2/1/2020 I took a few months off from working on the car. Got back to working on the right rear quarter panel. Before I started welding, I painted POR-15 on all the surfaces that are going to be hidden after welding on the quarter panel. This will prevent any rust in the future.
I cut back the rest of the repair panel and used the clamps shown in the foreground to hold the entire panel. This is because the entire weld is going to be a butt weld, not an overlap. The clamps in the foreground have a thin piece of metal that goes in between the sheet metal with a square peice on the other side. So it creates a very small gap between the panels, but keeps them aligned.
So, with those clamps in place, I did small spot welds spaced about an inch apart. This prevents the panel from heating up and warping. I also welded at the bottom of the panel where the clamps are. I then took the clamps off.
The biggest fear in doing this weld is not getting the contour correct. But it looks and feels pretty good.
I then bead welded between all the spot welds then ground the welds down. You'll notice below that I didn't go all the way to the tail light. I was having trouble reworking the panel to fit with it only clamped so decided to do that area after welding the panel.
I'm pretty satisfied with the weld.
2-2-2020 It was 2:20 2 hours ago! A little more welding today. Still a little more to do, ran out of welding wire.
2/4/2020 Rolled the car out and primed the bare metal. It was in the mid 70's today, so I could do this.
2/8/2020 Now that the rear fender is in place,next is to put the wheel well in. The top picture below is what I cut out of te car. Below is the new part.
Below is looking up into the wheel well. All welded in place. Came out pretty good.