A quarter panel (
British English
British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...
: rear wing) is the body panel (exterior surface) of an
automobile
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
between a rear
door
A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide securit ...
(or only door on each side for
two-door models) and the
trunk (boot) and typically wraps around the wheel well. The similar front section between the door and the
hood (bonnet) is called a
fender (front wing), and may sometimes also be referred to as a quarter panel.
Quarter panels are typically made of
sheet metal
Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process.
Thicknesses can vary significantly; extremely thin sheets are considered foil (metal), foil or Metal leaf, leaf, and pieces thicker than 6 mm (0.25 ...
, but are sometimes made of
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...
,
carbon fiber
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...
, or
fiber-reinforced plastic.
A quarter panel is typically a welded-on component of the
unibody
A vehicle frame, also historically known as its ''chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism.
Until the 1930s, virtually every car had ...
structure. Replacement of a sheet metal quarter panel typically requires it to be cut off the vehicle and a replacement part to be welded (or sometimes bonded) to the vehicle. Due to the high amount of specialized labor, a quarter panel may often be repaired rather than replaced by hammering the damaged area to a relatively flat surface, and then applying a body filler to smooth out the damaged area to match the original surface. The panel is then usually painted and often
clear coated.
See also
*
Injection molding
Injection moulding (U.S. spelling: injection molding) is a manufacturing process for producing parts by injecting molten material into a mould, or mold. Injection moulding can be performed with a host of materials mainly including metals (for ...
*
List of auto parts
This is a list of auto parts, which are manufactured components of automobiles. This list reflects both fossil-fueled cars (using internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the c ...
*
Quarter glass
References
Automotive body parts
{{Automotive-part-stub