Replacing Quarter Panels-Tailgate Posts and Tail Light Backing Plate

[ZombieK5]

As part of my K5's metamorphosis I was faced with the serious issue of needing new door jams. Problem is they do not sell replacement panels for the door rjams. I acquired 2 used quarter panels from a donor 1985 K5. The skins were in great shape with some pitting along the bottom edges but the jams and wheel arches were 99%

Now the bad news. The tailgate posts and the tail light backing plates were shot....well the bottom half of each was shot. I figured I would totally replace each one. Spent the past few days cutting and grinding the driver side quarter. I got the wheel well off (not the easiest thing) and today I removed the tailgate post and the tail light backing plate for the driver side. Definitely not easy!

Drilled out spot welds up and down the quarter panel rear and along the edge that meets the tail gate. This was not for the faint of heart. Waiting for parts to arrive. I will start on the other side next week. Should go faster!

BTW, the hardest part was the two spot welds tucked up under the bed rail. Two spot welds but they were in a horrible location. They are detailed in the photos below.

 

[blazer74]

Best bet is a donor. I used 81 1/4 panels on my 74 K5.
Took a bit of mods at the B Pilar to to make them work being 74 vs 81. But they were complete including the jams. I picked up the entire bed section.
Main difference all said and done is the fuel door 81 vs no fuel door 74.
Didn’t think much about it in 1995 when I did this but I do now.
Hard to find anything now in my area.

 

[Blue85]

So are you keeping the inner/outer quarter panels together as one unit? What parts do you have on order and will you make them work with a K5 tailgate? Yeah, it's a ton of work, but you only have to do it once. Should turn out really solid, too.

Be sure to save the little body molding pieces under the tail-lights, as they're pretty hard to come by anymore.

 

[ZombieK5]

So are you keeping the inner/outer quarter panels together as one unit? What parts do you have on order and will you make them work with a K5 tailgate? Yeah, it's a ton of work, but you only have to do it once. Should turn out really solid, too.

Be sure to save the little body molding pieces under the tail-lights, as they're pretty hard to come by anymore.

I have already ordered the tailgate post and the tail light backing plate for the passenger side. LMC offers those parts. They are currently out of the driver side tailgate post and tail light backing plate. customer service said it could take 10 weeks for them to get those parts in again. I'm hoping it is sooner than that. There should be no issue with it working with the tailgate. These are the exact same parts that came off that are going on.

I will be starting the passenger side quarter panel in the next day or two.

My biggest concern so far is the sheet metal on the quarter panel where the seat belt bolt attaches. I might have to fabricate some of that steel. I took exact measurements before I cut the old steel from the quarter panel. I also used a pencil and piece of paper to make a surface impression where the bolt holes were located.

 

[Blue85]

There should be no issue with it working with the tailgate. These are the exact same parts that came off that are going on.

The LMC reproductions are not exact copies of the GM parts. The part numbers they list now are the same ones I used. They have all of the mounting features for a pickup tailgate, but none of the mounting features for a K5 tailgate.

The nuts towards the top are for the pickup latch/strap bracket. One of those holes between them (with no nut) is for the K5 strap.

The holes with red arrows aren't on them and the one with the yellow arrow will have no nut behind it.



Look at my finished LMC posts/backing plates:

 

[ZombieK5]

The LMC reproductions are not exact copies of the GM parts. The part numbers they list now are the same ones I used. They have all of the mounting features for a pickup tailgate, but none of the mounting features for a K5 tailgate.

The nuts towards the top are for the pickup latch/strap bracket. One of those holes between them (with no nut) is for the K5 strap.

The holes with red arrows aren't on them and the one with the yellow arrow will have no nut behind it.

View attachment 341559

Look at my finished LMC posts/backing plates:

I kinda figured that would be the issue. I have one of the slip on repair posts and it doesn't have the holes. I am going to weld on the necessary nuts. Only issue will be with the top two nuts. Getting them in place exactly right will be a crap shoot. Its just another issue to tackle. I'm starting the passenger side today.

 

[ZombieK5]

Started the passenger side.

Observation:

1. These were constructed using humans on a line. The spot welds are totally random. The passenger side has 5 or 6 additional spot welds and all in different locations. Guessing you get more spot welds if the welder had a fight with the wife the night before and fewer if the welder was behind on his quota of completed quarter panels.

2. Most of the spot welds can be drilled out aggressively since the tailgate posts are not being reused.

Work went faster today but somehow took longer with the extra spot welds. More to come tomorrow.

 

[ZombieK5]

Started the passenger side Quarter Panel.

