Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

General Mopar Related Conversation

Moderator: Site Administrators

Post Reply
User avatar
road chicken
GTX (RS)
Posts: 668
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2003 11:21 pm
Location: SE WI

Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by road chicken » Sat Mar 17, 2018 3:01 pm

I thought I saw a thread on here about the differences between the new quarter panels available, but damned if I can find it. I see we have three choices for a 71 drivers side
1: Golden
2 : Goodmark
3: AMD- when they are back in stock

Just looking at them the AMD panel looks the best- they have the light situated above the body line and you can see the reflections.
Goodmark seems like it would be a close second and the Golden one I have reservations about because it looks like it has a crease behind the rear opening in the flare. Maybe I'm just full of it but it does look that way in the Jegs picture.

Anyone have actually working knowledge or links to threads that do? Hope fully the body man will see this- the one and chime in. He got more work done on that yellow bird in the time it would take me to finish a beer figuring out what to do next. :D

Thanks.
4th generation B bodys- there is no substitute.
68 383, Street Demon 750, RPM top end,484/284/108 poo poo cam "-5 spd 4:10 SG, 4whl disk, Helwig Anti-Sway, Poly bushings,Firm Feel Box, HD Linkage, 1" t-bars, 7 leafs Springs

User avatar
Diriccatiticka
GTX (RS)
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:56 am
My Cars: 1972 Plymouth Roadrunner
Location: Indiana, USA
Contact:

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by Diriccatiticka » Tue Mar 20, 2018 11:26 am

Hopefully someone else can chime in, but how bad is the panel you're replacing? I can't vouch for our cars specifically, but after serious talk with a Mopar restoration guy, looks like most replacement panels are a nightmare to fit. We were talking about E-Bodies at the time, and those are probably the most supported ones the market aside of 68-70 B-Bodies. His advice was use as much of the factory bits as you can and try to patch.
'72 Road Runner
Currently Engineering New Setup! 8)

User avatar
road chicken
GTX (RS)
Posts: 668
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2003 11:21 pm
Location: SE WI

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by road chicken » Tue Mar 20, 2018 5:49 pm

WEEEEELLLLLL , When I rolled it, it crushed the rear wheel flare pretty good. I managed to unfold the wheel well with hammer and dolly ( amazing how well the old techniques work ),and sectioned in a panel around the wheel opening. It took alot of mud to cover that sin. I might just look at doing the 1/2 qtr and get a tig welder to do the work so I can hammer weld the seam flat. The door jam, trunk line, rear marker,upper panel area were all untouched so a half panel will drop right in IF I didn't go too far up with the wheel well patch. I'll measure it and see this weekend.

Thanks.
4th generation B bodys- there is no substitute.
68 383, Street Demon 750, RPM top end,484/284/108 poo poo cam "-5 spd 4:10 SG, 4whl disk, Helwig Anti-Sway, Poly bushings,Firm Feel Box, HD Linkage, 1" t-bars, 7 leafs Springs

User avatar
road chicken
GTX (RS)
Posts: 668
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2003 11:21 pm
Location: SE WI

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by road chicken » Thu Mar 22, 2018 8:08 pm

SO much for that idea. I talked with AMD and their skin is just a touch too short- So a full quarter for a 72 is on the way and I'll have to swap the marker over as well. The 71's are out of stock and they don't have any plans on running a new batch anytime soon. The Goodmarks, Golden Lions and others all had the same issue if not more with lighter gauge metal than original. I looked around and saw the hit an miss nature of these new panels. I just don't have a choice. Some are nightmares some are decent some are fitting like a glove. Since no two cars came off the line the same I have to wonder about how good the skills set are for whose doing them. No offense to anyone. I have to do alot of work on the body to fix some sins past. The roof skin/s has to come off and I need to fix the crappy job I did replacing the roof side rails. My first crack at body work was replacing a roof skin and rails from the mid a pillar back to where the C pillar starts- and its held up for 28 years - ,(how crazy does that make me). However, in my youthful ignorance- I cut across the car left to right and lap jointed the roof. I had no clue but unless I tell someone they have no clue it's been fixed.. anyway... Once that's corrected I can work on fitting the sunroof into it and getting the hole in the skin where it belongs Then put the skin back on finishing the roof properly and permanently. After that the quarter doesn't seem to be a big deal LOL- big words now. :D
4th generation B bodys- there is no substitute.
68 383, Street Demon 750, RPM top end,484/284/108 poo poo cam "-5 spd 4:10 SG, 4whl disk, Helwig Anti-Sway, Poly bushings,Firm Feel Box, HD Linkage, 1" t-bars, 7 leafs Springs

gary
GTX (RS)
Posts: 269
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:10 pm
My Cars: '71 GTX Gold Leaf Met.440 A/T

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by gary » Fri Mar 23, 2018 11:55 am

My Experience with anything made in Asia , is lack of Quality Control. Most of the body panels are made in China or Taiwan. I would gladly pay more for a USA Stamped part !

Midnight_Rider
Road Runner (RM)
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2016 8:40 pm
My Cars: 71 Plymouth Road Runner
Location: north/central Indiana

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by Midnight_Rider » Fri Mar 23, 2018 5:50 pm

road chicken wrote:
Thu Mar 22, 2018 8:08 pm
So a full quarter for a 72 is on the way and I'll have to swap the marker over as well. The 71's are out of stock and they don't have any plans on running a new batch anytime soon.
I lucked out and got one of the last AMD 71 driver's side quarters late last fall/winter, but for the passenger side we had to do the same as you with the marker light cutout swap. Good luck!

