Qtr Panel + Door + Fender fitment advice?

So i'm a newbie metal guy, but gaining experience on my 74 EB. Just knocked out the inner front fenders w/ lots of help from the previous build threads and just cut out my passenger inner quarter and front wheel extension. Patched in part of the wheel tub and have everything mocked up.

I'm looking for pro tips + advice (from experience) on what to check and more importantly the welding sequence before I start welding things up? I removed my door brace and reinstalled the door. The front fender has a few bolts holding it in place for mock purposes only.

The inner quarter has a few screws in on the front. It's hanging pretty well on the original door striker post and the original rear tail light extension.

There seems to be quite a few variables here and I want to ensure I get them all correct:

1.) front fender. I replaced the inner fender and hung the outer in place. It looks pretty decent?
2.) door hinges . original to the vehicle. I have removed the doors and bolted them back in place and adjusted them a half dozen times to get it close
3.) door. original to vehicle, I don't think it's ever been replaced or skinned. But does have some mud in it, so probably not an *exact* reference point. I've got a skin for it that I may eventually put on, unless I find a good donor door. Do I dare weld in all of the quarter panel metal and then redo the door? I'd rather get the quarters done now and dig into the doors later if possible, using the original doors as reference. I have skins for both sides.
4.) door striker post. Original and was braced prior to taking quarter off. I removed the brace after I screwed the inner quarter back in
5.) inner quarter panel. seems decent, looks like i need to bring it up maybe a quarter inch in the front
6.) rear tail light extension. Original to vehicle. I had a replacement, but after taking off a bunch of bondo and pulling out some dents, it appears salvageable. It's loose right now from having to dig the old inner qtr out, I think it will pull back in once I screw/weld it.
7.) outer rocker. I'm going to replace it w/ a JBG/Carpenter OEM stamped after I get the inner quarter welded back in, but before I put the lower quarter in. I wanted to keep it in place for now to keep the door gap reference.


So i'm apprehensive about welding it all up and then fighting it or redoing it later. I'm pretty happy with most of the door gaps except for the rear top. i don't think the post moved, and the bottom of the door gap looks even.. how should I address this?

I'm going to bring the inner quarter up a bit in the front. this should help the body line.

Do the rest of the gaps look decent? the lower body line looks decent enough. Unsure about the front and lower door gaps. The door closes and latches pretty well.

Anything else look out of the ordinary that I should address? I've read too many build threads about guys fighting fitment and taking panels back out, etc.

Logically, i think my next steps are:

1.) raise the inner quarter up about a 1/4 to meet the top of the door
2.) figure out how to close the upper rear door gap
3.) screw/mock the rear extension
4.) weld the inner quarter
5.) remove the outer rocker
6.) weld in the lower quarter
7.) weld in the rear tail light extension?
8.) weld in the outer rocker replacement?

Is this the correct sequence of reassembly?

Quarter Panel: approx height 19.25 at the door strike post top, to base, should be close to what the rear measurements are. I am in the very middle of what you are doing right now. (Floor pan and other half done metal work, Windshield mount posts) The door gaps look good, try and raise the quarter panel us a bit.

Your aftermarket front fender is too long and hangs down past the rockers. You bowed it up to make it fit even with the rocker, but that bows the fender out at the wheel opening. I had to cut my fender to take out about 1/4 inch, and weld it back together. Aftermarket parts are just bad. It's difficult to tell from the picture, but it looks like your rear 1/4 has the same issue. Your top 1/4 is too low. The line should be along the top of the tail light housing and the door. The seam along the side will be slightly higher on the 1/4 than the tail light housing. It's a fantastic first effort, good enough for most people. If you want to make it perfect, you'll need to make those few slight adjustments.

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2303666&postcount=71

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=294251&d=1364685840

The other IMPORTANT lesson is to line your door up with the weatherstripping in since the new stuff is hard and won't let the door close all the way. After I finished the metal work, I installed the striker post and door latch, and put in the weather stripping to test before paint, and I had to rework the doors, fender, and rockers to get the door to close. Sucked.

