Lower fender repair

Here's a lower fender repair I finished up today (still needs one more test fit before final welding) It's for a 65 Chevelle SS, so yes, quite new, but I thought the same priciples could be used and adapted for some of the older stuff.


Here's the lucky candidate, some bubbling action coming through some bondo, and a look at the back side shows some fender bender action has taken place.





I thought I'd keep the top line close to the crease, to minimize any movement, and once clear of the inner fender brace, the cut comes down to the rear edge of the wheel opening. This will allow access with hammer and dollie, and cutting to the corner maintains the wheel opening.





AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Well, you know as soon as I was working on it, it was bound to go south. I guess the first step will be to rebuild the inner fender brace.



I like to look at what I'm making and break it down into more manageable parts, and then weld those together. With this piece, we'll go with the center part first. We'll be using a brake, and the Lancaster shrinker-stretcher machines.

















After welding it all together and grinding the welds, I sandblasted it so it would be ready for a coat of epoxy primer.



Then, it gets tacked on so it can be fitted to the car in case any adjustments are needed.





The fit checked out OK, so the brace was finish welded, welds ground flush, and then sandblasted in prep for epoxy primer.



Looks factory! Let's hope the outer fender can turn out as nice.

 

The lower fender had been plagued at some point by a minor fender bender as well as rust, and was fixed with some (OK, more than some) body filler, about 3/8 thick in places. In order to straighten out the panel to pattern the replacement, a bit of heat was applied to persuade the filler to let loose. Then a little hammer work on the shot bag straightened up the old panel enough for another test fit.








Time to make up the lower fender patch. Mountain Dew cartons make up good template material, and the Dew will keep you bouncing off the walls to get more work done. When you have a line that shifts direction, cut some holes in the template to be able to mark the bend lines more accurately.





After the general shape is cut out, and the initial bends made, the Lancaster shrinker is used to get the general shape on the rear edge. Once this is done, some gentle bends with a brake will carry this shape across the panel. (Although they should have been even more gentle!)





Then the rear edge, with its multiple bends, is worked into shape.







The lower bolt clearance hole has a crease around it. This can be formed multiple ways, use what you have.






Test fit in place






Before final welding, it gets tack welded so the owner can check it one more time on the car.

 

damn nice work !! keep up the great posts man

 

Nice work...unfortunately I will most likley have much of the same work ahead of me on my 50....anyway, keep us posted

 

nice work!

 

Hey,

Great job on the photo-how to-

I like building panels like this, with one or more reverse crowns, by
first forming the two crowns over a piece of pipe, with the correct
radius, than turning the flange on the end. A tipping wheel, in a
beadroller starts the flange and I finish up with a hammer & dolly.

Great job on the Chevrolet fender.

S****ey devils C.C.

 

A tipping wheel is on the "want list"......one of these days. Did you make your own bead roller or buy one?

 

Nice post, can you tell us about how long it took you to do this repair? The reason being is that I'll admit I rushed a similiar repair and it showed,now I need to go back and do it again.For the somewhat inexperienced this can look really easy and turn out really hard.

 

With all the cutting, sandblasting, and fabricating all wrapped in together, it was probably a weekend's work or about a really long day. I also rushed too much on my incremental bends, was using a new bottom die on my press brake and didn't think the creases were showing. Until I flipped it over.....

 

very nice work!

 

Hey,

I sold my pexto, but I'm probably going to build a larger powered beader.

Don't buy a tipping wheel, in fact, don't buy any beading dies, as
most are really simple turning operations on a lathe. Haven't got
a lathe? try to swap sheetmetal fab/auto body work for machine
shop work, or lathe time. Those guys wreck, or would like to rest-
ore vehicles, as well.

Again, great job on the photo how to!

S****ey Devils c.c.

"Meanwhile, back aboard the Tainted Pork"

 

nice job I

hope you put weld thru primer on the hidden parts.

 

Slag, it's got about a 1/2 hour drive back to the owner's house to test fit. Once it p***es that test, the patch will come back off for all the rust preventative measures, and get final welded on. Extra work, but considering if it doesn't fit, it's cheaper than the paint.

 

can i ask how much a job like this would cost to the customer? -- i just found a rather large whole in my fender...

 

WOW I was I could do stuff like that!

 

Keith, sorry I missed your question before. There should be patch panels available for your truck which may make it easier to do the repair, just be sure to check the inside fender brace when it gets uncovered. Here's a link to see the part, just check around for the best price. Some of the HAMB Alliance Vendors may have a better deal.......

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/cbe/full.asp?page=17


I wouldn't want to guess a price for installing it (especially without seeing it in person), I think it would be different between MD & CA.