Ready for quarters!

[scotts74birds]

Just scored a parts car that will give me what I need to finish the back-half of my 74 RR! The story here is that mine is rust-free, but was involved in a soft roll-over. So the lower 1/4's are great, but the upper 1/4's [with all the compound curves] are toast. I need to replace everything from 2" below the wheel opening, and up to the middle of the c-pillar. The car will be in the frame shop next week to insure it is "square". The cut will retain the latch pillar and about 1" of outer metal from that, all the way to the rear, removing the the 1/4 from the trunk. My question is supporting the car during this! Where? Should I weld angle iron to brace it? Where? Placement of jack-stands? Screw-jacks? Other than dis-assembly of it, this is the first progress I will make in a while. Could use any help I can get. Thanx!

 

[greenmonsta79]

I have seen guy's replace full quarters with car resting on rear axle and it was fine, I am getting ready to replace my whole back end on my 69 Charger and I don't take off too much metal off at once, I am making a rolling cart so I can sit the whole body down onto it (but my car is a completely stripped shell!!)
and then do the driver side frame rail,cross member,valance panel, and full trunk floor and finished by the outer wheel houses, trunk drop-offs, and full quarter panels, also I would recommend you replace each quarter panel at one time, don't cut both off at once. Good luck and let's see some pics!!!

 

[Propwash]

Unless you're going to be seperating the body from the upper torque boxes at the top of the rear wheel wells or seperating the trunk pan from the rear fill panel/crossmember, I don't think you have a whole lot to worry about with bracing the car.. If it bothers you, run some angle iron from the trunk pan to the bottom side of the trunk gutter towards the front and rear. You could also do one side at a time if you're worried about structural integrity, but I don't see no daunting need for worrying.

As far as your jackstands, place a couple towards the front of you rear frame rails and a pair near the front frame rail/torsion bar crossmember. The taller the jackstand the better. Obviously it makes it much easier to side in and out from below the car.

The biggest thing is to measure and then measure again...If you have a place where you can keep the car stationary while the quarter work is being performed, don't be afraid to grab a tape measure and a plumb bob and mark some predetermined measurements on the floor or where ever you see fit. Also, a sketch depicting those measurements.

Good luck on your project and be sure to post some pic's of your progress.