I have rust on 3 of the 4 quarter panels and i'd like to put fender flares on but 'im not sure if i should fix the rust or just cut it out and bolt on fender flares. any advice would be great. thanks
'93 Bronco XLT V8 5.0
the problem with the rear quater panels on the bronco's is that on most of them ford only primered the top of the wheel house panel, mud accumulates on top of this and the primer alone isn't enough protection. The good news is you can fix it without removing the entire quarter panel if you wish.
Odds are its not only the quarter panel that is rotted but also the inner wheel house (ceiling of wheel well), the only way I know of to test it is to try and poke a hole in it with a ***** driver. Mine was down to only undercoating, the metal was gone over an area the size of my hand.
You will need
this and
this for both back wheel wells. For the front it's easier to replace the whole fender, they can be had hfor only 90 dollars from bronco graveyard and they simply bolt on.
To repair the back you will need to remove the rubber panels bolted the the inner wheel house and the quarter panel, set these aside for re installation. From inside the truck once you remove the plastic panel and carpeting use a 3/8ths drill bit to drill though the spot welds (this leaves you holes perfect for welding in the new panel, plug welds produce the least distortion), center punching helps keep the bit from walking. Your best bet to cut out the rusted area of the Quarter panel is an angle grinder with a 4-1/2" X .045 cut off wheel, or if you have one a pneumatic nibbler. cut well above the rust so that you also finish removing the wheel house at the same time.
Next you will need to add the new panels, cut the new section of the quarter panel to fit where you need it, and clamp it in place using
these they will produce a 0.040" gap, perfect for welding, once the outer panel is aligned properley, a few light tack welds to hold it in place then you can remove the clamps. Rather than fully welding the panel you should get the wheel house in place, that is simpley a matter of getting somebody to hold it in place while you weld it in.
Final welding on the outside should be done with a series of small tack welds, DON'T RUSH IT, if you rush you'll create too much heat and warp the panel. Once the welding is done and the welds ground down, some body filler will be needed to finish the job.
This is possible without welding, there are body panel adhesives. Once the outer panel is clamped in place glue a couple small strips of sheet metal in place from the inside (the quarter panel above the repair must be clean inside for the glue to hold). After the glue cures you can remove the clamps and add more backing strips ten glue in the wheel house using a couple of stainless steel sheet metal screws to hold it in place while the glue cures. I'd recommend against Norton speed grip, in my own tests, it failed to create a quality bond under ideal conditions.
Either way you chose to do it once the metal work is done you should paint inside, above the wheel house and the inside of the quarter panel. You can probably rig something up out of a large magnet a flashlight and a small mirror to see what your doing. After the paint dries you can add bedliner if you like for more protection.
Over all this isn't necessarily a hard job but it's time consuming (probably a Saturday per wheel, so two good weekends of work), at least if you want it to look good. Also you will need to remove the door to get at one of the bolts for the front fender. If you have any questions feel free to drop me a pm.
