Dear RAMVA, Okay, soon I am going need to weld in new pan quarters for my ghia. The front part of both sides is perfect, but the PO had run over some curbs and there is rust all under the undercoating and about half of the back half of the pan is crumbly (yipes!). Front part of the pan is very solid and I couldn't find any rust with my screwdriver (but I've gotta scrape off that undercoating soon, so we'll see how bad it actually is). Would a wirefeed (mig that isn't set up for a bottle) do me okay to weld in new pan quarters? Would it be doable or advisable to do with the body on? Carpet and rear seat is out. The person that would let me use their welder also has a car pit in his garage, so access is not a problem. Cutting the old pan quarters out -- cut off wheels and a cut off tool or die grinder ought to do me right, yeah? Also, how do you guys reccomend I detach the backs of my seat rails from the old metal? Cut around then grind down? Drill out spot welds (Was it even spot welded?)? Would just a wirefeed do me alright for any body welds (with the obvious grinding and all) or is that a bad idea? The car has had a rough life (got it and the engine case was JB-Welded together behind the generator stand!) and the previous 'restoration' is showing its age (rust under the paint, rust where they didn't paint, bondo where it don't belong, trim that should've gotten pulled but wasnt, etc). This car has tons of bondo on it (front to back, you name it!) and I'd like to do it pretty right, but it won't be perfect and all done right in metal ever (so keep that in mind). My goal is to get this car lick and a promise good cosmetically (although take the time and do it as right as time and money allows and do it myself) and spot on mechanically (and I'm getting close). My goal body wise is to have no bondo thicker than 1/4 of an inch anywhere on the car and it still look reasonably straight. As far as noses go (and I'm Jewish, so my nose goes pretty far!), I've sourced one from a donor that was reasonably straight (ridge all the way down, the whole panel was slightly bent, but that will be fixed pretty easy with the hammers and dollies, or even my hands!) -- would it be doable for me to weld it on and it not come out looking worse than the smooth bondo look it's sporting now? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm really doing this on a budget. If I really really really oughtta get a migger for this, the guy probably will go halvesies with me on the 'upgrade' kit. Thanks so so much, this bodywork and rust repair stuff is pretty foreign to me.
-Kevin