I wonder if the 1946 Chevy truck fender has a larger radius. They sell those fenders with a 2" wider width than stock for $400 each Old Chicago street rods might have the measurements. (360) 910-1941
decided to work with what I have... (and maybe do the tilt bed).... Sliced the 1936 Chevy Master rear fenders to make a flat surface and then began building the flange... 5 coats of resin and 2 layers of mat so far... Not sure how many I'll need...
got brave enough to use a wide putty knife and take the alum flat stock off the fenders... A little sticky here and there but they separated w/o any surprises... thanks KSC!!
Another trick is to use a single layer of duct tape on the surface you are glassing up against. The fiberglass won't stick to it's smooth surface so you can form the fiberglass to the mating surface almost perfectly.
7 coats of resin and 3 layers of mat.... I think I'll measure the thickness and compare to the stock thickness to decide if I'm done yet...
seem thick enough... trimmed fenders and added a new tool to make the front bed corners match the sleeper corners...
First front bed corner done... The smaller test pieces that were slightly thinner stock were FAR easier... Not sure if its .05n to .063 thickness or the fact that I'm stuffing a 34 1/2" wide piece into a 36" slip roller... Some imperfections, but I'm pretty happy with this one...
OK Blue... school me here... I plan to bead roll some simple block patterns into the bed sides. I like the die set that makes one side of the bead higher than the other, but I don't think I can use them on the side panels cuz the bead roller throat is not deep enough to accept the full length of the panel. I think I can use the die set that rolls a 1/2 round indent like the running boards cuz I can do that from 3 sides..... hmmm or can I??? Now that I said that, I think I might have trouble even with the 1/2 round getting to the innermost corner.... Will I only be able to "outline" the whole panel? I see that a stock Ford pickup bed is essentially one big "outline". I think I can do this even with similar dies... What am I missing?
Round over step dies . How deep is your throat on your roller ? Try a test piece out of cardboard just to see what will go through . ( yes I’m cheap ) . .063 might have to be rolled and maybe pre stretched to not warped from laying flat . Let me play with a piece this week to see what works . Looks great . If you haven’t cutout the other side , cut a little oversized because of the amount of streaching and shrinking that may occur by the rolling . Blue
Thanks man!!! I have a little wiggle room on size cuz the round pipe/conduit/whatever that I plan to slice and slide over the top, vertical riveted portions don't need to be exact.. In other words, I planned for my ineptness in this case. You bring up a very valid point in warping... I'll experiment a bit and will certainly look forward to your results... The throat is 25".
Some more Thoughts - When I bead rolled my large panels, I made a very long straight edge that I could follow to give me nice straight lines. My bead roller had a tendency to "ever so slightly" pushed the panel into the edge in one direction and away in the opposite direction. So I made sure I went the right direction to keep the panel tight.. I also made a support to hold the entire panel level with my dies.
...and you clamped the straight edge to the material??? Of course, I've already warned the wife that she's the power motor... she said "will it be as hard to turn the crank as the running boards?". "Oh no dear, much easier"... I like the Ford pickup design above, but it leaves LOTS of panel without the added rigidity of a bead... Maybe a "double outline" like this...
Depending on your thickness . I use .063 and found the ford design to be good and stiff . The fender will stiffen it a lot as well as the round top . Tried some one side rounded step dies today and I think you will be happy with the results . No flex and makes a good panel with not much wrapping. I pre stretched the 2nd panel and no warping . Get som pictures in morn . So your going to save on a gym membership . You may have trouble with that small throat on going around the fenders .
I think this is a case of "less is more"! The Ford pattern should stiffen your panel nicely. If you feel you need more stiffness, find an old school bus and steal the rub rails off the sides, or add a stiffener inside, between the inner/outer walls.
Skier , left my iPad at friends house so I’m late . The dies I would use are nylon step dies the bottom one has a radius, and bottom ( or vise versa ) has square corners. My roller is adjustable but you can do the same with washers . Play on scrap . I don’t use a guide but a nice straight line with a then line Mark a lot . Go slow . The photos are on scrap with no lines . The square corner is a good line up reference. More ? just ask . Practice on scrap is your friend .all this was free hand . Blue
Oh boy! That's a really nice style of bead,,, I don't think I have a die like your lower. right one... i'll have to check,.,,
fixed the air nibbler... Even a new bit didn't move smoothly in the die housing... I very gently put a drill bit thru it and that seemed to clean it up just the right amount... Bit moves nicely now and the nibbler no longer complains about long cuts. Second side panel cut.. On to bead rolling tomorrow..
bead rolled sides... came out pretty good... a few little flaws that I won't lose sleep over... Took the sawzall to the 2016 Ford bed sides and trimmed them down to the new wrecker bed heights... Getting there...
...that's what she said... bwwahhhh... I think it will be fine... the panels stiffened up more than I thought they would... I'm still working out what I might do on the**** end...I found this version of a wrecker that's got an interesting*****, as most are just completely flat all the way across..
day off from work today... Should be able to achieve some more progress on the bed. I'd like to rivet some of it together, but I cannot paint (much)... What's the solution on this aluminum? Just rattle can the areas I'll never see again? Any particular paint?
I used an aluminum cleaner that has phosphoric acid in it to cut the shiny finish on the aluminum, (Busch heavy duty aluminum wash) then rinsed well with clear water. I sprayed bed liner, but rattle cans would work where it doesn't show.
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