1966 Chevy Nova SS - Do Your Best, Bondo The Rest.

With everything cut and trimmed, the Goodmark panel is ready for install. Before that happens, everything that you see here was coated with Por-15 to provide us with additional rust protection. That, however, is another tech story for another day.

After all the test fitting and trimming, it was time for the real thing. One of the cool new tools used in the body industry are Cleco Clips. The use of Cleco Clips came from the aircraft industry and have been adapted for use in the automotive industry. First an 1/8th-inch hole is drilled into the sheetmetal.

You will notice in this series of photos that when the clip is fully expanded its metal prongs elongate and become slender.

As the pliers are released the prongs retreat back into the base of the clip and while retreating they expand wider than an 1/8th of an inch. Any sheetmetal that is in between gets pinched together.

Cleco Clips are reusable and are a big advantage for tacking the sheetmetal, compared to using sheetmetal screws. Once the Cleco clips are removed the 1/8th-inch hole is welded with the mig.

You can see the Cleco Clips and how they are holding the sheetmetal in place. It sure beats using a C-clamp.

The tape in this picture represents the cut line. Remember the sheetmetal is overlapping. Once it is cut, we should have a perfect butt joint that is ready for stitch welding.

After cutting, you can see how well everything should fit together. It's a perfect butt joint.

The panel is pulled off one more time, and the 1/8th-inch holes made for the Cleco clips on the B-pillar are drilled out with a 1/4-inch drill. This allows the holes to be plug welded.

Now it's stitching time. This process is where patience needs to be exercised. If we were to move to quickly and start stitching everything in a hurry, heat buildup will occur. If heat builds up in the quarter panel, it is guaranteed to warp. While stitch welding we used the flat end of a screwdriver to adjust the elevation of the two joining pieces of metal, creating an even and smooth surface.

After stitching, grind the tak welds down and repeat the process until it is seamless. Remember to alternate your welds. Tak weld in one spot then move to another section and lay down another tac weld. It's the best way to avoid heat buildup.

We deliberately stitch welded a 6-inch section to illustrate how the panel should be finished off. Stitch welding is tedious and can take hours to complete.

Here is the finished product, shot in etching primer. If you follow all methods you will have a quarter-panel that is the envy of all your neighbors.