Nice car. There was a very nice chopped one in one of my 1980's Streetmachine magazines which was very cool. Very rare car in Holland, but there is one close to my home. Hennie
Hey james, I did think of that a while ago - but didn't follow it up... Will look into that idea for sure. Thanks!
Both of your points make a lot of sense 'Squablow' - I'm definitely going to aim to attach closer to the arch itself now, whether I do what you suggest, or try to radius the new tub section is the next question... I did a little research earlier today and found this by Lazze: As I've got the old part more or less out in one piece, I reckon I can use that as a good enough guide - even if I don't get the radius quite as deep... I don't however, have access to an English Wheel, so it may look a little 'rough and ready' - but as long as it does the job eh?!
Subscribed. Did you get inspired by Rattatoullie with his custom from France? Check out his thread. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/index.php?posts/10594123 Sent from my SM-G955U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Found these... http://www.paddockspares.com/2-door-rear-wheel-arch.html Might work out ok as a starting point, as long as the radius is similar.
I don't think you need to buy anything , except maybe some plywood to make some hammer forms. The threads below show some nice simple hammer form work. You might need to make your inner wheel houses out of two or three hammer formed pieces but I am pretty sure you now possess the skills to pull it off. http://www.2wings.com/m12/log/05-2/05-2.htm the thread below shows a HAMBer hammerforming a firewall. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-amateur-firewall-fabrication.378752/ A VW rear valance panel https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=609099
Hi guys, thanks for all the awesome advice... James D, I thought about those too, but the price puts me off (but as a last resort, they may get another look - thanks again!) So, I've spent a lot of time scratching my head... Drinking tea... Scratching my head some more... Then I thought, screw it, and got cracking... I decided to make the half wheel-tub out of 2 pieces; a 'wall' that meets the wheel arch repair panel, and a thin strip that forms the radius, which I'd weld to the existing flange. Tried to make a cardboard template of the 'wall', but it just wasn't working out. Ignore the sketch on the card - that was the template for the dropped axle for my lad's tot-rod wagon (in my profile pic) As I said, that wasn't working out - so I thought if I tackled it from the other side (the radius, part) I could shrink/stretch a strip of metal to match the radius of the existing wheel-tub flange, then use that as a template to make the 'wall' from. So I started by bending a 90 degree flange in the metal by hammering it over an offcut of kitchen worktop. Then I hammered a much softer radius along the opposite edge in my wooden stump. No special tools so far, just a ball pein hammer with a high crown. Then, off to the shrinker/stretcher I've borrowed from a friend. I started by shrinking what would be the inside of the curve a little, then stretched the flange side. I'd never really used this tool before, so it took a little bit of learning to work out the feel of what I was doing. I did however quickly find out that if you over-stretch an area (which I did a few times as can be seen in the next few pics) you can always un-do it by hitting that same area with the shrinker jaws. The curve starting to take shape. I needed to catch up with the stretching at this point Here, you can see where I'd over stretched the flange side, and created a bit of a peak to the radius. Some careful work with the shrinker on the flange-side, and some stretching on the inside of the curve helped to even this out a little. I was also worried about losing the nice, soft curve on the opposite side to the flange, but going back over it with the hammer kept it in shape A little test-fit at the end of the night, and I'm pleased to report that I think it's gonna work! My only problem is working out how to weld to what's left of the existing flange. Access is going to be tough for clean up of the metal for plug welding, so I might have to cut the existing flange off and re-create that. But I'm more confident now than before, so if that's what it takes, that's what it takes. Fit is pretty good along the length (sorry for the crap photos, it was getting late) Anyway, thanks for watching... Itching to get back on it again later this week...
All that hard work has the ol' girl looking good.. Humber Hawks were sold down here in New Zealand, and there are still a few around.. There was one I passed going to and from work regularly, (lived just around the corner for a while) had a Nissan V8 and manual box in it running on LPG.. Unfortunately it was in a headon collision about 8 months ago and was severely damaged, haven't seen it since, pity..
