Well I had a customer bring over a set of nice rear fenders off his 4door to have some work done. The wheel openings are rusted like most and have been repaired like most as well. One of them split at the top of the fender bead and the PO squeezed the fender opening closed and welded the split over it self? So I am replacing both wheel openings as well as the lower rear bead going from the fender opening to the rear of the fender as these had seen better days. Luckily the rest of the fenders have nice metal and the current owner has them smoothed out very well. The owner made me a very nice template out of 3/4" ply and 1/4" dowels. The p***enger side fender had great shape so he was able to use that for his form and the way he did the template you can just push the dowels through the ply and you end up with a reverse template for the other side. First thing I did was make a poster board template of the blank that I would need with just the right amount of metal to form the 1/2" bead. Then I tipped the edge up 90* and had to do a bit of stretching to the tipped edge to get the panel to lay flat. Then I formed the 1/2" half round edge and checked it back to the template and it fit great so I made the other side as well. Then I made the lower rear edge and checked it with another template that the owner brought me off a friends 35 cabriolet to check the contour since both sides of these fenders were off a bit in that location. Then the t******* and tacking started. I have the p***enger side all tacked up and I plan on doing the drivers side in the next few days and I will take them both over for a test fit before I Tig and finish them. Here are a few pics of the days events. If you have any questions just ask. And if you have any pointers please lets hear them. Also does anyone make these replacement parts? I did not see them available last time I checked. Kevin LFD Inc.
Excellent post. I have to do exactly this to a '38 front fender. On mine, apart from welding the tears at the top of the arch, there's a steel bar bent and welded inside the lip all the way to the grille! Thanks for taking the time to show us.
How did you roll such a nice bead on the edge? Either you have some slick equipment or you can swing a hammer like Winfield.
Hey Kevin, Those fenders look oem now! Once you tig them up, are you gonna metalfinish the balance of the fenders? I've a stack of 36 tin that everyone of the fenders needs this treatment, it keeps me off the streets. Great job! " Spending a nation into generational debt is not an act of comp***ion "
Yes I have some very nice equipment that helps a lot. It makes me look good until I can get my hammers to work properly like Winfield Kevin LFD Inc.
Thanks for the kind words. I will Tig them up and hammer and dolly them into shape but will leave the full metal finishing to the owner. He has done a great job so far and his car has come along way from when he bought it last year. I wish I had a stack of my own 36 tin just laying around but this works to keep me off the street, puts some money into my personal projects and tools to help keep others on the street! It's a win win from my end. Kevin LFD Inc.
Well the first fender fit great so I decided to start the drivers side. It was by far the worst. I started by slicing through the area were the PO overlapped the crack and welded it up. By cutting it you can see in the first pic how it opened even more when I set it on the template. The wheel opening was closed about 3/4" because of this. You can also see how rusted and beat the rest of the flanges were on this one. I then trimmed down my new wheel opening and screwed it to the template. Then I cut the fender so it was ready to get tacked together. Kevin LFD Inc.
I decided to only do about 5 pics at a time so I can explain the process that I use to do this. Now you can see the new fender opening is tacked in place and it is time to start the lower rear lip. I start by shearing a strip about 2" bigger in both directions then I need. Then I get the shape as close as I can before starting the edge tipping. You can see I shrunk the rear top section and wheeled it to shape before tipping a 5/8" edge. Now that it is tipped I need to curve it to match the fenders edge. I have a template for this as well thanks to the new owner of the car. I use my Lazze power bead roller for tipping and for the 1/2" bead. Kevin LFD Inc
So I then head over to the shrinker to shrink the tipped edge until I am happy with the profile and how it fits the template. Next I go back to the bead roller and change the tipped edge to a 1/2" bead edge. Then a little cutting and tacking and here you have a almost fixed fender for a 34 3W! Well not really but I was surprised at how well the shape fit. I wonder if a 34 tail dragger has been done yet? Kevin LFD Inc.
Then I dealt with the crack over the top of the fender. I had to cut it a bit larger then I had wanted too just so I could get to weldable metal. The PO had ground it down so much I was shocked it did not crack again. I then wheeled up a patch panel for it, trimmed it to fit and tacked it in place. I then broke out the Tig and started having fun Here it is half way welded up. More to come next time! Kevin LFD Inc.
Hey Kevin, Great tech/post for the repair of a tough problem area of old fenders! The method of straightening the old bent flanges and welding them back together usually results in more cracks, further up the road. Your method removes all the problem areas, and makes for a clean repair. Your plywood template idea is one anybody with minumal wood working skills can build to produce accurate, clean patch panels for an arch shaped part. It looks like you're putting your "Lazze beader" to good use, they take up much less shop space than a P or T model Pullmax and don't produce as much noise. " I Like The Old Millennium Better''
Thanks and that was my thoughts as well. The drivers side fender had a nice bead for the front 7/8 of the fender but I did not want to leave a stress point anywhere in the upper 2/3 of the arch so I just replaced the whole thing. The owner is still going to replace the front section that meets the running board like he did on the p***enger side and after that he will be set. I finished up the drivers side fender today and it is ready for pick up. I hope to have the p***enger side ready later this week. It turned out real nice even with metal finishing not being my strong point yet! The owner has done wonders on his car with a shrinking disk so we talked and I told him I would get it 95% their and he could finish up the last 5% or so and save a few bucks in the process. Kevin LFD Inc.
Kevin... The fenders look great! Can't wait to get them back. There won't be much for me to do. I think we will probably give the fronts similar treatment. Your repair method certainly moves the boundary between what is salvageable and what is s**** metal. This build is not just about doing the best I can do, it's about having someone to turn to when a higher skill level is called for. Thanks for that. Paul (More pic's of this build are on my profile. 36delux)
Glad you like the progress. I will have them done today and can deliver them to the Mell's car show Thursday night if you want. I have one bender brace tab to make and weld on then we should be all finished with these and ready for the next project Here is the p***enger side all finished up. Kevin LFD Inc.
Excellent method to repair an all to often done butcher job from the past. Your skill is evident in spite of your modesty. Thanks for sharing. Frank
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