter panel and the trunk drop offs so that it would flex more and that the quarter would go into place easier. On the new quarter panels, the spot welds are pretty easy to see, I think I drilled out 3 or 4 spot welds at the most on the new panel.  

The bumper brackets, if you need them were available at Mustangs Unlimited for about $15-20 apiece IIRC.   If you are doing the trunk floor, there was a lot of seam sealer around my inner wheel house, so make sure that you grind down there real good.  I cut out the trunk floor just forward of the oval access holes and then cut/ground out the spot welds to remove the rear cross member as mine was smashed up pretty bad.  I did use sheet metal screws to assist with holding them in place till I welded.  Good luck.

Tom
 
Had lots of fun with mine when it was being restored. The car had been hit twice in the same area on the passenger side rear end. First time required a new rear quarter panel, luckily this was in the mid-seventies so there was only Ford NOS available as replacements (see actual Ford label I found on the 1/4 panel when I was stripping the car down.). The second time, the rear tail light panel and the trunk pan/support bracket took the damage. (See pic). They did not replace the tail light panel, just "blended" in a piece from another taillight panel and bondo'd over it... (see pic). I acquired an NOS taillight panel for the restoration (see pic). This is where I learned that the '71-2 tail light panels are different from the '73 versions. It appears that Ford was supplying only the '73 version as replacement tail light panels for all '71-3 car's after 1973. I had to do some cutting and welding on the new NOS unit to make it appear similar to the original '71 unit. I have noted before the damage caused by extensive use of air shocks on this car, cracked the trunk pan on each side of the shock mounts as well as the under body shock supports. In time, everything was corrected, we saved the trunk pan and the new installation of the NOS pieces went flawlessly.

Rear Tailite Panel Inside Blended Panels2.jpg

71 vert Rear Trunk Pan Collision Damage.jpg

Rear Tail Light Panel-NOS New.JPG

71 429 Convertible Quarter Panel ID Tag (2).jpg

Tail Light Panel-Outer Stripped2.JPG

Trunk Dvr Side. Cracked PanJPG2.JPG

 
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It seems like we are in the same boat! my 73 needs the same side quarter panel replaced, the gas tank frame rail luckily was only cracked for me, but floors came out. i have the new floors gas tank support welded on, and i have the floor spot welded only on the rear frame rail. i got rained out on. does anyone have any recommendations on what to use to get rid of the rust on the inside of the frame rails? i have surface rust now, so the trunk floor is coming back out and now i have to pray i dont mess it up taking it out. i have until NOV 15 to get it running unfortunately. 

if anyones willing to share as well, what order do you put the parts back in together in?

im thinking its trunk floor, drop offs onto the trunk floor, tail light panel, then tackle the quarter skin.

If anyone has any tips on replacing the quarter skin let me know. (see picture below for the piece i am mentioning)  Personally ive never tackled a job like this.

this would be my first restoration project and im thankful for everyone here, as you all have saved me a million headaches.

and yes, this car is for me. not to sell when im done. i have to get it done by the 15th in order to be able to get it out the driveway for a while.



 
It seems like we are in the same boat! my 73 needs the same side quarter panel replaced, the gas tank frame rail luckily was only cracked for me, but floors came out. i have the new floors gas tank support welded on, and i have the floor spot welded only on the rear frame rail. i got rained out on. does anyone have any recommendations on what to use to get rid of the rust on the inside of the frame rails? i have surface rust now, so the trunk floor is coming back out and now i have to pray i dont mess it up taking it out. i have until NOV 15 to get it running unfortunately. 

if anyones willing to share as well, what order do you put the parts back in together in?

im thinking its trunk floor, drop offs onto the trunk floor, tail light panel, then tackle the quarter skin.

