This set shows the hammered in Franken-hack, and I wanted it close enough so that it can be referenced to the finished quarter shots in the above posting. I call it ‘hammered in’ because it took a hell of a lot of hammer work to register the metal.


I did it with a splatter welder, seen in the background. I chose the splice-area to maintain the original-quarter-panel look from the trunk, resulting in a very stealth repair. I share with some, but not with everyone. Someone who saw the car before the repair looked at it. Rather than sharing, as I do with many, when he started looking the car over, I kept it zipped, but I was polite enough to repeat “yep” every time he said, “You did this in your garage?”

When he recalled/realized the quarter area had been repaired, he studied it closely, inside the trunk, wheel house, and inside of the door jamb. He also asked if he could tap it lightly; I said sure. Yep! 100% solid metal, tip to toe. After studying it for about 10 minutes, unable to determine what had been done, he asked how I repair it, and I said “With a hammer.” End of conversation.

The last two shots show differences during blocking, with the last picture further down the road. In the last picture, notice how deep the existing red oxide was cut, much deeper than in the earlier prime-block session. The way most people block, it would be physically impossible to have removed the red oxide, and the result is what I call ‘classic car droop.’ Perhaps, I’ll explain why someday, but I don’t feel like doing a blocking 101 at this time. For now, I’ll say that it makes all the difference in the world because everything you see on my car is the result of blocking, nothing to do with paint.