It will be awhile before I start on my bodywork, but I ran across a thread on another forum where a guy made a wood buck...clamped on a piece of sheet metal and started massaging the metal with a mallet to make a quarter panel that wasn't available. Once the initial shaping was done he used heat and an english wheel on the edges. I figured this could be done on a smaller scale to make the patch panels I need. Since I need the bottoms of both of my qtrs, I was wondering if this would be overkill...or just start welding and shaping sheet metal. I had hoped to find patch panels for another model that may be usable but the Mustang panels look unusable. If any of you actually did your own bodywork...how did you do it?
Get some from maverick maniac, we are cutting both sides off tomorrow. Thats all i can say about that.
You can buy new quarter panels from Autokrafters. Best bet is find a parts car and cut off what you need.
I used quarters from a 4door. The wheel arch works about 1/2 way. I made my own trunk drop off, and outer wheel wells from 20 gauge steel. I had a few rust issues with my donor pannels, but shaped pieces to weld into place. Some day I'll get some pics of it.
I only need the bottoms of the qtrs....no way I'm wasting money on complete qtrs since I have access to all of the old sheet metal I need at the shop (for free). Keep in mind I actually do bodywork and I know I can get these patched up, but I sort of like the idea of forming one complete panel vs welding several pieces together.
I would love to have the talent to do that as that has always amazed me. Maybe I could start out small like an air cleaner base or something. Bruce
We have restored a lot of Mavericks over the years and my husband has always made his own patch panels when nothing else was available. I can't begin to remember how many lower quarter panel sections he has fabricated. When you make your own patches you can make them whatever size you need, which results in less wasted sheet metal. It can be done. You just need to take your time, do a lot of measuring and test fit your panels every time you shape or cut them.
