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I've just fitted a new quarter panel and I'm in the process of making the end of the sill. I used the wheel arch spat to get the correct curve and shape only it was sitting nearly flush with the door opening and didnt look right. Offered the other side up and theres a noticeable gap on that side. Measured it with a vernier gauge and the drivers side wheel arch is 10mm wider than the new panel Ive fitted
The doors all line up as do the GLS side trims so I'm very confused.
Can anyone shed some light on this?
Thanks

Where is the 10mm measurement?

There is some "tolerance" in panel sizes and gaps, just because it's a car of the seventies. Where did you source the new rear quarter? There is also talk that a lot of NOS panels that are around now have remained unused because they were ordered when these things were new, found to not fit properly, and another replacement ordered. The non-fitting one then sits somewhere for a few decades until it becomes a "rare original panel".

I took the measurement in line with the bottom of the panel the door latches to. I got it from ebay, genuine vauxhall panel.
Looking closer at the other side, it might have had a wheel arch fitted so it could be off because of that. Will have to have a closer look when I get around to that side

Could have done - the wheelarch repairs are designed to fit over the existing rear quarter, so they're a bit different, but in theory only by the thickness of the steel. It's tricky trying to narrow down issues like this, sometimes it's fortunate that you can't see both sides at the same time.

Pictures are always good in this situation, it give us a better idea what the problem is.

I would say the problem is a badly fitted arch on the other side. Here's a photo of a 4 door showing the trim tight against the door.

4doir arch repair panels were never available so 4 doors had to make do with modified 2 door arch repair panels. Your's probably wasn't modified correctly.

1972nail wrote:4 door arch repair panels were never available so 4 doors had to make do with modified 2 door arch repair panels.

That's not the case - I had a pair of four-door repair panels until fairly recently.

From the 1986 APD Body Panels catalogue:

On a side note, I took the trim off because they are an absolute dirt and rust trap. If you are fitting them I'd advise taking them off fairly regularly and cleaning the bodywork behind them.

This is the iffy side, my perfectionism is telling me it won't do
Another thing added to the list to fix