Old Gator

New guy here and just picked up a 69 442 convertible. While researching for new rear quarter panels, many of the company's state that their 1/4 panels will not fit a convertable and will only fit the whell well lip down. BAP has the this statement listed below on thier page. Any advice will be greatly welcomed.

Old Gator

This is Year One statement on the 1/4's


NOTE: This panel is meant for coupe models only. However if needed for rust repair, the section below the wheel lip will work on convertibles, but there are body line differences above the lip. The marker light opening is upside down on the LH panel.

Allan R

Well, Old Gator

First you gotta deal apples with apples instead of apples and oranges. In your first post there are 2 things that I will give you an opinion on.
1. 70 - 72 quarter panels are not even close to 68/69.

2. The 68/69 panels are extremely hard to find. Anything that BAP is selling will likely be chinesium, not fit properly and be priced outlandishly. (you can do some research on your own, but the vast majority of folks on this site including me would not deal with BAP due to incredibly bad service and pricing)

Year One likely gets their panels from the same people as BAP. If you look at the basic design of the sides on the 68/69 they are pretty close to the same... up to a point. The coupe has slightly different upper styling that is more suggestive of the 70-72 roofline. The vert stays lower. If you look at the lower part of the panels, they are exactly the same from vert to coupe.

I do not have a 68 or 69, but I can tell you from participation on this site that good panels for these cars are darned hard to find. Most everyone prefers to go with an OEM and do a patch panel for lower rust or wheel housings.

You never did say where your panels had issues....????

1969 Coupe


1968 Coupe - compare rear 1/4 panels with 69 - looks the same doesn't it??


1969 vert - even with the top up you can see where the 1/4's have subtle changes in the upper areas.

rcorrigan5

I had to replace the driver side quarter on my '68 convertible. After doing an exhaustive search and finding nothing, we went with the coupe reproduction. I'm not a body guy, but I did see what the body shop did. They cut out the old quarter, about 2-3" down from where the stainless trim runs along the side. They then had to cut and fit the reproduction quarter into place. It came out super nice, in my opinion. That all happened about 4 years ago and I am still completely satisfied with the job the body shop did.

Old Gator

I have the typical rust around the rear wheel openings and minor behind the front tires. I know the patch panels for the front will work and with a little tweeking apparently the rear 1/4s will work. the rust is not bad and the floor pans are some of the best I've seen in a 41 year old. Car was stored for 18 years when I picked it up. I'm excited to own this old girl but it's been a while since my last big project. Just got too old and big to fit into the vettes anymore and wanted a comfortable toy.

Thanks for the help
God Bless our country.
USN (Ret)

rcorrigan5

The body shop had to replace the top part of the wheel opening on my passenger side quarter. They fabricated it. The rest of the passenger side quarter was in good shape. Oddly enough, my fenders were in great shape as well - no patch panels needed. Floor boards were in great shape as well. The body shop had to fabricate the bottom end of my trunk lid - it was pretty well shot. If the rust in your quarters is isolated to around the wheel openings on each side, perhaps a good body shop could fabricate those areas for you rather than replacing and entire quarter or two. I had to replace my driver side quarter - it had been smashed in a wreck some 30+ years ago and there were spots where the bondo was 3/8" thick. Plus, the pillar where the driver door latches into was messed up - replacing the driver side quarter also gave the body shop the opportunity to reshape that pillar to the way it is supposed to be.

I've still got the Corvette, but I know what you mean!

Randy C.
Hats Off to the USN!
USCG (ret)

malibu406

The Tabco quater skins are made in Ohio. I've used two sets. They are thicker that the other junk and are galvanized instead of primed. Attached are two photos of convertible replacements that I saved from the web. They both cut about an inch below the body line and butt welded them together.

For a 68-69 the shape is the same from the top body line down. Someone else here with a convertible should confirm this. All my work has been on coupes.

