I also found time to strip back the paint with a wire wheel on my angle grinder. This has helped me to better see all the damage that I need to repair around the centre part of the bead, this area will be cut out and replaced with a section, I make up with my bead roller to match the other section I added.
The other thing I need to repair are all the holes, there are dozens. I have a simple solution to this problem. The discount stores sell packets of ***orted screws, I will screw the various sized screws into the underside to match the size of the holes, then weld them in at the top.
The other thing I need to address is all the pitting for this, I will probably use fibre filler, I’m not a big fan of any form of non metal filler, but in this case, to individually weld and grind back every single low spot is just a complete waste of time. I’m running out of patience with this fender, and once all the welds are filled on both sides and ground back, I want to move onto more pressing tasks.
Aside from the remaining damaged section of the wheel arch, the only other thing I need to finish off is the spare wheel well. Once this is completed it will be drilled and plug welded to the fender. But before I weld it in and fill all the holes I will need to repair all the dents. I will use a combination of a body hammer and low crown anvil in the English wheel to do this.
I use a heavy copper plate on the back side and mig them then grind them down.. The bigger ones you could do with screws.
Hey Guys. The last few weeks have been hectic and I only got a single day on Sunday to work on the fender. I finally got the profile for the wheel well corrected so it matches the profile of the fender.
The only thing left to do to finish it off is the welds then I will drill out the holes to I can begin welding it to the fender.
I will be using sheetmetal screws to fasten the wheel well to the fender then drilling holes between the screws to plug weld the wheel well into the fender. I have holidays coming up shortly so I expect to get this finished off then move onto getting it attached and start squaring up the cab.
Hey Guys. I’m on holidays at the moment so I’ve finally had the time to try and get this fender finished off. It’s taken way too long and most sane people would have taken one look at it and shook their head. It’s not like I didn’t have a better set on the truck I could have used. At the same time I’m glad I did repair this one, it’s finally starting to look like something. The spare wheel well is trimmed and close to being added in.
There’s something that’s been annoying me about the wheel arch. It’s the rip at the top that been welded over and re-welded. There are, using lead or body filler is one way, it’s not my way.
There’s only one way to fix it properly and that is to cut it out and replace it a new section. This one was made with my bead roller, I was sure to cut it oversize and trimmed accordingly. The important thing when t******* is to trim it round to avoid any future splits or cracks. The section that’s being cut out is on the left.
It would have been easy to cut the old section out and weld the new one in, but I didn’t want to do that.
I added in a length 1/4 inch solid round stock earlier in the year and noticed it ended where the front of the patch panel ended. I knew straight away, that would be the next fracture point so I knew it had to be removed and a longer section be welded in its place. The original reinforcement was just wire, I’ve left this in place on the leading edge. The quarter inch round stock was folded and added right up the the point where I’ve folded up the wire, about six inches past the cut.
Once the old 1/4 inch solid round stock was cut out, I saw the opportunity to repair the swage on the section I added in earlier in the year. It wasn’t as deep as the swage on the leading edge and I’d been toying with adding a strip along the bottom or using body filler. Then I decided there’s no way I want to waste time doing either. So I trimmed the excess material and opened out the swage a bit more, so the depth was the same as the leading edge. I then clamped in the round stock and started welding it in.
It now goes well past the cut out area so it’s as solid as new. Having the roundstock in place also gave me a point to clamp the patch panel to.
It was getting dark by this stage, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me, so I grabbed the torch and began welding it in. I ****weld 99 percent of my sheetmetal and this was no exception. The sheetmetal on the host panel was wafer thin in spots so I had te careful when doing the final t******* to use the thinnest cut off wheel. And once in place I started s***ch welding. I don’t use a tig or Oxy welder, I use a dirt cheap Mig with no gas. A lot of people would argue that I’m doing it wrong, I really don’t care, as far as I’m concerned if you can’t weld with a two hundred dollar Mig without Argon, you need to learn.
There’s still a little part of the corner on the right hand side that has a gap, I will fill that with sheetmetal off cuts and weld it in. Once that’s done, I will grind all the welds back, weld the inside and back fill any holes.
Hey Guys. After welding in the patch panel, I work on filling the holes, I used the off cuts pushing them into the holes and welding both sides.
I took me the best part of the day to get it up to this point, it’s about 60 or 70 percent done. I hold it upto the day light to look for pin holes and cut off short lengths of Mig wire to fill the really small holes.
I also ground back the welds on the patch panel. I want to get all the welding on the fender wrapped by tomorrow and move back onto the cab. So the will include t******* the wheel well and welding it into place.
Hey Guys. I picked up a packet of sheet metal screws yesterday and started screwing the wheelwell into the fender.
The idea of screwing it in is to make it easier for the two sections to align and identify the high spots. There are only a couple that need adressing, I will be using the hammer and dolly to flatten out the high spots, then unscrewing the wheelwell to finish the final t******* before screwing it back into place. I won’t be keeping the screws in place, what I will be doing is removing every second screw and plug welding the holes, then removing the remaining screws and plug welding those holes. I will then grind back the welds along the top to make it clean. I’m going away to visit family and friends on Thursday, so I have another three days to get this finished to the point of prepping and paint.
Somehow I envisioned that you would mount that flange to the bottom of the fender so it would be easier to clean up come filling and sanding time.
I wanted it so it would sit over the fender, once all the welds are ground back, it will look tidy enough.
The Jalopy Journal
