Hi just wanting to know if any of you body guys would share and or give your 2cents worth on welding rear fenders on this 1941 ford. as you can see in one of the pictures its a little ways away from the body how would you fill? please give me some ideas. after I weld what kind of filler is best?
If you were able to make the fender and body fit each other as designed, would you still be interested in how to weld them together? I'm wondering why you asked about this, because welding fenders to the body on old cars usually results in a big mess.
After getting the fit as tight as possible, cut a strip of metal 1"-2" wide depending on how tight a radius you want. Bridge the gap and tack and shape the filler piece. Finish welding and grinding then bondo with your favorite mud.
I did a search to find a good thread that would show you how to do this. Guess what I found? You asked this same question 6 months ago and got a couple of good references to illustrate how do this. So you're sitting around with cabin fever and bored?
ha ha yes I must be going nuts sitting around...…..so then the question goes out in the bottom corner left as the picture shows the gap its rather large and the fenders are NOS so should I try and shape the fender to fit the body better and bolt the fenders on maybe massage them a little more
I will a lot of guys say not to weld the fenders on the fender welting will cover some of the gaps up on it. cant go to any shows they have canceled them all
If the fenders are NOS then perhaps the body is not shaped as it should be. Which is pretty common...and not too easy to fix, usually. Welding metal over the gap is one way to "fix" it, but not the way I would choose.
As already stated, put the rest of the bolts in the fender, loosen them all, adjust the fender then tighten them down. I'll bet that'll get you where you need to be!
Start by bolting the fenders on tightly, and do what adjusting you can to get them to fit as well as they can. If there are still gaps, then inspect the body, to see if it needs some massaging to get the shape to match the fender. If the area has been worked on before, which it looks like it has, it might be necessary to strip to bare metal and move the metal around as needed to get a good fit, then use filler to finish the contour of the body. I don't know what your body work skill level is...mine is fair to midland, I can usually get panels to fit pretty well, but not perfect. Fortunately, my tolerance for panel fit isn't too far above my skill level, so it all works out.
Little work on the fender lip where it bolts to and a little work on the panel, should be all you need, i/e if needed, don't be afraid to do some bending on the fender lip to tuck the fender flush...assuming the panel is straight.
your right about NOS just means at least you have a good start. may have to bend up the lips or mounting holes a bit to get fit better but I believe that the fender welting will cover up a lot also. thanks for the suggestions and if there are more please don't hesitate!! to add them. everyone has a different idea!
I don't think welding on the fenders is a good idea but if you must, here is how the Ayala brothers did it. From the Rodder's Journal #39.
previous owner welded all four of the fenders on this car. plans called for molding in the rear like the ayala brothers in the above post, the formed strips of metal method.
What does the body look like on the other side? Get a cardboard template of the other side if it looks OK and compare sides to see if the body matches. My first step would be to get both sides to match and then look at working on the fender. If you still have a gap, you could split the fender about a inch from the edge and then get the fender aligned and weld in the patch.
The Jalopy Journal
