Another "Tell me what to do about my quarter panel damage" thread...

[MrFixIt]

Yep. Hit the wall at an event. Screwed up my suspension pretty bad. Bent FLCA, RLCA, and snapped my tension rod in 1/2. I've gotten all the suspension stuff replaced and alligned and everything drives straight, but my rear quarter panel took a beating. Pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/threeyearitch/DSC01417.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/threeyearitch/DSC01419.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/threeyearitch/DSC01420.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/threeyearitch/DSC01421.jpg

(Sorry about the blurriness. It's so damn humid down here taking the camera from inside to outside quickly covers the lense.)

The last picture shows just how far the quarter panel has been pushed inwards with respect to the bumper.

So, I was origionally thinking a fender roller and a ton of bondo might do the trick, but the more I read, the more i'm leaning towards trying to find 30mm over fenders and pinching them down as far as they'l go. As you can see, I don't have huge wheels, and don't realy plan on getting any any time soon. I have a set of coils sitting on my work bench ready to go in. I think I might have to smash the inside of the fender a bit just to get it flared out enough to tuck tire once it's dropped haha.

Cliff's: Fender roller + Bondo -OR- 30mm overfenders pinched way down?

[s13boy89]

why nt cut and replace its not hard i dont see why people dont use that option

[AutoTune]

your only choice

http://www.bn-sports.co.jp/2door/image/180sx_blister_r.jpg

[MrFixIt]

why nt cut and replace its not hard i dont see why people dont use that option

Don't have a welder. Don't have any friends with welders. Haha

[ZenkiKid]

the damage you have on top of the wheel well doesnt like that bad, but the dent you have after the door looks bad

[Zenki_Kouki.5]

jus grab widebody

[Fries]

Dude you took a trip to gnar-town. It happens. In fact, it very well may happen again. Put your coils on, get a roller and pull that bitch out so you can tuck.

When you get legit wheels just buy some overfenders.

[r6_240sx]

So, I was origionally thinking a fender roller and a ton of bondo might do the trick, but the more I read, the more i'm leaning towards trying to find 30mm over fenders and pinching them down as far as they'l go. As you can see, I don't have huge wheels, and don't realy plan on getting any any time soon. I have a set of coils sitting on my work bench ready to go in. I think I might have to smash the inside of the fender a bit just to get it flared out enough to tuck tire once it's dropped haha.

Cliff's: Fender roller + Bondo -OR- 30mm overfenders pinched way down?LOL no. Bondo is only used for MINOR IMPERFECTIONS. People abuse this wayyy too much and it bites them in the ass in the long run.

Go overfenders.why nt cut and replace its not hard i dont see why people dont use that optionGotta take out the window, break the pinch welds, weld the new qp in, paint, then put the window back on.

Simple enough, but someone without welding/body work experience and the proper tools, it'll be overwhelming.

[BustedS13]

it's an s13. throw it in the gutter. go buy another.

[ixfxi]

LOL no. Bondo is only used for MINOR IMPERFECTIONS. People abuse this wayyy too much and it bites them in the ass in the long run.

Go overfenders.Gotta take out the window, break the pinch welds, weld the new qp in, paint, then put the window back on.

Simple enough, but someone without welding/body work experience and the proper tools, it'll be overwhelming.

dude.......... folks here have no clue, if you didnt figure it out yet from bruces primer s13. most dudes have no idea that filler should be used to repair small imperfections. instead, they just cake it on, sand it off.. paint and enjoy.

theyre clueless baby..........


it's an s13. throw it in the gutter. go buy another.

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. i love this attitude. viva la 240sx! fuck that, fuck the 240sx!

[burnsauto]

fix the suspension arms, and call it a day.

if you dont have the tools to do a job, and you don't want to pay someone to do it for you... don't attempt to do the job. That quarter is fixable, using body hammers/dolly's, a stud puller and some knowledge on how metal likes to react. but you lack both of these.

Stock bodied s13's with wide rear quarters and small wheels is a straight road to failtown. Hey, at least you can tell people you hit a wall at an event, and not have to tell people you hit the corner of Mcdonald's at the drive-through.

[SoSideways]

OK, here's my take on it.

Overfenders - they won't cover the damaged areas, as they usually start about an inch to several inches behind the door, and most of them don't go all the way to the seam where the rear bumper attaches to the quarter panel area, so even with over fenders, the damage would still show through.

