Installing A New Quarter Panel On A 1971 Chevrolet Camaro - Quarter Pounding

19 The Goodmark trunk drop offs (PN 4021-735-70R or L, $49.95 ea.) looked to be a high quality part, but how well they would fit on the car was the big question.

20 Life became easier when the new drop off fit perfectly in the area occupied by the factory panel. The part was fitted, clamped in place, and then welded to the car. Later, all the seams will be sealed up to prevent water intrusion. This is a great time to seal up the car with a paint specifically made to stop rust. In our case we coated everything in POR-15. Some guy, decades from now, will be thankful we did this.

21 With the drop offs welded in place it was time to test fit the new quarter-panel (PN 4021-601- 70R or L, $399.95 ea.). A good fitting panel can save you a boatload of labor. We were happy to find that the panel fit so good it was almost spooky. Dick has been doing bodywork for 36 years and he was sold on the Goodmark panels. As he told us: "I've installed a lot of quarter-panels, from just about every manufacturer, and this one fit better than any of them, even the GM units back in the '70s."

22 Unless you have a hell of a shop, you won't have one of these. This pinch welder runs about $10k, but can knock big time off a quarter-panel install. It's what the pros use. This machine also means that you won't have to drill all the holes in the seams of the new panels, and that you won't have any of the resulting welds to grind down when you start on the body work.

23 With the quarter-panel clamped in place it's a good idea to also secure it with a few strategically placed sheet metal screws. Once everything is aligned as good as possible, it's time to start welding. We used our fancy pinch welder, but a traditional welder works just as well. Just weld everywhere you drilled a hole in the new panel.

24 Remember when we told you how well the panel fit? That wasn't us being nice to a manufacturer, it was a fact. Here you can see for yourself how well the new panel matches up with the factory rear valance. We also noticed that the bodylines were crisp and the side markers easily fit into the holes. The shop had recently done another second-gen using a panel from a different manufacturer. It took more than a few hours of labor to get it looking as good as this panel did right out of the box.

25 Next it's time to weld the quarter to the roof. Be careful not to overheat and warp the new panel by trying to go too fast. One trick is to have an air hose and use it to cool the panel down a bit between welds by blowing on the weld.

26 Here's the result. The weld goes along the entire seam and each hole is welded up. This will make for a strong bond that won't crack out over time. Later this can be ground down and bodyworked to perfection.

27 The old lower valance had been bashed in somewhere along the line and, with the quarters off, it was just as easy to replace the panel. One tip here is to trim the new panel down a bit so that the weld will lay mostly behind where the bumper sits. The rear valance is Goodmark part number 4021-875-70 and runs $39.95.