Since quarters for this Comet are difficult to find, I am going to try and make my own patch panels for it.. My plan is to at least fill in the butchered wheel openings, instead of splicing in a WHOLE quarter panel. If there was a bunch of rust in the lower quarter or if there was a ton of mud holding it together, than replacement would be the way to go. But as stated earlier, my biggest problem is the jacked up wheel opening..
The basic idea is there... A little trimming, hammer and dolly and it should do trick.. My original thought was to fix the wheel opening, then move the wheelbase forward. All of the surgery scars, when moving the wheelhouse around, will land at the body line where "TOP" is written and below. You can see were I have started drawing on the body near the door. Dad and I were trying to determine how far to alter the wheelbase. I have it marked out, first at 8 inches and again at 10 inches. I think we may actually have settled on 12 inches. Anyway, since I am basically going to have to cut my own wheel opening, plans have changed. We are going to do all the chassis and body moves first, and get tire size and rear end mods done. Then I will go back in, splice the patch panel in and cut the proper shape opening. The real challenge will be to get some sort of stock looking edge around the opening. I am not sure how I am going to make that happen yet. Hopefully, it will all work out... If not, oh well... My labor is free, right??