If anyone has any tips on replacing the quarter skin let me know. (see picture below for the piece i am mentioning)  Personally ive never tackled a job like this.

this would be my first restoration project and im thankful for everyone here, as you all have saved me a million headaches.

and yes, this car is for me. not to sell when im done. i have to get it done by the 15th in order to be able to get it out the driveway for a while.
You sound like me!  Lol

This is what I picked up from Eastwood to hopefully help with any rust inside the frame rails:

Internal Frame Coating

I also wonder about the correct order of doing these repairs. I'm new at this just like you.  Here is a thread on here that I came across and followed which had MANY pics of replacing quarter panels.  Quarter Skin Install Thread

 
@vintageman

thx for the detailed reply. I'll look at the brackets on MU site. Takes +-1/2 hour to make one.

so If the shipping doesn't make them ridiculously expensive for what they are, I'll order them.

@7173Vert

Oh, there are diffs? Where roughly?

@jt.db

Make sure you take pictures. Always nice to learn from others. Good luck with the job!

@ITMike5.0

I'm spending quite a lot of energy to kill rust lately and tried lots of wonder products over the years. The above product or similar is ok for very light rust. The type you wipe with your finger and your tip is covered with orange powder. But in lots of cases, the rust we have there is thicker. Make sure you remove as much as you can before apply one of these, otherwise its just lipstick on a pig. On my part, I will use first a rust dissolver in gel form after sanding all I can before apply any coating.

 
@ITMike5.0

I'm spending quite a lot of energy to kill rust lately and tried lots of wonder products over the years. The above product or similar is ok for very light rust. The type you wipe with your finger and your tip is covered with orange powder. But in lots of cases, the rust we have there is thicker. Make sure you remove as much as you can before apply one of these, otherwise its just lipstick on a pig. On my part, I will use first a rust dissolver in gel form after sanding all I can before apply any coating.
For those of us who do not have to replace our floors how do we fight off rust that could be in the frame rails?  I wouldn't have a way to access those or to even assess whether or not they are bad inside w/out cutting my floors out right?  At least I can look at the back under the trunk floor when that gets removed.

 
If you can't access, only via tiny holes or from after the wheel arch, then the spray above or similar will provide some protection, better than doing nothing.

Rust transformers, wax etc... anything that stops that #$% 7173 eater!

 
I acquired an NOS taillight panel for the restoration (see pic). This is where I learned that the '71-2 tail light panels are different from the '73 versions. It appears that Ford was supplying only the '73 version as replacement tail light panels for all '71-3 car's after 1973. I had to do some cutting and welding on the new NOS unit to make it appear similar to the original '71 unit.

@7173vert-

Can you elaborate on the differences between the 71-72 and 73 pieces?

 
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I acquired an NOS taillight panel for the restoration (see pic). This is where I learned that the '71-2 tail light panels are different from the '73 versions. It appears that Ford was supplying only the '73 version as replacement tail light panels for all '71-3 car's after 1973. I had to do some cutting and welding on the new NOS unit to make it appear similar to the original '71 unit.

@7173vert-

Can you elaborate on the differences between the 71-72 and 73 pieces?
The main, but subtle difference... is at the access hole for the wire from the trunk area to the license plate light. The replacement DZ3 tail light panel is flat across this area (license plate light wire access hole) where as the original '71 has an indentation at this area... (see pics). I cut the indent piece out of the original '71 panel and welded it into the replacement '73 NOS tail light panel, to give me the '71 look... I recall my restoration shop also stating that there was some extra holes across the bottom of the DZ3 replacement panel that had to be filled with metal as these were not required/evident on my car. I am not sure at this stage what purpose the extra holes served in '73...my guess; the bumper filler piece due to the 5mph impact regulation. Most will not go to the extent I did on this repair, but I wanted it to be as was in '71. Maybe Secluff knows when the changeover was made, I am guessing at some point during later 1972 in preparation for the 1973 model run. Finally, why the '71 indent was removed as seen in the D3Z NOS replacement panel, is a mystery to me... Hope this helps.

71 Vert Rear Talillight Panel Difference.jpg

71 Vert Rear Talillight Panel Difference2.jpg

Rear Tail Light Panel (NOS) .jpg

Rear Tail Light Panel License Plate Hole Difference (2).jpg

Tail Light Panel- Piece Taken for Replacement NOS Panel.JPG

 
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