Bondo - like everyone else have said, bondo is only meant to be used to cover minor imperfections in small quantity, as they do not flex and add tons of weight. Basically, if you caked on tons and tons of bondo to "smooth everything out" on that quarter panel, then primered and painted over it, it would not take very long for the bondo to crack, due to the fact that most S13 chassis are pretty noodle, and the fact that all S-chassis have a unibody construction. If you used the bondo method, you'll have a nasty situation on your hand, and a lot of wasted time and money.

Best thing to do in this situation, in my opinion, is to spend a little bit of time to find a body shop that can cut out the stock quarter panel and weld in a new one like someone else suggested. This is the only way to do this right the first time, and not having to worry about it later on down the road.

It sucks that there were damage right behind the door and just in front of the rear bumper seam, because if there weren't, then the simple over fender fix would have fixed it. But, they're there... what are you gonna do?

[aa87]

OK, here's my take on it.

Overfenders - they won't cover the damaged areas, as they usually start about an inch to several inches behind the door, and most of them don't go all the way to the seam where the rear bumper attaches to the quarter panel area, so even with over fenders, the damage would still show through.

Bondo - like everyone else have said, bondo is only meant to be used to cover minor imperfections in small quantity, as they do not flex and add tons of weight. Basically, if you caked on tons and tons of bondo to "smooth everything out" on that quarter panel, then primered and painted over it, it would not take very long for the bondo to crack, due to the fact that most S13 chassis are pretty noodle, and the fact that all S-chassis have a unibody construction. If you used the bondo method, you'll have a nasty situation on your hand, and a lot of wasted time and money.

Best thing to do in this situation, in my opinion, is to spend a little bit of time to find a body shop that can cut out the stock quarter panel and weld in a new one like someone else suggested. This is the only way to do this right the first time, and not having to worry about it later on down the road.

It sucks that there were damage right behind the door and just in front of the rear bumper seam, because if there weren't, then the simple over fender fix would have fixed it. But, they're there... what are you gonna do?

Depends, I'd say go with some chargespeed overs, those things cover damn near the whole panel. Almost looks like they are molded in.

[burnsauto]

no, overfenders is just putting a band aid over something that needed stitches.

if you plan to continue tracking the car, and you don't plan on tacking it to a good body shop... i wouldn't even worry about the damage.

[SoSideways]

Almost.

But remember, OP doesn't have the wheels to properly pull off a set of over fenders... what he was going to do, IF he got over fenders, were to push them in as much as possible so that he could get away with running stock wheels for a little bit while he saved up for some decent wheels.

You wouldn't be able to really push in Chargespeed overs because of the fact that they damn near cover everything, so when you push in the fenders and they start to deform due to being pushed in, they wouldn't fit right anymore.

Plus, I know the OP, he said the car's being retired from drifting, so really... getting a good condition quarter panel from a donor car or something and getting it welded onto his chassis would probably make for a better fix altogether, especially for a daily driver.

[fromxtor]

Stud welder and a dent puller, do it right or do it twice.

[greddyguy]

i'd say its time for some over fenders. or leave it like it is and turn that bish into a missile

[burnsauto]

sectioning the quarter from the vehicle would be nice, but the OP also thought a fender roller and a ton of "bondo" would do the trick...so I think the OP needs to look into either A) how to do bodywork correctly, or B) look into a good body shop.

[thatdrifterguy]

well since you mentioned that he's retiring the car, then he should just fix it the right way with another panel

[MrFixIt]

Thanks for all the input guys, especially SoSideways. I think at this point my best bet would be to just leave it and run around with a smashed up fender for a while. I, admittedly, lack both the resources and more importantly the know-how to properly pull off any of the aforementioned remedies.

Like BurnsAuto said, at least I've got a cool story haha

Hey, at least you can tell people you hit a wall at an event, and not have to tell people you hit the corner of Mcdonald's at the drive-through.

I bought this car to have fun and damnit, I had a ton of fun with it. I'd love to turn it into a drift missile and blast around the bank at OSW with it, but the reality is, I'm a college kid who can't afford to go another 2 months without a car because I have to keep replacing 1/2 the suspension.

Ughhh. It just sucks. This baby was m.i.n.t. 65k miles, one owner, blah blah blah. At least it wasn't a nice kouki or something. This car has too much sentimental value for me to just part it out and start again :love:

[burnsauto]

well....sell it to a body guy (me) who can properly fix it ;););)

I'm glad you didnt do anything silly like overfenders just because its a little banged up.