AZ73 said:

Your aftermarket front fender is too long and hangs down past the rockers. You bowed it up to make it fit even with the rocker, but that bows the fender out at the wheel opening. I had to cut my fender to take out about 1/4 inch, and weld it back together. Aftermarket parts are just bad. It's difficult to tell from the picture, but it looks like your rear 1/4 has the same issue. Your top 1/4 is too low. The line should be along the top of the tail light housing and the door. The seam along the side will be slightly higher on the 1/4 than the tail light housing. It's a fantastic first effort, good enough for most people. If you want to make it perfect, you'll need to make those few slight adjustments.

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2303666&postcount=71

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=294251&d=1364685840

The other IMPORTANT lesson is to line your door up with the weatherstripping in since the new stuff is hard and won't let the door close all the way. After I finished the metal work, I installed the striker post and door latch, and put in the weather stripping to test before paint, and I had to rework the doors, fender, and rockers to get the door to close. Sucked.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I hadn't considered fitting with weatherstripping in. Just the advice I was looking for!

speaking of advice, my neighbor (restores mustangs) stopped by and suggested I cover the windshield during grinding. Yep, I already blasted it..had a bunch of shavings stuck to the inside. That's a $120 lesson learned

body bushings/spacers

I've been chasing a rear door gap issue and found a previous post on cb.com that talks about body bushings, and body spacers to manipulate gaps. I loosened up body mount behind driver seat, placed in 1/16 washer, and it solved my gap issue. Trust me, I've messed with the door a lot and didn't do a thing. I know I need to replace all my original body bushings, but, this was an easy fix to door fitment issues for the time being.

Going along with what has already been said above, also make sure your door hinges are in good shape. If there is any play in the hinges, put in new pins and bushings. Make sure the body mount bushings are good. My advice would be replace them before any attempt at aligning panels.

I am also in the same boat as you, '74 half cab, first timer, learning (sometimes the hard way)

Thanks for the tips guys. i hadn't really considered the body mounts causing an issue, but makes sense.
Thanks also for the recommendation to fit w/ the seal installed. good stuff!

I messed w/ it a bit more tonight and tightened it up the door gaps a bit by pulling the flange forward. it created a gap in the lower rear, which I think makes sense now that I noticed the rear lower tail light support was bent back by the PO.

Now I just don't know when to stop and weld I think i should at least weld in the inner quarter before I start to remove the outer rocker?

Oh, I also tried to test fit the repop tail light extension w/ my existing lights.. the lights don't fit, like others have described. makes me want to keep/patch the old ones even more now.

$*#^$#! aftermarket parts!

So after getting the passenger side respectable, I'm moving onto the driver's side, armed with experience. However, I'm keeping the inner quarter.. and it's even worse. the outer quarter is about 1/8" short at the top, with the front flush.

I'm tempted to weld/shape a new lip onto it, but that's quite a bit to keep a straight line all the way down to make it look good. I'm pretty sure someone will suggest splitting the panel, stretching it and welding the seam. Not sure if I want to deal with the body repair that comes with that.

Any other ideas on how to get rid of the upper gap?

Now for the lower gap (and a bit on top), i plan to weld a new lip onto it. I had to do the same on the passenger side too.

You can fill that with some 1/8th inch rod and grind it to fit your panel. I have done it before to get my door fits right on other projects. I always used silicon bronze wire in my mig when I do that much filling though. It is a lot easier to grind when doing that much filler. You can also get it as tight as possible an use seam sealer to close the gap before paint. Ken

X2 ^ Also seal sealer goes that and that fills in a lot of the gap if you bend the lips close enough to weld them

Use seam sealer here? My body shop said they can do that or weld it and smooth it out. Not sure I want to go that far with it but the prior owner used bondo to smooth it out and it obviously cracked. Is that end cap bolted on?

JefeAZ said:

Use seam sealer here? My body shop said they can do that or weld it and smooth it out. Not sure I want to go that far with it but the prior owner used bondo to smooth it out and it obviously cracked. Is that end cap bolted on?

Click to expand...

You should be able to suck those gaps in by using self tapping sheet metal screws...

installing inner quarters.

how does the striker post extension fit. Not sure how the location sits. Also the top rear inner quarter panel is covering rear post. Should it butt up to it>