I need to replace the wheel openings on the back of my car and no replacement panels are available. The obvious easy way to form them would be with a shrinker/stretcher on a length of sheet bent in a brake.....but I don't have a shrinker/stretcher and not liking the idea of shelling out $300 for one (eastwood and ebay) does anyone know of one that is cheaper than this or a way for a novice metal worker to form this up? my other option I was thinking of was cutting the to sections and bending them as needed and then welding them together but I can see them warping like mad then. anyone around southern IL got a shrinker I could come over and barrow?
This is for a 62 fairlane? No replacement panels you say? HUH. http://store.shermanparts.com/cgi-bin/sherman/product_ford.htm Well, what about replacing them with a different car patch panels? Something close, like a Comet or Falcon, if they are available. If you are desperate you could form the folded lip in two pieces and weld together along the edge where they meet?
Best bet is to find one in a junkyard without rusty quarters. The fabrication can be done, but we're talking about compound curves here and you'll save a bunch of headaches finding a parts car. Good luck.
yes they are on my 62 and no panels ar available. I only have some rust maybe an inch up from the opening but the corner of it is pretty well toast along the top edge. as far as finding a donor it is not going to happen locally and also this is one of those common rust areas that all cars have problems with. so IF I could find a donor by the time I ship two quarters across the country that will prob need work anyay I would prob end up being better off with buying the shrinker/stretcher. as far as the falcon openings I have never had the two cars side by side to compare. I am starting to wonder if I should jsut bite the bullet? I guess I will always have need for the shrinker in the future or that it would get picked up on here to recoup some of the cost.
Generally speaking, sometimes the front and rear wheelwells have the same cross-section on the lip. You might be able to graft in some pieces from front fenders to get the shape right w/o too much bondo. I feel your pain - I had to do this on my Rambler. Lotsa pie cuts.
I figured you could poke around the Ford section and see if anything was close. Make a Kustom, put some T-bird quarters on it!
well the tbird ones are kinda close but there is no price listed on those? have a feeling buying a full sheetmetal working setup would prob run cheaper.maybe the $300 for a shrinker isn't too bad of a deal....always could form up some extras and sell as patches?
Eastwood as well as automotive paint and body stores sell this: http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/...RODUCT&RS=1&itemID=1506&keyword=wheel+opening You simply form it to the shape you need, weld it in place, then weld up the cuts. I suppose you could make your own, too...
whata bout taking soem wheel wells that look similer and putting those in, i mean do they have to be the stock wells??? who would know besides some hardcore ford guy. esp if yer gonna put bubble skirts on????
try this guy Metalman he does a lot of truck stuff but i would bet he mite be able to help u out. from what i have seen of his stuff he can make just about anything. he would need a template of what u want made, but the product u'd get back looks as though it's oem parts. what could it hurt, give'm a call & tell him what ya need...joe Ray Stanley Wheelwright Restorations 92 Pine Street Wheelwright, MA 01904 1-413-477-6467
If'n i was you, i would bite the bullet and buy the stretcher/shrinker, Ive never regeretted buying a tool to complete a job id otherwise have to pay someone to do....you get to keep the tool and you learn a new skill,paying others for stuff i could do myself always makes me shitty.
well the stock opening it straight across the top and then goes into a body line so a different shaped opening would look way out of place on there. I am thinking of biting the bullet. $300 for the tools vs prob the same to have someone else fab it all up. I had thought about making it from two pieces but welding on a egde will not be fun and I can see the two long strips then warpig like mad and then trying ot fit the twisted piece to the car....not fun. besides I am sure I will find other uses for it anyway. I could form up wheel tubs with a shrinker right? have a disc and shrink the egde until it starts to fold over?
not sure how easy tha twould be since the opening is raised from teh rest of the quarter and rolls under the car...plus I would have to make one for each side. just from looking at it I think the shrinker is the best bet....just needed to get those second opinions that it was too. tired of doing stuff the cheap ass way only to work a million times harder only to get something not as good as if I half assed it the right way.