This side SUCKS!

Rosey the Riveter put this side together. Spot Weld HELL. The person that put this together had to be on his 1st day. Many spot welds were plain to see and in some places there were two or three directly next to each other. In other places there were aborted spot welds that were only SLIGHTLY completed but completed enough for a miniscule weld to have been completed. Just not enough to be visible. Ughhhh.

I got the tailgate support off and the tail light backing plate off. Both were a fight. The top most part of the backing plate had one of the "phantom welds" and I pretty much had to drill out the entire upper part.

Working on the cargo floor welds along the wheel well now. Again, spot weld hell.

Updates to continue.

 

[ZombieK5]

Work on the passenger side quarter continued. The number of spot welds continued to be an issue. I was able to get the last floor parts off the quarter. Spot weld drilling and cutting. Dealing with the "B" Pillar now and the floor sections still attached.

 

[BlackHog Blazerr]

Hey I think you are doing a great job with your build & your pics are so detailed! I thank you for all the pics and I am very close to starting the same build next month ,so this will be a great resource for me, thanks again

 

[ZombieK5]

Hey I think you are doing a great job with your build & your pics are so detailed! I thank you for all the pics and I am very close to starting the same build next month ,so this will be a great resource for me, thanks again

IF you need the same tailgate posts and tail light backing plates you would be advised to order them from LMC now. They only have the passenger side ones available. Driver side is on order and could be weeks. LMC is only place that I've found with the tail light backing plates and their tailgate posts are the closest to OEM I've found.

 

[ZombieK5]

PLAN FOR WELDING TO VEHICLE.

I must I must admit that I have always wondered what was inside of the B-pillars on the K5's

from the quarter panels I am working from the quarter panels I am working on I have found that the b-pillar is a significant structural part to the vehicle. The attached photos show me heavier gauge steel inside of the B-pillar that provides significant rigidity to the body.

how does that affect me how does that affect me? I realized I needed to come up with a solution so I could adequately weld donor quarter panels to my vehicle while maintaining structural integrity. I decided I would need to cut off part of the interior sheet metal from the donor vehicle so I could weld the structural Steel to my vehicle.

I also realized that I would need to cut off part of the B-pillar Interior skin in order to adequately install the new floor panels on the driver and passenger side. I have attached some before and after pictures below

 

[BlackHog Blazerr]

IF you need the same tailgate posts and tail light backing plates you would be advised to order them from LMC now. They only have the passenger side ones available. Driver side is on order and could be weeks. LMC is only place that I've found with the tail light backing plates and their tailgate posts are the closest to OEM I've found.

I all ready have them , but thanks for the heads up I have been collect parts since august 2019 when I bought Brown Betty . thanks a bunch for the b pilar info ,I promise it will be used,
thank
BlackHog

 

[ZombieK5]

I all ready have them , but thanks for the heads up I have been collect parts since august 2019 when I bought Brown Betty . thanks a bunch for the b pilar info ,I promise it will be used,
thank
BlackHog

I envy you. I am desperately looking for the proper tailgate post and tail light backing plate for the driver side. LMC said maybe 10 weeks. I'm worried about the word "Maybe" .

 

[BlackHog Blazerr]

I envy you. I am desperately looking for the proper tailgate post and tail light backing plate for the driver side. LMC said maybe 10 weeks. I'm worried about the word "Maybe" .

Try this place. Hope you find what you need

 

[BlackHog Blazerr]

Hey you might try ; CLASSICPARTS.COM , also

 

[BlackHog Blazerr]

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...+350cid+v8,1029451,body,tailgate+post,1000130
And try this

 

[ZombieK5]

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...+350cid+v8,1029451,body,tailgate+post,1000130
And try this

Those POSTS are slip covers and MANY sites sell them. The LMC version is about 90% exact to the OEM. The LMC posts require some drilling but they are more form fit than the slip covers. I have yet to find anyone, other than LMC, that sells the tail light backing plates.

I'm gonna keep bugging LMC customer service until they call Taiwan to make more driver side parts.

 

[BlackHog Blazerr]

I figured you knew all that information I gave you ,but I just wanted to make sure., and I didn’t know that those were just slip on‘s , so thank you for clearing that up !
good luck and keep bugging lmc because it looks like I’m gonna need some real ones too

 

[ZombieK5]

I figured you knew all that information I gave you ,but I just wanted to make sure., and I didn’t know that those were just slip on‘s , so thank you for clearing that up !
good luck and keep bugging lmc because it looks like I’m gonna need some real ones too

I'll let you know the minute they come in!!!!!