Yesterday I took my passenger rear quarter to bare metal. Some a$$ had fit a patch panel and used about 3 to 5 pounds of Bondo. I knew I had some filler in this area but this was sick! They fit the patch high in the rear and low in the front and used Bondo to "hide" the transitions. The door gap looks unnatural. I think they fit the front of the patch with the door open and later discovered their mistake. Instead of cutting the patch loose and re-welding...Bondo to the rescue! I'd like to find a quarter panel like one of these listed on eBay. Unfortunately both of these are driver's side.

The first one is what I believe to be an aftermarket patch, it's larger than the one used on my car before and would work fine.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT

This one is said to be OEM, but no longer available.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT

Any advice or guidance appreciated.

 

I got aftermarket new front fenders on my '78, and though they look great now, it took a massive amount of work to get them to fit. The mounts were off by up to an inch and a half. The radius of curvature was wrong, so we had to cut interior support, open the fender (basically bend the bottom of the panel outward), reweld the support, and then hammer/dolly/anneal the panel smooth. This was way more than the usual dings and dents that all new panels come with, it was just plain bad manufacturing. The aftermarket headlight "cases" were no better. They were steel, true, but had cracks that had been fiberglassed, poorly sanded, and then primed over.
On the other hand, the used hood I got was no picnic either, though the fitment was really good.
All of the new-to-me parts were better than the crumpled pieces I got from the PO, though, so it's not like it was wasted money or time.
I'd say go with the OE panel. It'll likely fit better, which will save you time and money, and it's been stored privately, so it's likely to have fewer dents than any parts that have been bounced around Nissan warehouses for the last 30 years (assuming you could find one at some dealer somewhere). All in all, it should make a nice repair.
Good luck with the body work,
Dave

 

Appreciate the advice. I've got two OEM Nissan fenders sitting in the garage now.

I'd like to get OEM quarter panel also, but both the OEM and aftermarket one on eBay are driver side. I need passenger side. Also wondering if Nissan only made the entire quarter, or if they made some "pieces"?

 

To my knowledge, Datsun/Nissan only made the full panel, and the smaller repair pieces were a Tabco and others kind of thing. I could easily be wrong about that, though. theramz and some others here may know more about that, hopefully they'll reply, too.
Dave

 

Well I got lucky. A ZCar member in Maryland has disassembled a complete 74 260 and is "giving" me what I need. He said to just come get it. Right side, left side, rockers, hood, whatever I want for FREE He's a metal worker and took everything apart properly at the seams.

Guess it's my lucky day!

 

DAMN! I hope you get your own web page and document your work! That will be the biggest project I've ever seen. Is the under carriage still in good shape? Make sure your rails are straight, measure the height at the fender wells to make sure it hasn't twisted from the hit. Have someone drive the car and follow it to make sure it is tracking straight. Stand in the street have have them drive toward you and away to check stance. I would hate to see you spend all that time on a bent car! Good luck, share your progress.