[drewm]

Working through the many things that need done on my car, and the part of the quarter panel above the rear well has what I would call "loose" metal. I do not think it is oil canning, since the shape of the metal seems fine. But it is very easy to push in with just thumb or finger pressure. It pops right back out to its original shape. I watched a video of a guy restoring a 66 convertible, and he had some of the same issues. He spot-heated the area and quenched with a wet rag. After a few times, the metal tightened up and he wasn't able to push the spot in as easily as before. I tried that procedure a few times. and it just does not feel any better. I do not want to continue doing it and risk making it worse. Does anyone have any better ideas on how to tighten up this area? I do not have access to the backside of this portion of the quarter panel, so I cannot do any dolly work.

Thanks
Drew

[HoovDaddy]

What's the diameter of the area? A small area about 6" in diameter you should be able to heat the center, but as the diameter increases you start in the middle and work towards the outside of the circle. I've found that you can only heat the same spot once, if not acceptable, find another spot within the circle. Heat the center red hot, tap it once lightly with a pointed body hammer and I use a blow gun to cool it. You can use water but the water gets warm too fast on the rag and in the bucket when you try to get cold water. You don't always have to tap it because it will leave a dent, you just have to play with each type of steel.

Can you tell if the quarter was replaced? I'm guessing it has, since the problem is right in the middle, I'll bet it was clamped with the outer wheel housing positioned wrong and welded under stress to make it fit.

[drewm]

Thanks. Its the original quarter, but I have welded on the typical patch panel behind the rear wheel, which really isnt close to the 'loose metal'. Also had a few dents that were pulled years ago in front of the rear wheel, more towards the door. I welded up the holes that they used for the dent puller. I did see a video of that technique of hitting the middle of the hot spot, but all the examples I saw they were able to get a dolly behind the panel and work the dent. Unfortunately, I have no access to the backside of the panel. In the picture, you can see the spots that Ive heated. I did try moving around and heating different spots. I am leery of doing it too much, as the first time I did it I think I kept it on the spot too long and the metal moved from expansion. Fortunately, it popped back into shape as it cooled. Maybe a better way to describe this area is if you leaned up against the car, the metal will pop in, but it pops right back out and into shape again once you take pressure off the area.

[71HOT/A]

Stop heating and cooling that panel. Working across the body line above the soft spot, lightly tap with a body hammer. Lots of light taps directly on t he body line, maybe 12-16 inches across. As you do this test your spot as it tightens up. LOTS of LIGHT taps, hammer face flat with panel. You are not trying to reshape anything, simply stiffening the large flat area below the line. I repeat, LOTS OF LIGHT TAPS.

[drewm]

While I was trying this technique this morning, I noticed some slight waves (dents?) in the quarter panel towards the rear end of the car. I know that the car took damage to the rear of the car at some point. I wonder if I work on these waves (ripples, dents??), would it affect the metal above the wheel well? I cannot tell if these dents are there due to the rear end damage, or if they are actually dents from a direct blow. They seem sort of shallow and rounded, which makes me think they are more due to the rear end damage and the quarter panel is slightly crumpled. I would assume, if they are from the rear end damage, that this metal is stretched out here and needs to be shrunk. Maybe shrinking the metal in these spots would pull the metal tighter across the whole quarter?

[drewm]

An update, I stripped the paint off the bulk of the panel, looking for other issues that might be causing the oil canning. I did notice a dent near the door that I hadn't noticed before. Also the 3 dents in front of the wheel well that had been repaired in the past. I purchased a 9 inch shrinking disc and watched the videos by Wray Schelin. The first dent came out almost too easily. A very little bit of hammer/dolly work and disc work and its like it was never there. Moved on to the other dents that I knew about and they took some more work, mostly because it is difficult to get a dolly behind the dent, but after some work, they are 99.9% gone. I also spent some time planishing the welds of the patch panel, which I had not done before. I tried the disc on the portion of the flimsy metal above the wheel well and I believe it did what it was supposed to do and shrunk the metal. However, this just made the area worse. It basically made the panel wavy and sucked in and the oil-canning in the area worse. I was able to get a dolly behind the area with a series of dolly's duct taped to a length of wood and manipulated from the trunk area. This was an extremely long, tiring, and difficult process but I was pretty much able to hammer and dolly the metal back to its original shape. I tried shrinking once more and all it does is suck the metal in and distort the shape. At this point, I think it is possible that the metal is too tight and any shrinking that I do just pulls the curvature out of the metal. I think I will try to continue to planish the patch panel welds some more and hope that removes some unseen stress. I was able to hammer and dolly the panel back into good shape, and if it werent for the oil canning, I think I would be able to just skim coat this and be fine. I wonder if the panel was damaged by sandblasting many years ago. It really has had a rough life...multiple dents, hit in the rear, rusted behind the rear wheels, and who knows what else. I am considering a new panel, but that would be a last resort. Im not even sure the panels are even available.

[drewm]

For those still interested, I spent a long while working the hammer and dolly to try to bring the metal out. I made a pattern from the good quarter panel and worked on bringing the metal as close to its original shape as possible, using the pattern and checking as I went along. Anyway, as I continued to work the panel with a dolly from behind, the panel definitely firmed up. Its not perfect, but I don't know how much more I can do, considering the difficulty of getting behind this portion of the quarter.

There is some kind of rubber mat glued to the inner quarter panel in the area above the rear wheel. My drivers side, which was basically undamaged, still has this attached. My passenger side does not. Does anyone know if that is strictly a sound deadener, or is there some structural advantage to having it glued in there?

[gto4ben]

It's a sound deadener. The original material had characteristics of heavy shake roof tar paper. It was glued to the inside of the quarter panel. I bought a roll and made my own pieces. The factory must have glued it in place before spot welding the panel on the car. Installation after the fact was quite the challenge