anyone ever "replaced" the wagon rear quarter panel?

[jp233]

I really destroyed my own wagon the other day. Worst of all, I dented my own truck in doing so. I'm so pissed, and it was all my fault.

My nearly pristine 94 wagon is now seriously tarnished. It is FUGLY on that corner now. And it's the right side, so the gas filler door won't latch either and is just hanging out in the wind for now. I'll try to get a replacement from the junkyard, and see if I can rig the pop-open again. power antenna still works, yippee. It also broke some of the plastic for the inside storage compartment.

It barely got into the rear door, just some nicks in the paint so no worries there.

My question is: has anyone ever grafted on the sheetmetal from a good wagon rear quarter, i.e. cut and welded, and then had to do minor bondo to smooth it out?

My thought is, it would take 10 lb of bondo to fill in the huge dents, and the gas filler cutouts would have to be severely smoothed also. I'm wondering if it would be easier to cut a bunch of metal out of a junkyard car, and weld it back together so that there's less bodywork in the end.

Notes: because I'm friggin heated about this.

I had been planning on getting some bodywork done anyways, and would need the car painted too.. as I have a pristine front quarter panel for the car (2 actually, and a front bumper), was thinking of getting a turbo grille and front bumper, but now I almost think that the value of the car is going to start swirling the bowl.

Mechanically it's great - motor only has 9K on it, has a new radiator, needs front end work though including both axles but I have all the rest of the parts already (steering and chassis). The interior is very, very nice (tan), sunroof opens but won't close except using the ol' hand crank. Needs exhaust at some point, tired of the rattles and it has been starting to get pinhole leaks underneath and is getting louder.

Uggh.

[SILINC3R]

How the heck? Sorry to hear about this. Hope you can get something figured out. I have to do a similar thing I the SS

[rallyak]

It's really not hard to replace the quarter. I've done lots on many different cars including my wagon twice.

I guess a few questions, is the outer wheel house damaged? If so you may be able to pull it out before you cut the quarter off. My car I had to splice in half of the wheel house because of rust.

First find the best rust free quarter you can find, and there still will have some rust where the foam is. Clean all the foam off and sand blast it and POR 15 it.

Cut you quarter glass out and clean the urethane off the pinch weld to find the spot welds.

Use a spot weld cutter to cut the welds off, it's the cleanest way and the best way to remove the quarter.

Here's a pic of mine skinned.


In the pic you can see where I spliced between the door and quarter glass and in the rear.

[jp233]

thanks rallyak, that's pretty much exactly what I was looking for.

I'll try to post a pic later of the damage. At the moment, everything is functional, except the fuel filler door latch of course. But it can open and close manually no problem, so it's just fugly and not functionally degraded.

I've got zero rust to deal with, at least what I can see so far. I have a tiny bit on the drivers side, in the usual corner spot. And I should be able to find a rust-free quarter here in one of the yards, I've seen several really nice wagons come through. Problem is, the pull-a-part I will have to take battery tools only, so I wonder if it'd be easier to just sawz-all off as much as possible from the donor car and then take it all home (I.e. not able to get the quarter glass out, or maybe I'll just break it). Fugg, maybe I should see about finding a shell that someone could roll into my driveway so I can bonk on it. My wife will love that.

Not sure what you mean about the outer wheel house? My damage/dent is all the way from the rear, across the fuel filler door, all the way to the front of the quarter. Just barely nicked into the aft edge of the rear passenger door.

[rallyak]

Saw all is what I did to get it home. I cut along the shock tower on the inside straight back remember there will be gas lines you will be cutting through. Break the glass if they will let you and cut as high as you can (always cut more than you need) and in the middle of the rear door opening. Then you can take it home and take your time remove it. You could use a drill bit to remove the welds, but I would definitely get a spot weld cutter(There not real expensive) to cut the quarter off your car.

Tool list that I use:
Body hammer (flat faced)
Dolly
Center punch
Spot weld cutter
Cut off grinder(small)
Angle grinder (regular grinder would work)
Vice grips
Self tapping screws
Drill
Welder
Adjustable square
Masking tape
Weld thru primer (on the surface that you weld to keep rust down)
Body filler (metal to metal) where you splice the quarter

That's a small list and I know I'm forgetting something .

[SILINC3R]

If you are feeling froggy
P/N:51410AA520
$419

Subaruparts.com

[rallyak]

Good price if its still available, it would save a ton of time. I would definitely epoxy prime the in side and fill the corner (where they all rust) with windshield urethane.

[SILINC3R]

According to the site it is. Great website for getting prices if you have part numbers as I do. Just spent $160 bucks worth of o-rings and gaskets. Free shipping over $150 and there was no tax! Prices are also reduced.