Matt, that's really excellent work on the Humber so far. I think you're approach of doing one part of the car and then moving on to the next is the best approach too. I've seen so many people cut out all the rust everywhere in one go on some old bodyshell and then been completely overwhelmed by the magnitude of the job ahead, with the result that the project stalls and the car usually ends up being scrapped. BTW, If you are thinking of using that P6 Rover V8 motor. They can be quite expensive to rebuild if that's what it needs. The P6 short water pump and other distributor etc. external bits will bolt up to to the later Discovery/ Range Rover 3.9 or 4.6 V8s and deliver a lot more power than the 3.5
Managed to grab a couple of hours on this tonight... Decided to remove the flange from the existing half of the wheeltub as it was just too rusty to weld anything to... Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Following this post now, pleased I found it, and new to the forum! I myself own a 1961 Humber Super Snipe, so same body work issues. Don't want to hijack your thread, but here are a couple of photos 10848904_10152812707925935_2111924368901961999_o by Paul Smith posted Jun 9, 2017 at 8:55 AM 10687372_10152812707915935_1569542035974521745_o by Paul Smith posted Jun 9, 2017 at 8:59 AM 10697297_10152857329420935_7440475104451103865_o by Paul Smith posted Jun 9, 2017 at 8:59 AM 11887845_10153397948365935_2064439066463940504_n by Paul Smith posted Jun 9, 2017 at 8:59 AM 11903812_10153398202145935_3788258843652570008_n by Paul Smith posted Jun 9, 2017 at 8:59 AM
Really small update on the ol' girl... Melted off some more of the lead from the dented rear quarter - just to see what's what... Also managed to 'proper-weld' in the first half of the tub repair... Upgraded my welder just before tackling this, so it took a lot more time and a lot of blow-through's (not to mention a few choice words!) to finish. I didn't plan on it, but I think the easiest thing to do here is going to be to cut this section out and weld the new repair section to a fresh, straight bit of steel... I'm going to have to add a fair amount of filler/lead to this part anyway, just to match the profile of the rest of it, so it should be alright... Here you can see the nice new straight flange to weld the other half of the wheel tub to, as well as the extent of the dent. Thanks again for all the encouraging words guys! Matt
Great job with those repairs. You'll have it back on the road in no time. Sent from my SM-G955U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Took a day away from the computer today to play on the Humber... kind of a therapy I guess... Nice to be working in the daylight with the doors all open My shop dawg... looking all mean! Cardboard template to get a rough idea of the size of the outer 'return' panel The same thing in steel I now have to work out the best way of forming that return panel out to meet the lip of the wheel arch repair panel. Starting to wish I had an English wheel for this job! But a stump and mallet will have to do I guess. Hopefully more to come soon! Thanks for watching, Matt Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The way you're doing it is what I was thinking of when you first showed what had to be done, I think it's going to work out good. Just have to make sure you have ample coating and drain holes between those panels so they don't get full of dirt and moisture again. Looking forward to updates.
So, I’ve just picked this back up again after focussing on another OT project for a while... That last piece I had been working on failed... once I tried to hammer out the return, the whole thing warped to the point that it wasn’t going to fit, so I started from scratch. I’m not finished yet, but this piece is already looking better, and I can still cut it about if I need to get a better fit. Here’s some pics from today’s progress... Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Now I am impressed, you got diddled by the Bondo-n-tape crook that sold you the car, now you are transforming a pumpkin into a chariot. Reading this for the first time, I have to say that your learning curve was a flat line vertical on this project. Here on Vancouver Island, we still have the odd Humber on the road, no salt and a mild (for Canada) climate plus a lot of Prefects, Austins, Rileys, Jags etc etc sold here in the 50's and 60's however they all had rust problems. Carry on welding, you have to run out of rust at some point. Your vision is a good one. Cheers mate, you are an inspiration to the real roots of hot rodding.
Wow, thanks so much! That last line got me choked up a little! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Hey! Its been a while! As usual with these things, life has got in the way a little bit... But I've still been picking away at the ol' girl when time allows it. In fact, I took a couple of days off last week to get back at it! I've managed to weld in the inner tub-half that I'd fabri-cobbled together, as well as the outer wing (fender) panel... So I'd umm'd and ahh'd (not to mention researching on here as best I could) about whether to butt-weld the panel in, or 'joggle' the edges and plug weld it... Well, I decided to go the whole-hog and butt-weld it in. I used the technique I've seen on here (by MP&C on the 55 Chevy 210 Wagon) where you tack weld every couple of inches or so. Grind those flat and planish the welds. then repeat while overlapping the previous tacks... Although my work is no-where as clean as MP&C's - I got much less distortion than I was expecting. I was always going to have to use some filler on this car, but I'm happy that I'll be using less than I've pulled out of it at least. And my little shop foreman for the weekend! Next job is to seam-seal around all the welds underneath and add a little lead to the top-side. Then onto the front corner! What would people recommend for stone-chipping the wheel tub? I'm thinking about either a soft, rust-inhibiting wax or something more permanent like truck-bed liner (lizard-skin, I think its called over here). Any thoughts? Thanks in advance! M
Doing great. My only suggestion would be to do rounded corners on the patches if you can...helps minimise distortion.
Thanks, man! Now you mention it, that makes a lot of sense! Will do that in future... Looking at the patch panel a couple of days later - there is a little more distortion than I'd first thought, but I can lead it to bring it out a little. It's way better than the crap I cut out of it in any case!
Great work! My work sells some stuff called Raptor, which seems to be decent. https://www.vwheritage.com/search/go?w=raptor
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