Quarter Panel Repairs

[TBayToyotaBoy]

Well, the Camry has more than served me well, and despite its age I want to restore it to its original glory. The rear quarter panels have rotted to hell, and the doglegs are rotten all the way down to the rockers (whaich are still pristine, thank God). Bondo sucks, so welding it is.

Has anyone had good experience with a particular source for repair panels? I've heard that some are better than others, with the worst of the bunch being VERY difficult to weld without blowing dime-size holes in the sheet metal. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Tommy]

if you know how to weld, and have a decent wirefeed welder, shouldnt be too bad. Metal is pretty thick on these cars.

[TBayToyotaBoy]

Well I've done some welding, but not nearly enough to be comfy with this job. I have a couple of customers at work who do body work professionally, and their experiences led me to ask my question. They've had both good and bad experiences with Camry repair panels, but that was years ago. They can't remember which panels were the good ones. I believe some are made in Holland, while others are China-made...

[90camdx4]

if you do them and spray your car with oil regulary, you should not have a problem, while you at it check your inside fender wheels, mines got holes all over, gettin them rapaired today,

[TBayToyotaBoy]

Yeah, I missed the rust check ONE YEAR, that was three years ago, and everything went to hell...I've got little holes in the wheel wells too, along the weld seams.

[CraniumInsaneum]

TBayToyotaBoy,

Here in Seattle we don't use road salt, so our cars tend to wear out, rather than rust out. There is a large wrecking yard here that always has a decent selection of generation 1 and 2 Camrys, some with bodies that are in quite good overall condition but have suffered that last fender bender or blown tranny which makes them uneconomical to repair.

Everything is self-service; you take what you need from the car by whatever means necessary, and pay for your parts at the cashier. An entire quarter panel in good condition would probably run you $50 USD or less. Cars are kept on the lot for 90 days, then crushed and sold for scrap. "New" cars come in as fast as they clear out; the supply seems inexhaustable.

The bad news is that they won't do it for you, so you have to either be here and do it yourself, or hire someone local to cut out the panels and ship them to you. Anyway here's their contact info; they can give you information on pricing, and might be a good place to ask about hiring someone to do the work. Good luck.

Pull-A-Part
18306 Highway 99
Lynnwood, WA 98037
USA
(425) 778-3147