Fixin up

[woodz88bronco]

B) I have a 88 custom bronco, that I trying to restore. I just put in a brand new transmission and engine for it. So now I'm ready for the body. The rear quarter panel and wheel wells are rusted out. My question is what would be the best course of action for me. Buying brand new panels or take it to the body shop to get it done? And also which way will be cheaper. Thank yall

Dirt South riding in the north

 

[Bradt]

Depends how bad it is. If you can just clear the rust and have a lot left to work with it may be worth it to repair. Otherwise you probably want new ones considering you are going for a restore. Just remember what you see is probably only half of what's there. Especially if it's eaten through.

Keep us posted on this. I'm slowly working on an '88 custom too. So far I've just got it cleaned up and running. Fortunately I've got minimal body rust and damage. What engine and tranny did you put in?

brad

 

[4xfan78]

It also depends on if you can do the work. If you can then I would order the panels and do it youre self. Even if you had to buy a small welder it would still be cheaper than a body shop.

 

[woodz88bronco]

/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I have a 5.0 302, and A stock tranny. Another question is how hard is to disassemble the quarter panel? Bradt and 4xfan78 do yall have pics?

 

[Justshootme84]

The rear quarter panels are spotwelded to the cab and floor, so removal is a bear. I'm planning to take the ones off of my 88 parts Bronco when I sell them.You will either have to drill out the spot welds, or cut thru them with a grinding wheel or Saws-All. The new ones will then have to be re-welded back to the "tub".

Whether you need the entire panel or not can depend on how much rust and where it is. If it's mainly right along the fenderwell or lip, you can repair the existing panel. But if it's rusted at any of the seams or in a few places, it's better to get a new panel. Since the doors, tailgate and hardtop all fit up against the rear quarters, it takes some work to align it all just right.

It's probably a project best left to a body shop, but they will charge a pretty penny for any welding and fitting. Get an estimate from 3-4 shops to give you an idea. Some may charge you $2000 for a $500 job. I found a retired bodyman that still does work at his home to do the prep and paint on my 84 Bronco, and learned some good info while helping him out.

If you have a pic or two of the body panels it would help alot.

 

[Bradt]

/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I have a 5.0 302, and A stock tranny.  Another question is how hard is to disassemble the quarter panel? Bradt and 4xfan78 do yall have pics?

18617[/snapback]

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I think I've got one in my gallery here. Once I get my seats sorted out and the tailgate taken care of there may be more. I might do some mods to the back in a couple of weeks so I'll put up more then. I guess technically that's not part of a restore, but it will fit in there in stock condition so i think it counts.

brad

 

[Koopa132]

I'm just now starting the body restore on my '92, as the upstate NY winters have taken their toll. I thought I'd share this project with you guys as this is a very common problem with broncos and comes up time to time in these forums.

This can be a tricky task for a first timer. Someone who has never done this before could very well spend as much doing it himself as a shop would charge because of the specialty tools you may have to buy. If you have access to a mig welder and a compressor you can probably do it yourself and save quite a bit of money.

I didn't buy full quarter panels for my truck, just the wheel arches and spliced them in. I bought the arches locally for $55 per side, but you can find them for much less on the internet.

I first used a body grinder to cut out all paint and previous body work ans assess the damage on the quarter.

I then cut out the entire rusted section of the quarter panel with an air powered cut off wheel. It is important to take careful measurements before cutting anything so you get the patch panel on correctly.

I then straightened the tiny imperfections of the cut edge using a body hammer and a dolly block. It is important to do this carefully and only straighten but not stretch the metal.

Next I used an offsetting tool to create an offset on the quarter panel cut edge which is the same thickness as the patch panel for the patch panel to fit into.

I then carefully cut the wheel arch to fit inside the offset on the quarter panel, sprayed the mating surfaces with a zinc coating to prevent rust in the future, and welded the panel in place.

 

[Koopa132]

OK here's the next picture of the other side. I covered the welds with fiberglass reinforced filler, ground it off and am now ready for a finish coat of body filler.

Here is a picture partly ground off.