Removing the entire side of a 30 coupe - 1 piece?

[steve hackel]

Obviously, Just because I am asking - my coupe needs some metal work, but it's not as bad as it sounds. The rear sub rails are very solid, but both are damaged at the body bolt holes, the rear inner fender are slightly rusted on the outside just above the bottom fold over as it goes into the sub rail. There is no access to the sub rail without sectioning the inner fender, or at least the bottom 3" or so. I am looking for the best outcome of all possible alternatives.



Have any of you pulled the entire quarter panel off the car in one piece, for either or both repairs? How difficult was it for you, what problems did you encounter , and what suggestions would you offer up in order to make the job somewhat easier for me and possibly the next guy.... ? Thanks

[shew01]

Steve, can you post some pictures?


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[JRN1967]

Originally Posted by steve hackel

Obviously, Just because I am asking - my coupe needs some metal work, but it's not as bad as it sounds. The rear sub rails are very solid, but both are damaged at the body bolt holes, the rear inner fender are slightly rusted on the outside just above the bottom fold over as it goes into the sub rail. There is no access to the sub rail without sectioning the inner fender, or at least the bottom 3" or so. I am looking for the best outcome of all possible alternatives.



Have any of you pulled the entire quarter panel off the car in one piece, for either or both repairs? How difficult was it for you, what problems did you encounter , and what suggestions would you offer up in order to make the job somewhat easier for me and possibly the next guy.... ? Thanks

Steve,

Good question, I'm also interested because I'll be starting a sport coupe to coupe conversion. I plan on removing the drivers side on the sport coupe this weekend. see pics

[desotoguy]

Removing the entire side panel should be possible although that seems like a lot of extra work to effect the repair you describe. If I were to make the repair that you describe, I would remove enough of the inner fender to repair the damaged sub-rail with the proper gauge material and weld the cut piece back in place. If the inner is rusty you may want to replace it.

[john charlton]

I would just do the repair locally even if you have to cut good metal away to get at the rust damage .You then work from the inside out retrace your steps etc etc . If you remove the complete side the body will loose its rigidity and be very "floppy" and you will loose its registry .Would be a big problem putting it back ,door gap and so on .

John in sunny afternoon Suffolk County England .

[77Birdman]

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Originally Posted by JRN1967

Steve,

Good question, I'm also interested because I'll be starting a sport coupe to coupe conversion. I plan on removing the drivers side on the sport coupe this weekend. see pics

Might be a dumb question, but if you are using the 2 bodies shown, why not just do a body swap instead of a conversion?

[Jack Shaft]

Its possible to remove the rear quarter panel,its crimped on to the subrail.I fixed my rear body mount bolt holes by welding the cracks,grinding flush and bridging the work with a piece of flatbar,you can see the repair at the center of the fender well.If you do pull the quarters be aware as John said jigging and squaring is necessary

JRN67,if that's a 31 sport coupe its a low production car,it was the hottest car on the market at A introduction,134000 in '29,by 31 production dwindled to 19k...only 6k in '32..from an economic standpoint I agree with you,buying all the wood,brackets,padding and top is close to 3k..

[JRN1967]

Jack, I don't want to be a hijacker - IM sent

[Dave in MN]

Steve,
It is possible and actually not that difficult. We removed the panel as we were also replacing all the top wood, entire sub rails and the panel needed extensive lower section replacement.
With all that...it just was easier to be able to get at all sides of the repairs.

Catherine's coupe came out stunning. The car was her father's and the people in the photos are Catherine and her family. She was dedicated and worked right with me in my shop every day I did. She spent countless hours media blasting parts and never once complained.
Fun project.
Good Day!

[Dennis Pereira]

Great job .

[steve hackel]

Honestly, I have no issues with pulling the quarter panel(s), as I have pulled Corvette bodies, 57 Chevy bodies, and others that were far worse in similar ways. MY original question was to find the easiest and best way to remove them, considering I have never done it before and would like to save myself some of the experimental pains of trial and error. Between my age and arthritis, the logistics of welding and metal finishing the repairs would be in my best interest if I was working on the panels,

while supported by horses , or hanging them from the ceiling .
For me, most hammer & dolly work is best accomplished when it's easily accessible from either side, top or bottom.

[rotorwrench]

This is from Vince Falter's site on a 1930 coupe. It would be similar for any model A coupe body. If the rivets that hold the quarter panel to the sub frame are still there, ie not completely rusted away, then they would need to be drilled out but there aren't all that many. They are just in key locations for structural strength. The crimp of the quarter under the edge of the sub rail is another place they like to rust away. I'm not sure if it was spot welded or not but spot welds can also be drilled out. Connections at the belt rail and cab should be spot welded too unless they used bolts.
http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/quartersbefore.htm

I would make sure the frame is straight and rework it to be as straight as possible since it will be the basis or foundation for the sub rails and floor. Add the quarters and square everything for best fit before riveting or structurally attaching anything. When everything fits well, you can nail it all down for keeps.

The sport coupe to standard coupe conversion would be a job since the quarters are different stampings. Welding a top on there will require a lot of fitting before the cab top is attached. I think I'd just trade it for what I wanted rather than convert it. It would be a lot easier to put a sport coupe or business coupe top on it than to go the standard coupe route.

[Jack Shaft]

Sport coupe to standard coupe has been done many times and is pretty straight forward.Go for pulling the quarters on your coupe if you want,its much easier to work as you cite Steve.I found the upper decklid rail and parcel deck provide a good reference for squaring up the quarters as well as the lower panel. My subrail wasn't perfect,it took a few extra rubber shims when mounting the body to the frame,a lot of squaring is done by shimming the body blocks.The best result is like building a house,start true,end true..get that subrail square and the rest is easy I fabbed a body dolly for mine makes life easier as well..

[Tinbasher]

Yes, it can be done two ways. One is to remove all of the rivets in the crossmembers, rear seat rizer and remove the rear panel and take the complete side as a unit with the rail.

The other way is to remove the 1/4 panel from the rail, the door post, roof and header and leave the rail in place. It's kind of 6's depending on what has to be done.

[tudor87]

I just read your reply on removing quarter panel from subrail, thank you it was helpful. More importantly I saw the coupe with chicle and copra drab paint. Can you share with me the paint brand and code. Also, was it single stage or base and clear..

Thank you; Gary Thomas