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So what brand of body panels would you recommend, and where to buy from.
72 Supreme Convertible, Im buying floor pans and trunk pan, outer wheel wells.
Leaning towards OPGI for the made in USA panels..
Any recommendations on do’s, donts?
thanks folks ✌️
The best brand is Oldsmobile, and you can find them on rust-free donor cars from the desert southwest. Yeah, seriously, nothing aftermarket compares to OEM panels.
Yes I agree with Joe you cannot beat original 'But it depends on your budget?
Alain
1970 platinum 442 4spd factory A/C
X2…. Region and your supply circle plays a strong role as well…. Perhaps a bit of blind luck doesn’t hurt. This particular group can often be a great resource for such pieces.
I've had good results with AMD panels for floor pans & trunk pans but don't expect them to fit properly right out of the box. I did a full floor pan replacement in my '72 442 convertible; AMD PN 400-3468 which has the braces and inner rockers attached. I think I had the pan in & out of the car 10 times to check fitment at various points. I would pull it back out to adjust the shape or bend of the pinch welds then test the fitment again. One significant issue with the AMD floor pan was in the rear seatbelt area; the reinforced mounting points had a different "hump" where the retractors mounted. I was able to reshape with a little hammer and dolly work. The AMD trunk panels do no have the correct rib design for some model years, so anything other than a full pan replacement could result in some mis-matched ribs. I've used front fender patch panels from Auto Body Specialist to repair the area behind the wheel opening. The left side panel was good quality, but the right side was stamped a little short at the bottom.
Yes I agree with Joe you cannot beat original 'But it depends on your budget?
Alain
1970 platinum 442 4spd factory A/C
Then your budget needs to consider TOTAL cost, not just the cost to purchase the parts. If a less expensive part takes 3X as much labor for installation because the fit is poor, have you saved money? And what kind of quality job do you want? The crappy imported partial quarter panels, installed with a lap joint and lots of bondo, always telegraph the seam through the paint, especially in the sun. If that's good enough for you, knock yourself out. Factory panels welded at the factory joints won't have that problem and frankly take a lot less labor to install.
I bought from Jegs after quite a search. Both quarters and both outer wheelhouses. $1600 delivered. OPGI seems to have quite a problem maintaining stock on lots of things. They were into March before they said they would have quarters.
In my search, I talked to Oldsparts. https://www.oldsparts.com Nice man. He said they have limited NOS parts. A quarter panel was quoted at 2300 for one. He also has the aftermarket ones for 630 each, truck freight was 450 to my door. One interesting thing that he told me….The aftermarket ones he had compared to NOS he had were hard to tell the difference, and in his opinion not worth the extra cost unless doing a Coucours restoration. That ain’t me. Just want a nice car to drive, and I have time to do the work even if it takes a little more with stuff that does not fit perfect.
The wheelhouses arrived in just three days. I expect quarters next week. I’ll post pics when I have them.
Then your budget needs to consider TOTAL cost, not just the cost to purchase the parts. If a less expensive part takes 3X as much labor for installation because the fit is poor, have you saved money? And what kind of quality job do you want? The crappy imported partial quarter panels, installed with a lap joint and lots of bondo, always telegraph the seam through the paint, especially in the sun. If that's good enough for you, knock yourself out. Factory panels welded at the factory joints won't have that problem and frankly take a lot less labor to install.
Crankit helped convince me that what you are saying is true. I researched the cut and weld thing pretty well. Decided early on that adding the weld strip was not a good idea. Had settled on TIG butt welding until I watched vids on it, and saw that even then the expansion contraction issue has to be considered and dealt with. Gonna need body fillers no matter how perfectly you work. I’m hoping that the full QP install does not turn into a bad nightmare for me.
Perhaps Joe you can post a link or two to some Olds salvage yards? I’m lookin for the little acorn nut or whatever it is called that goes on driver side folding bench seat, at the pivot point. I have not seen that anywhere. I’ll post a pic later. Into coffee and eggs now.
I've had good results with AMD panels for floor pans & trunk pans but don't expect them to fit properly right out of the box. I did a full floor pan replacement in my '72 442 convertible; AMD PN 400-3468 which has the braces and inner rockers attached. I think I had the pan in & out of the car 10 times to check fitment at various points. I would pull it back out to adjust the shape or bend of the pinch welds then test the fitment again. One significant issue with the AMD floor pan was in the rear seatbelt area; the reinforced mounting points had a different "hump" where the retractors mounted. I was able to reshape with a little hammer and dolly work. The AMD trunk panels do no have the correct rib design for some model years, so anything other than a full pan replacement could result in some mis-matched ribs. I've used front fender patch panels from Auto Body Specialist to repair the area behind the wheel opening. The left side panel was good quality, but the right side was stamped a little short at the bottom.
Yes I am trying for as much GM as possible.
