[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.