I have another new set of Tabco's for my current 442 that I will be doing soon. I also picked up a spare set that some one never used. I know everyone has opions on aftermarket stuff, but the 68/69 Tabco quarters are worth it for me. Note, they do not have the rear marker light hole. You would need to use the old panel as a template.

sbFALL63

im ready for two quartes on 68 442 hard top, wsc georgia sent me two at a reasonable price however 68 and 69 are not the same. major difference is where 68 qtr wraps to bumper filler area, 68 seems to have more cutaway as complete tail panel differs from 69. just had to fir body guy who over cut away old panels both sides without checking this, what a nightmare!!! he had panels n didn look close not to mention air shear dammage outer wheelhouse... i suggest serious look by prideful body guy b e f o r e allowing anybody to cut undammaged areas as unless crunched try to save marker light to bumper filler area 68 or 69 to avoid huge hat trick later!!!

allyolds68

I replaced both 1/4's on my 68 442 convertible. 68 and 69 bodies are exactly alike except for the taillights. I did the drivers side with a complete Goodmark 1/4 panel to just below the peak moulding line. It fit like crap and needed a lot of work to get it straight. It was actually hung when I got the car. The body lines up near the peak moulding are definitely not the same between a coupe and convertible. When I replaced the passenger side I decided to go just above the wheel lip, only taking out what was bad. It came out OK but if I had to do it again I would have gone 4"-6" higher. The body shop had trouble getting the line perfect there because the cut line was too close to the lip.

Here's a pic of the passenger side patch:

rcorrigan5

Looks like you are on your way! Owners of '68s and '69s have to pay a little extra and spend some extra time to boot, but it's worth it in the long run.

Best Regards,
Randy C.

ToBiN!

http://www.oldsparts.com/page04.htm

joe_padavano

Unforunately, the panels on that website, as with ALL of the quarter panels available for the 68-69 cars, are partial quarters only. No one repros a full factory-style quarter panel for these cars. I have no experience with the Tabcos, but the Chinesium ones I've seen fit like crap and require much hand work to get them to look good. Unfortunately, that's all that is available.

The panels that are available are for the coupe only, hence the disclaimer statement. They can be cut to fit on convertibles, again with a lot of labor.

69442C

I recently replaced the quarters on a 69 442 convertible and used the panels sold by BAP. As it turned out, the panels came to me in The Parts Place boxes so I know where BAP got them. BAP was horrible to deal with but that's another discussion for another day. The main difference in conv and Cpe quarters in the 68-69 cars is the top of the panel and to an extent the flare over the wheel opening. The Cpe cars actually have some of that flare extend up into the roof pillar (C Post) and a conv does not. I was actually fairly pleased with the panels I received as they were straight and the project turned out well. But it does take a lot of work. The main issues are the panel is made so it covers all the way over the rocker panel in front of the wheel. I did a lot of measuring, cut the panel leaving enough material to put a 90 degree bend so the panel would sit on top of the rocker just like the OEM ones. The panel is not stamped where it fits under the rear light so again, I did careful measuring and make a few cuts and formed the panel so it would. The other thing is you cannot install the panel so that it wraps inside the door jam because the edge of the panel at the door opening is too round rather than being a sharper edge. That entailed cutting the original panel so I left a couple of inches on the front edge, I used a tool to place a step on the original panel and then laid the new panel on the step and welded it in place for a flush fit. The biggest issue is all along the top edge. For me, I prefer to overlap a joint as it is stronger rather than butt weld but each has their own preferences. I cut the original panel about a inch below the SS trim but above the wheel flare, I left several inches. I installed the new panel so it fit about an 1/8" below the very top of the old panel and used a spot welder to secure it and then used my mig in a few places. Over the flare, I used several clamps to pull the new panel down so it conformed to the original shape as much as possible, as that entire upper area is mostly flat. The new panel didn't have much of a buldge there but it had some. Just make sure to work from front to back or the other so you can work out some of the buldge. A shrinking hammer also helped. The main disadvantage of this is that I covered all of the rectangular holes for the SS clips but I took the time, made a template of the hole and carefully marked where they went and drilled/grinded the rectangular holes back into the panel. Using just a hole with a T-Bolt/nut would be much easier if you aren't concerned with seeing a small stud inside the trunk area. Plan on repairing the outer wheel openings as well as replace the trunk drops. I spent a lot of time fitting the panel and used several screws to hold it in place for easy removal and installation before I was satisfied and the welding was done. All in all, they came out very nice. If I did this again, I would move the seam behind the door up closer to the door as the panel is a little stronger there. But be careful when cutting there as there is a brace behind the panel in that area that runs top to bottom. I have lots of pictures if you want to see anything. Good luck.
Brian

69442C

Should have stated that when I clamped the panel above the flare, I placed several spot welds in that 2-3 inch wide area to hold the new panel to the old panel shape. And the panel is welded to the top of the rocker from inside the quarter area which is a little tough to get around in.

atvron927

by chance do you have any pics.

Eddie Hansen

Ron there are pics on brians excellent build thread well worth the read. I also have pics of quarter installation on a 69 vert on my build thread in major builds