The Work That Goes Into Replacing A Rear Quarter Panel
If you were recently involved in an accident, and your rear quarter panel on your vehicle was damaged, here is a quick breakdown of the work that is going to be involved in order to repair and fix your rear quarter panel if it was badly dented.
Accessing The Rear Quarter Panel
Generally, the first thing that an auto body shop will do is make sure that they have access to your entire rear quarter panel so they can assess the degree of damage to it. On most cars, part of the rear quarter panel is actually not visible. In order to examine the entire rear quarter panel, often times the auto body shop will have to remove your bumper and the closest rear tail light in order to fully evaluate the level of damage done to your vehicle. This is referred to as a tear down.
Fixing The Damage
Depending on the level of damage, the auto body shop may be able to work on your rear quarter panel without removing it from your vehicle. However, if the damage is extensive, they may need to remove the rear quarter panel.
Their main objective will be to smooth out the dent without having to completely replace your rear quarter panel. The auto body shop may use a variety of different methods to smooth out your rear quarter panel. They may hammer out the dents in your quarter panel, or use welding techniques to melt and re-shape the metal.
Reassembling The Panel
Next, the auto body shop will put the rear quarter panel back onto your vehicle. If they had to remove your bumper or tail light in order to access the rear quarter panel, than they will have to put them back on your vehicle. This entire process can take a couple of hours to achieve.
Paint The Panel
When you have work done on your rear quarter panel, the auto body shop is most likely going to need to remove the paint from your vehicle to fix the damage. That means they are going to have to put primary on your rear quarter panel, paint it, and then seal it. In order to get the new paint to blend in with the old paint on your vehicle, they will most likely use a blending technique. This technique requires them to spray new paint onto the areas around your rear quarter panel, such as your door and bumper, in order to blend the paint and make the paint job look smooth.
Check For Mechanical Damage
After all of the body work is done, the auto body shop will then drive your vehicle and make sure that your tire and all steering mechanisms were not damaged as well. They will most likely at least suggest that you get your tires realigned since they would have removed your rear tire in order to work on your rear quarter panel. If any work needs done to your suspension, arm bar or other parts connected to the tire, this is when you would find out about any additional work that needs done.
The process of fixing a rear quarter panel can vary a little bit from body shop to body shop and vary based on the degree of damage that your vehicle sustained; however, the process generally goes as it is outlined above. If you have any additional questions about how your particular rear quarter panel will be fixed, be sure to talk to the auto body specialist you are working with.
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