Hey 62, Metalcrafters out of Florida sells the same shrinker/stretcher cheaper than Yeastwood. Ta save ya coin now just buy the shrinker, stretching metal can be done by hammerin' "on dolly". If you are a better welder than metalshaper, just make smaller pieces, weld them together as you go and shape with the hammer and dolly. Ya can get far by just cuttin' darts into right angled folded sheet, shape as ya go, workin' small areas at a time, and weld 'er up. Good luck,
As of a few years ago you could order a set of '63 Fairlane quarter panels out of J.C. Whitney of all places. Someone put a repop set on my car before I was the owner. Most likely, somebody has a repop set out there somewhere... '63s are the same as '62s.....I think. They are at least close enough to get you in the ball park. Also look for '64 parts. The rear wheel openings may be close enough to work for you. TINGLER
Although the mechanical shrinker is a nice tool to have, it will not be the answer unless you understand how to make the curves and shapes you are after. If you take a simple piece of bent 90 degree angle sheet metal and start shrinking and stretching, you will start to get a feel for it. Unfortunately a lot of wheel openings are not a simple 90 degree angle. You might try a search at: wwww.metalmeet.com in the forum for flexible shape patterns. For shrinking without expensive tools: http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/communityalbums.cgi?action=openalbum&albumid=9980191607382 John www.ghiaspecialties.com
I tried ordering panels from JCW twice last year and for some strange reason the order gets dropped I guess when they find out they can't get them. I had heard there were some repo's out there but also heard they fit like crap. I bought some floors a couple years ago and for all the money they just ended up being one off fabbed panels (thye fit together pretty bad) here is a kinda close up of one of my bondo filled openings: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/purf_man/DSCF0005.jpg pretty much I need to replace most of what is form the ody line down with a couple smaller patches above it. the whole thing could be simpley cut from a large panel and an edge either worked over or bent up on it.
looks like you have rust several inches away from the wheel opening, which will limit the effectiveness of the shrinker in your application, you wouldn't be able to use it of the face of the replacement panel much, only on the flange of the wheel lip. so your idea to fab a angle and shrink/stretch it to match would require additional flat patches to fill the area that the angle filler could not reach to fill in all the rust damage. have you been to the metal meet forums yet? them guys will school ya on some cheap ways to shrink without the shrinker. here you could pie cut the flange and weld up the cuts, or make a tucking tool and hammer the tucks down. another viable option would be to build a wood hammerform to hammer the lip over. most likely it would take several smaller patches, for example the rusty part to the top and front of the opening, make one narrow patch like you have in mind to do the wheel lip and half way to the body line, and then another patch to do the upper part of the rust damage above the body line, follow me? it will be easier to keep each patch as simple as possible, bend wise, and piece it together than trying to make do with fewer patches IMHO. once you learn to manipulate the metal, and have patience, it will be easier than you thought to make patches for that! btw, you'll have considerably more rust than what you can see now if theres bondo in there. bondo sculptors can do wonders hiding rust.
BTW, did you have to do any clearancing to get those bullit wheels to fit? How about a pic of the whole car? Thanks.
yeah the flat section behind the opening was rotted at the bottom (poor drainage) so I was pretty much planning on patching both side from teh body line down so they can both kinda match up (and they both need it) the whole thing is fairly flat with hardly any curve to it. as far as the bullets go on teh back they could use a 1/4"-1/2" spacer to get them out from teh inside of the opening. I currently have a 2 link and panhard so had to spend some time carefully setting it side to side. if I split the wheel tubs and move the inner half in to the frame rail I can gain 1" or so which will give me plenty of room. up front the rub on the control arm so they are not up there YET. the car is my sr design project for school and we are putting on modified late model stang bits.....I have some 96 spindles we are converting to SLA and a fox steering rack and all for it.
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