2 eye customs wrote:A buddy of mine just left my shop and i sgowed him your pics, he has done the over lapping and then cut, get your finest cutoff wheel disc, but drill it with self taping screws befpre you cut.

That sounds like an excellent tip that I have not yet seen....good 'ol self tapers. Thanks 2ec!

Before you start welding, I have some suggestions for you to consider.

First off since this is new to you I would cut the patch panel a little shorter on the rear side just in case you screw it up, then I'm assuming that you can get another patch panel if you need to.

Make sure the 1/4 panel is as straight and smooth as you can get it beyond the patch area---as mentioned.

On older cars with a lot of door adjustment, it would be wise to get the door adjusted the way you want it before cutting anything on the car.

Cut the front flange, the bottom flange, and top flange off the old 1/4 panel to allow the patch panel to seat properly before making your seam cut. It may even need a little work to make it fit right.

For the cut, I would use an electric body saw. I have had a couple of these in the link and they have worked flawlessly for years of intermittent use.

http://www.harborfreight.com/electric-b ... 65766.html

If you watch the video in the link you can see that the cut is only as wide as the blade. It only cuts with the leading edge, but the cut off wheel has a large cutting edge (the whole disc) so if you don't hold it absolutely straight then the rear edge will make the gap bigger. Its even difficult to make a small slit the same size as the cut off wheel.

Personally, I prefer to scribe and cut on the line, but it does take some tin snips, more time, and a file to get it right.

To secure the patch panel at the weld seam, you could get a strip of copper sheet for backing and attach it to the old section with screws allowing half the width to extend forward, and after you lay the patch on it then drill and screw it also. You can probably clamp the patch panel at the bottom and top, then drill and screw at the door jam. When you finish welding you should be able to get the copper strip out the window opening, then just weld up the screw holes.

Put tack welds top, bottom, and middle of the seam, then keep putting them half way inbetween until they are all one inch apart. Allow the welds to cool naturally without compressed air or anything else that might speed it up and jump around with your weld tacks.

Good luck

If you had access to a full used quarter why didn't you use the complete panel? It would have been much faster and you would end up with a superior result if you sectioned it in the rocker and the pillars.The only body work you would have had was in the seams and some spot welds that are seen.Now unfortunately you will end up with a skim of filler over the complete panel and no time savings,just my 2 cents.

chevman wrote:Before you start welding, I have some suggestions for you to consider.

First off since this is new to you I would cut the patch panel a little shorter on the rear side just in case you screw it up, then I'm assuming that you can get another patch panel if you need to.

Make sure the 1/4 panel is as straight and smooth as you can get it beyond the patch area---as mentioned.

On older cars with a lot of door adjustment, it would be wise to get the door adjusted the way you want it before cutting anything on the car.

Cut the front flange, the bottom flange, and top flange off the old 1/4 panel to allow the patch panel to seat properly before making your seam cut. It may even need a little work to make it fit right.

For the cut, I would use an electric body saw. I have had a couple of these in the link and they have worked flawlessly for years of intermittent use.

http://www.harborfreight.com/electric-b ... 65766.html

If you watch the video in the link you can see that the cut is only as wide as the blade. It only cuts with the leading edge, but the cut off wheel has a large cutting edge (the whole disc) so if you don't hold it absolutely straight then the rear edge will make the gap bigger. Its even difficult to make a small slit the same size as the cut off wheel.

Personally, I prefer to scribe and cut on the line, but it does take some tin snips, more time, and a file to get it right.

To secure the patch panel at the weld seam, you could get a strip of copper sheet for backing and attach it to the old section with screws allowing half the width to extend forward, and after you lay the patch on it then drill and screw it also. You can probably clamp the patch panel at the bottom and top, then drill and screw at the door jam. When you finish welding you should be able to get the copper strip out the window opening, then just weld up the screw holes.

Put tack welds top, bottom, and middle of the seam, then keep putting them half way inbetween until they are all one inch apart. Allow the welds to cool naturally without compressed air or anything else that might speed it up and jump around with your weld tacks.

Good luck

Chevman,
Some great tips there in your post...much appreciated.
I do have a small airbody saw but only used it once with the blade that came with it. Are these little saws junk or do they work well with a good proper blade installed? Good catch on how a muffler cut-off wheel's size can give a wider cut than needed if not paying close attention.
Yes, I intend to have the old quarter material removed(spot weld cutter) in order to get the new patch mounted up there and adjusted to fit as closely as possible. Good access from the interior of the car to place a cooper strip on backside of the big vertical cut, thanks.
Be posting some success pics in a couple days(hopefully).

Jayson m wrote:If you had access to a full used quarter why didn't you use the complete panel? It would have been much faster and you would end up with a superior result if you sectioned it in the rocker and the pillars.The only body work you would have had was in the seams and some spot welds that are seen.Now unfortunately you will end up with a skim of filler over the complete panel and no time savings,just my 2 cents.

Jason m,
Thanks for your positive encouragement...Ha! I'm just kidding.

Your suggestion is actually very good info for the next guy coming along that tries to do this and reads this thread.
Unfortunately for me, '05 Honda Civic SI Hatchback car's are scarcearound here in NC and the guy in Cali. where I purchased mine said it would be over $700 to crate and ship the whole q-panel. He was able to put my patch in a box and send it through Greyhound bus...$250 total. I was at a point where I would have settled on just getting my hands on the door jam section; so this worked out the best way I could manage.
I'm not pressed for time on this but, yes, time is money and as you said; I'm now going to have a bit more time into this.
Thanks for your input here Jason.

robert3rekab wrote:
I do have a small airbody saw but only used it once with the blade that came with it. Are these little saws junk or do they work well with a good proper blade installed?

Mine has worked very well with blades from several different manufacturers. Just keep in what they are designed for and let the blade do the work.