another welding/body work question

[Upchuck]

I am slowly getting the truck back together and got the cab about done except for primer and a couple door dings, mighty tedious sanding all that old paint and crap off!

now about my welding question, is it best to leave the fender attached and the front clip together for the procedure so it stays lined up or should a guy rip it all apart to make it easier? but maybe pay the price trying to get it back together without some major thrashing!

or just get a pail of filler and fill in the rust and look for some good fenders? I actually don't think the fenders are to bad off but I'll go grab a picture and get some expert opinion http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Upchuck]

http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/bustedford/fenders_005.jpg

http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/bustedford/fenders_004.jpg

http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/bustedford/fenders_003.jpg

http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/bustedford/fenders_002.jpg

http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/bustedford/fenders_001.jpg

the front clip I just set back on for inspiration http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[choprods]

Youd be lucky to find any that were much better.....If they are pretty straight overall- besides the obvious needed repair-Id go with those.

[Pist-n-Broke]

Personally I perfer to do my major repairs with things bolted in place. I'm sure you'll get many different opinyons on that. It also depends on where the rust is. What is it your working on?
The Wizzard

[Upchuck]

[ QUOTE ]
Personally I perfer to do my major repairs with things bolted in place. I'm sure you'll get many different opinyons on that. It also depends on where the rust is. What is it your working on?
The Wizzard

[/ QUOTE ]

I am working on a 49 f1

Choprods, I also thought they were not to bad except the rust in the pics, I changed out the bottoms that were only beat up and cracked but major rust free, I have the tops of the grey lowers but they are mercury fenders with the park lights on the fenders and would need some modification so I figured to just repair the ford fenders and save the merc ones, the reason I don't put on the mercury front end is the grill is beyond hope!

hmmmm maybe use the merc fenders with the lights as signal lights but use the ford grill with its lights as park lights! gonna have to give that some thought before I get to deep into reworking them ford fenders http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
the merc fenders have some rust as well but not near as bad but are beat up some

[atch]

chuck,

i agree with choprods; i doubt that you'll ever find better fenders unless you buy a complete truck that's been restored (or that was stored inside and never driven in the rain).

the only reason that my fenders look better than that is that 14 years ago i filled the rust holes up with bondo (with duct tape "pockets" behind the fender) as a temporary fix a week before leaving for the street rod nationals. i've never gotten around to doing a permanent fix and the bondo hasn't fallen out yet, even though i've driven the wheels off of clarence.

i say bite the bullet now and fix the ford fenders. one of these days i'll have to do the same thing. if i were building the truck today, with help and advice from the hamb, i'd do the fenders as the truck was being built and get it over with.

you might have guessed that body work is an area that i have nearly no expertise and little interest in. as a matter of fact, i took 3 semesters of a body work class in the local adult education system and about all i learned is that i hate doing body work.

[Chopped50Ford]

do it right...remove, cut and paste (errr. weld) it back together. Then you check alignments and parts to fit when your assembly starts.

You will be happier that way...and wont regret it...

[fishtank]

For that type of repair I would pull them off and do all my fabrication off the truck. If you do it that way, just be sure to test fit everything and you should be fine. If it were mine, I would also weld the upper and lower peices together for a cleaner look.
Are the merc fenders harder to come by? If not, it seems like it would be easier to modify them to work.

[atch]

if you do weld them together, i'd suggest leaving the horizontal offset between the top and bottom halves. most folks fill in the difference and make the fender smooth top to bottom. but then you're left with the horizontal line around the back of the fender that used to match the front, but now looks odd being there by itself.

[Upchuck]

thanks for the input, I'm gonna have a run at fixing up the ford fenders then and save the merc ones,

I dunno if merc fenders are hard to come by or not but I got the truck and with all the left over parts from the 48 I was thinking of making some sort of creation after the ford is done http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I'm hopeing to get the flathead in the merc freed up and use that in it and paint it blue for Gracie! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

pre 62
blue
no sbc!

[chad]

They are a real hard fender to find in good shape.I know from experience,I also go with choprods, fix whats there.