User avatar
Diriccatiticka
GTX (RS)
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:56 am
My Cars: 1972 Plymouth Roadrunner
Location: Indiana, USA
Contact:

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by Diriccatiticka » Sat Mar 24, 2018 9:00 pm

Bummer, best of luck to ya!
'72 Road Runner
Currently Engineering New Setup! 8)

User avatar
road chicken
GTX (RS)
Posts: 668
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2003 11:21 pm
Location: SE WI

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by road chicken » Mon Mar 26, 2018 4:46 pm

Like the mans tagline says, " It's a fine line between hobby and mental illness." I'll take it :) the biggest problem is finding a shop I can rent at reasonable price for a year. If I'm going to pull it apart again, it will be the last time. So I'm gonna spend the next year getting all the parts I need to do it. The nice part is the mechanical stuff is all done. A little paint work here and there and few small mods and it all unbolts as assemblies and sits in the corner. Once the body is done just roll it into place, make the connections and its ready to roll.
4th generation B bodys- there is no substitute.
68 383, Street Demon 750, RPM top end,484/284/108 poo poo cam "-5 spd 4:10 SG, 4whl disk, Helwig Anti-Sway, Poly bushings,Firm Feel Box, HD Linkage, 1" t-bars, 7 leafs Springs

User avatar
road chicken
GTX (RS)
Posts: 668
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2003 11:21 pm
Location: SE WI

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by road chicken » Wed Mar 28, 2018 11:22 pm

Well the quarter showed up from AMD today. It looks pretty good. There is plenty of room extra in the flanges and not too many waves in the panel. Three to be exact and to be honest those will disappear under the primer coats and block sanding. The only real obvious boo boo was the alignment of the 72 marker mounting holes to the pocket. Even that could be fixed rather quickly with a rat tail file and a few strokes. Hopefully the fit is close with my car but that won't be found out for a year or so. Still-it looks really good.
4th generation B bodys- there is no substitute.
68 383, Street Demon 750, RPM top end,484/284/108 poo poo cam "-5 spd 4:10 SG, 4whl disk, Helwig Anti-Sway, Poly bushings,Firm Feel Box, HD Linkage, 1" t-bars, 7 leafs Springs

User avatar
rr6pak
GTX (RS)
Posts: 1007
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2005 10:29 pm
My Cars: 1971 Tor-Red RR
Location: USA

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by rr6pak » Tue Apr 10, 2018 6:51 pm

AMD

Higer46
Satellite Coupe (RL)
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 10:03 pm
My Cars: 74 Plymouth

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by Higer46 » Wed Apr 11, 2018 12:19 am

AMD seems the best place to get these parts nowadays.

User avatar
rr6pak
GTX (RS)
Posts: 1007
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2005 10:29 pm
My Cars: 1971 Tor-Red RR
Location: USA

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by rr6pak » Wed Apr 11, 2018 11:22 pm

Higer46 wrote:
Wed Apr 11, 2018 12:19 am
AMD seems the best place to get these parts nowadays.
That's because they have the tooling from Chrysler and the licensing to repop metal

mclean03
Road Runner (RM)
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2017 3:46 am
My Cars: 74 Plymouth
Contact:

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by mclean03 » Fri Apr 27, 2018 3:07 am

Another vote for AMD. Good quality and fit.

71_bronze_gtx
GTX (RS)
Posts: 268
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2013 1:32 pm
My Cars: 71 GTX
72 cuda repli-mod
Location: S. E. Michigan

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by 71_bronze_gtx » Fri Oct 26, 2018 6:07 pm

Having recently put AMD quarters on my GTX, I can comment on that brand only.

The fit was OK, with mainly 3 problem areas.

1. Where the window sill curves up and around to blend into the roof rail both were quite a bit too deep (wide, thick, however you want to call it). Had to cut a long vee into it, then pull it together and weld it. Otherwise, it was interfering with the glass rolling up.

2. Where the "top" passes by the Dutchman (or deck filler) panel, it was sitting almost 1/4 higher than the Dutchman. I opted to leave that alone because the fix is way too complicated. I just put some seam sealer in the joint and smoothed it out like caulk.

3. Where the front flange at the door jamb curves around to sit on the door sill, both sides had to be chopped up to get them in place.

Also, the curvature to match the door wasn't too great. Even after cutting a bunch of slits in the flange so I could reshape it some, I still had to blend with filler a bit.

On the passenger side close to the bottom where the quarter transitions to rocker, the quarter was about 1/4" out. Had to blend that with lots of filler.

This is all relatively minor. This was my first body rehab and I had no trouble dealing with it. A pro could knock it out fast. Maybe even make it fit better with hammer and dolly.

moparite
GTX (RS)
Posts: 238
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:27 am
My Cars: 1971 Road Runner 4speed FJ6 air grabber car. And yes i have the
build sheet to prove it. NO IT'S NOT FOR SALE!
Location: South Jersey

Re: Best Replacement Quarter Panels?

Post by moparite » Sat Oct 27, 2018 10:45 am

It's a bit of a mystery where and who makes them. I remember before AMD made them you could only get really bad replacements( i still have a set) that had all kind of ripples around the wheel wells that would have to be hammered out. If i remember correctly someone here sent a nos quarter to AMD to make the tooling from. Up until that point no one had them then after AMD finalized the tooling and started producing them then you seen the other placed started offering them(not listed as a AMD part). It would be my guess that they use the same tooling/press but with possibly a different gauge sheet metal. ??? That's for you to decide.

Post Reply