[GeeTwo]

I bought a 1996 impala ss that has been lifted, g6 panoramic roof installed, aftermarket front bumper, hood, and deck lid. All new suspension and all for a price of 1500 dollars. Issues: the car was formally a show car built by xtreme auto sports in the early 2000s. She was painted caddy pearl white. Clear coat is bad, 3 doors have been swapped, and has sat for 3 years. Rear fender arches were cut to accommodate 28 inch wheels. I want to put it back to muscle car status and replace the rear wheel arches. Advice. It was cut, poorly, over the trim.

 

[1Slammed96SS]

It looks like you will need both quarter panels, and wheel tubs, if you want to do the repair correctly.

 

[GeeTwo]

It looks like you will need both quarter panels, and wheel tubs, if you want to do the repair correctly.

That's what I thought.

 

[Sinister]

Yikes, such a shame what some folks do in order to put ugly wheels on their car.

 

[96 Black]

With enough search there might be companies re-manufacturing sheet metal for classic cars / body shop industry which in addition to whole door skins and quarters some will also market rustout patches like the dogleg and wheel arch.

 

[SSandman]

thats going to be a tough one. Hard to see on my phone , but did they not connect the inner wheel tub with the outer 1/4 after trimming them up? wtf lol

What I would do, and certainly not the "right" way of doing it but it's going to be far easier and cheaper than the "right" way (replacing both 1/4's), is to take your wheel well trim, locate them where you want them to be/where you think they should go and then just cut out some sheet metal pieces rebuild the entire pinch molding area. Going to take a lot of time eyeballing, measuring, cutting, tacking and mocking it up but it should work. As far as getting it perfect, it's really going to be on you to figure out where the trim is supposed to be sitting in regards to the rest of the body. would definitely help to have another B body around to measure and use for reference while doing it.

You could also cut the pinch area off of two other donor 1/4's so you don't have to make it yourself, that might save a lot of time fabricating up the pieces but you'll still have to locate everything correctly. Should still be much easier, but you'll have to find two complete 1/4s then (and may question why not just replace the whole 1/4 and make patch pieces just to tie it back in to the tub area the)

 

[SSandman]

I mean the suspension parts and body parts are probably worth what you paid alone but I'd be really worried bout how that panoramic roof was installed if this is what they did to clear big wheels LOL

 

[95wagon]

Thing about full quarters is, although a lot of work , there is SOOOOOO much less visible joint work. Almost no actual bodywork.
You start fixing the wheelwell back to stock , unless you are skilled at tig welding a butt joint and hammer work, this car is going to end up being a trowel job.
Same with the roof

 

[GeeTwo]

I do have a 1995 caprice classic chilling in my driveway, it is a pretty great car body wise, and mechanically; already fixed it. It can be a point of reference for measurements. I did locate a few of these in a junkyard about an hour ish away. Two of my best friends are certified welders, im a retired mechanic, and another friend is a paint and body guy. He stop by and there was a lot of face-palm-head-shaking-in-disbelief, but a final thought of, we can make it look right but it may require a lot of work. So, we are discussing donor 1/4s, possibly filling in the space putting the ugly big rims and selling for a less busted impala, or potentially skirting the rear as a nod to old school impalaSS from the 60s.

 

[SSandman]

Thing about full quarters is, although a lot of work , there is SOOOOOO much less visible joint work. Almost no actual bodywork.
You start fixing the wheelwell back to stock , unless you are skilled at tig welding a butt joint and hammer work, this car is going to end up being a trowel job.
Same with the roof

Ran into that issue with my car doing a patch panel on the lower 1/4. Long, flat, thin sheet metal so it's difficult to weld it without warping it somewhere. I MIG'd it but i'm pretty proficient there and can make weld lines I could grind flush without needing more than a thin coat of glaze to cover but the 1/4 is going to need filler for sure because of the warping above the weld line. Of course, I was replacing mine because of body damage so some of the warping was already there despite my best attempt to hammer and dolly it before welding the patch in. I'm good at welding but terrible at body work , probably would have came out pretty good if the 1/4 wasn't damaged to begin with.

It might be a bit easier for him though welding around the wheel arch. I feel like that metal may not warp as badly as the large flat area I was welding below the 1/4 seem.

In any event, i'm strongly considering ripping the whole 1/4 off and welding on a NOS 1/4 I have in my shed rather than using all that filler to make it look nice.

 

[GeeTwo]

Ran into that issue with my car doing a patch panel on the lower 1/4. Long, flat, thin sheet metal so it's difficult to weld it without warping it somewhere. I MIG'd it but i'm pretty proficient there and can make weld lines I could grind flush without needing more than a thin coat of glaze to cover but the 1/4 is going to need filler for sure because of the warping above the weld line. Of course, I was replacing mine because of body damage so some of the warping was already there despite my best attempt to hammer and dolly it before welding the patch in. I'm good at welding but terrible at body work , probably would have came out pretty good if the 1/4 wasn't damaged to begin with.

It might be a bit easier for him though welding around the wheel arch. I feel like that metal may not warp as badly as the large flat area I was welding below the 1/4 seem.

In any event, i'm strongly considering ripping the whole 1/4 off and welding on a NOS 1/4 I have in my shed rather than using all that filler to make it look nice.

I understand the struggle, sheet metal doesn't like heat and without an English wheel and a spot welder im looking for 1/4s. I finally got the old girl running and she is in the pole barn so it's time to rip all the crap suspension and lift off and ill post more pictures of the messed up 1/4s soon.