# need to fix warped panels



## woolsey10 (Oct 18, 2011)

After about a year of searching I finally found some original quarter panels for my 66 lemans. The metal is solid and in much much better shape than the quarters currently on my car. The problem is the car that these new quarters came off of was in a fire so the panels have warped. Right above the wheel wells on each quarter have sunken in flat so there is about a square foot on each quarter that is no longer the rounded shape it is supposed to be. How can I unwarp these panels so they are back to the shape they're supposed to be?


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## 05GTO (Oct 6, 2004)

Both of my skins warped from the heat when we welded them in place, expand the image and you will see the warped area. We used a bernzomatic torch and heated the warped area, then we pushed the warped area out from inside the trunk and blasted it with cold air at the same time.


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## woolsey10 (Oct 18, 2011)

Awesome. I will be trying that when I get the panels welded on. Do you have any tips or pointers for me to try when attempting this? Was there anything else you had to do to get the shape right after pushing the warped area out?


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

with the 66-67' quarters being 6' long and flat, even after getting the warps pushed back you will want to skim coat with filler and sand them down with a 3' long block to get any waves out.


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## 05GTO (Oct 6, 2004)

Instg8ter said:


> with the 66-67' quarters being 6' long and flat, even after getting the warps pushed back you will want to skim coat with filler and sand them down with a 3' long block to get any waves out.


:agree

Here is a video showing how to get the best results using a guide coat and a long block. Although it looks straight it will still have low spots that need to be wiped and blocked.






This is what my quarter looked like after using a guide coat to find the low spots then wiping and blocking several times.


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## 666bbl (Apr 13, 2014)

It takes a wee bit of advanced metal talents to 1st avoid the warping and 2nd to remove any that's there from before. Does the warped area move in and out ("oil canned")? If it does you need to find the area that's stretched and causing the problem. You need to push the oil canned portion to where it belongs while trying to determine that bad spot, then try to hammer it back to shape. You need a hammer with a decent crown on the face and slowly work it down with a dolly on the back. If that doesn't work then you'll need to heat that area and tap it down quickly while it's hot, BUT DON'T HIT IT TOO HARD. That will make it worse and you're better off with a helper to get the torch out of the way for your hammering. Once hammered down you can cool the area with cold water. To much heat will crystallize the metal when it's cooled so you want it 'blued' and not red hot. The weight of the hammer does the work, not the force from swinging it on the panel. Don't "choke up" on the hammer handle either. Use all of the handle's length to your advantage. Our Goat 1/4s are long and relatively flat. When installing them you want someone tapping each weld as it cools down, while the "red" is going away. This will stretch the weld and remove the stresses that pulls the panel in at each weld. A small gap is required to do this right. There's 100 ways to hang a panel and most of them are right, so you need to pick the process you're most comfortable with or qualified for. The new replacements are very thin (using the same dies on metal that's .015 smaller). Forget the "GM approved" labeling too. It's still an Asian panel even though it's tagged GM.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

Very informative post 666bbl was good to meet you in person at the cruise-in on Thursday hope to see you out at the Sumpter fairgrounds today for the show


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