Does anyone know of a place to buy lower rear quarter patch panels for the '64-'65 Skylark/GS body? I have fabricated them for the two cars I have already restored and would love to be able to buy some already made for my GS I am restoring.
Chevy Brian, How close is the 64-65 Chevy A-body style in that area? Could the Chevy patch panel be used? Year One has the Chevy patch panels left and right for $99 a pair. Cheryl
Re: Chevy No. I've looked everywhere for patch panels for my 64 and no one makes them. I'm attempting to fabricate replacements for mine. Someday the aftermarket might realize there is a good demand out there for the 64-65 body style but I'm not holding my breath.
I'm faced with sucking it up and paying the piper this winter. My '65 was a rust bucket before I cut it up, most of the lower quarters was gone and it was all fixed with bondo. It came out pretty good at the time but it's falling apart now. Literally. Small pieces falling out onto the track when the car leaves the starting line. o No: I'd love to fix it right, but short of buying a donor car to cut the quarters off of, it's gonna be bondo all over again. I guess if it holds up for ten years again that'll be ok. Be nice to have the right parts though.
I have looked at the chevy/Pontiac parts and they are shaped different--the outer wheel well and lower rear quarter shape is unique to the '64-'65 Skylark/Special. I have fabricated my own twice before on my two other cars, so I guess I will have to do it again--very time consuming and no fun! The way I made them is started out with a piece of metal the right length, but too big in the other direction. I then clamped the edge of it to the work bench with a long piece of 2" angle iron and some c-clamps. I next took my hands (while wearing a nice thick pair of gloves) and slowly curved the metal upwards until I got the right contour to fit the shape of that lower curve in the quarter panel. Once I got the bend shaped right doing that, I trimmed the excess metal off either side of the bend to the right height to fit what I needed in my car. That took car of the lower part of the quarter, but then I had to make a piece that went up around part of the wheel well--that was much harder and took a vise and alot of pounding with a hammer to make. Once I welded it all in and ground it smooth, it just took a small amount of filler to get the final contour right.