I have NOS GM convertible quarters in the box and rust free doors I bought in the 90s 👌
I think Ill try Arizona DVAP and Texas CTC autoranch for original floor and trunk, never thought to try..I assumed those parts used are not available / always rusty….
thanks all
Originally Posted by joe_padavano
Then your budget needs to consider TOTAL cost, not just the cost to purchase the parts. If a less expensive part takes 3X as much labor for installation because the fit is poor, have you saved money? And what kind of quality job do you want? The crappy imported partial quarter panels, installed with a lap joint and lots of bondo, always telegraph the seam through the paint, especially in the sun. If that's good enough for you, knock yourself out. Factory panels welded at the factory joints won't have that problem and frankly take a lot less labor to install.
Thanks looking forward to your updates..
Agree OPGI made in USA floors and trunk are March… maybe….
cheers
Originally Posted by OLdGreenPaint
I bought from Jegs after quite a search. Both quarters and both outer wheelhouses. $1600 delivered. OPGI seems to have quite a problem maintaining stock on lots of things. They were into March before they said they would have quarters.
In my search, I talked to Oldsparts. https://www.oldsparts.com Nice man. He said they have limited NOS parts. A quarter panel was quoted at 2300 for one. He also has the aftermarket ones for 630 each, truck freight was 450 to my door. One interesting thing that he told me….The aftermarket ones he had compared to NOS he had were hard to tell the difference, and in his opinion not worth the extra cost unless doing a Coucours restoration. That ain’t me. Just want a nice car to drive, and I have time to do the work even if it takes a little more with stuff that does not fit perfect.
The wheelhouses arrived in just three days. I expect quarters next week. I’ll post pics when I have them.
I bought from Jegs after quite a search. Both quarters and both outer wheelhouses. $1600 delivered. OPGI seems to have quite a problem maintaining stock on lots of things. They were into March before they said they would have quarters.
In my search, I talked to Oldsparts. https://www.oldsparts.com Nice man. He said they have limited NOS parts. A quarter panel was quoted at 2300 for one. He also has the aftermarket ones for 630 each, truck freight was 450 to my door. One interesting thing that he told me….The aftermarket ones he had compared to NOS he had were hard to tell the difference, and in his opinion not worth the extra cost unless doing a Coucours restoration. That ain’t me. Just want a nice car to drive, and I have time to do the work even if it takes a little more with stuff that does not fit perfect.
The wheelhouses arrived in just three days. I expect quarters next week. I’ll post pics when I have them.
After everything I've read about oldsparts, I wouldn't order anything from them. And they are/were local to me.
Try looking for Jegs part 79425 I obviously am not to the disassembly point where I can verify how well these will fit. Or even if they will fit at all. I told them car is 72 olds cutlass supreme convertible. If I remember correctly, he said no difference for wheelhouses between vert and two door hardtop. I am hoping he is/was correct. I hate sending stuff back, even if not my fault. I called Jegs, cause for me anyway it seemed their online catalog does not work very well.
Last edited by OLdGreenPaint; Jan 10, 2025 at 01:52 PM.
After everything I've read about oldsparts, I wouldn't order anything from them. And they are/were local to me.
Im not gonna bad mouth them, because I just don’t know anything other than they answered the phone, seemed knowledgeable, answered my questions. He did mention how hard Covid had hit the business. Said he had to relocate out of Kansas because it was just too difficult there. And his business is single line, not lots of different brands of cars.
Today I put the rear end on jackstands, removed left rear wheel, and scraped out a layer of undercoating. I am thinking this was not a factory install undercoating? Looking at the old and comparing to the Jegs that I now have in the shop, I would say that the Jegs appears to be the correct part
The flange where the inside and outside wheelhouses spot weld together is wavy in a couple of places. Don’t know if that is to be expected or not? I’ll try heating up the waves and using duck bills to try and smooth them out.
Just copy the Post Number from any Post you want to reference into any Thread & Paste that Post Number. You don't have to use the link (symbol) to embed it as a link since it already contains the URL link w/in the Post Number. Nice work you're doing.
I wondered what the stamping machine would look like that recreates these replacement Sheetmetal pieces. Found several real interesting videos. https://youtu.be/D2gBvjDtEJ0
This one is about 10 minutes long. Really good to watch if you are into restoration a lot. About Sheetmetal recreated in Taiwan.
That Taiwanese video was awesome, thanks for sharing.
Norm,
I was just a little curious as to what the machine looked like, that could put the forces needed into a sheet of 20 gauge steel and turn it into body parts. I suspected that laser scanning is used to create the die, and it is so. To think that the Taiwanese people could envision the need and create the tooling to actually recreate vintage car bodies like the 55 Chevy is amazing. While I can’t say that the QP’s for the 72 convertible are perfect, I can say they are darn close! And I am glad someone, anyone, cares enough to manufacture these parts.
Try AMD they may be able to help you
