I would like to know different methods of making the belt line on a patch panel. Unless you got a ford, patch panels are hard to find for some cars plus 3 times the cost. There is people on here that work with metal and make it look so easy. Flat or rolled panels I can do, no expert though, but on my 33 plymouth sedan it is going to need some work later and the lower part of the rear panel and the bottom of the cowl has the belt line and I've tried similar stuff before with not so great results. I need pics and ideas, don't mind having to make a special tool to do it.
You should post some pictures of the damaged areas, someone on here will know how or already made them.
Make a buck out of wood that matches the original and beat the metal over it, I've made a few panels that i had to do in multiple pieces and weld them together. Anything's possible brother! Start checking out metal shapes on other cars that might help. I have a master pile of leftovers that i dig through often, just looking for the right shape to start with.
Not really damage, rust or poorly repaired before. Lloyd, do you use 18 gauge? I always did but I've had some say 20 works better.
Yeah when it comes to making detailed panel i go with 20, i even keep some 23g around. You're welcome to come dig through the pile man, it holds a few treasures. There's also a set of 28-29 sedan fenders laying out there if you want them. I widened the rear 3".
Ran into this patching panels on my neighbor's '35 Plymouth coupe. Bottom of the body had the beltline, and I have no tools or equipment to do that area. So I used some thin wall tubing cut in half, and then used a dead blow hammer to flatten it until it matched the shape closely. Once I got it close I tweaked it to get a slight contour curve to match the body, and then welded it to a piece of flat sheet metal to create the patch. I'm sure a professional can do it much easier, faster, and with one piece. But I got both sides of the lower quarters done, and they matched up well.
Easy. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/a-little-work-on-a-33-plymouth-now-with-paint.933683/ made all the lower parts of this 33 with simple bench mounted tools and hammers. The beads on the exterior panels are hand hammered.
these were made with a bead roller and hand hammer work. A shrinker/stretcher was used along with a planashing hammer to get the contour. make an accurate pattern for the overall shape. Make a pattern for the style line (bead) Shape the panel to the proper contour. Don’t have a planishing hammer? Dollies and hammers will do the same but slower. After the panel is shaped, use the style line pattern to lay out the bead. You can use a bead roller or hand hammer them. Usually requires both for me. Then bend the lower fold over and contour them with a shrinker/stretcher.
I have a bead roller and before I tackle anymore panels, I will have a planashing hammer and a English wheel, DIY style. Thanks for the offer Lloyd.
If you find yourself needing a detailed area, you can use ebony wood. Use regular wood working tools to shape the wood, then use the wood as a sort of die. Ebony is almost as hard as rock but can be shaped with wood working tools.
Thanks Mike! His coupe was fairly solid, but once stripped to bare metal we found a lot of rotted lower body areas. The worst part was the car was ass ended, and somebody had crudely hammered it out. That left the tail panel below the trunk lid like ten miles of bad road, and added rot made it tougher to even determine what it should look like? Since it's a hotrod, we just cut off the wrinkled panel, and made up our own to the shape we wanted. Not sure how close it is to the original, but he likes the look.
Great advice, we need more input on this subject. I'm building a common 27 T roadster that needs lower patching. I know there are a lot of after market patch panels for T's , but some are better then others. Try fitting an after market trunk lid skin easy to make your own and cheaper too. hope this post keeps going for many pages. I'm eager to learn!
When I started working on the Ranch Wagon no one was making patch panels for the 52-54 Fords so I had to make my own, I did find a couple of front floor patches but they were not big enough to do the job. I learn as I went, my pal Dave had some experience and he helped me, trial by fire. All this was done at home with 2 sheets of 4 x 8 steel and we turned that into 107 patch panels, I'm sure a pro could have done a better job but it's good enough for me. a mig welder, shrinker/stretcher, a cheap HF bead roller and brake ( which I broke).HRP Suffice to say the drivers side looked the same.