This isn't really a technical post, I guess. But it's close enough. I put it up here as an encouragement to those of you who have never done sheet metal, as I had not, before I did this. I don't mean to suggest what I've done is anything special, and I'm not looking for kudos, but I would like advice from those who know how to do it better. Or easier. What will follow are photos of repairs I made on one of the rear fenders of my '40 Chevy sedan. I don't have a brake or an English wheel or any metal-shaping tools other than a cheap set of hammers and dollies, so I just kind of made it up as I went along. Anyway, here's what I had to start with.
English wheel and some patch pieces. I've seen way worse be saved. I don't even see a days work in that one. Carry on
I decided to start on the forward end of the fender, for no reason other than the trailing end was just too indimidating at this point. The first step was to take the rusted remnants and put them roughly in the shape they should have so I could better visualize what needed to be done. By the way, all the sheetmetal I used came from the trunk of a '73 Nova, which was also a donor for much else that went into the '40. When I could visualize the hole that needed to be filled, I started cutting out chunks of the rust. I cut back only as far as necessary to find sound metal. I made the cuts as straight and square as possible. After each chunk of rust was cut out, I made a patch to fill it. I found out the key was to make sure the patch fit as perfectly as possible. I just bent the patches on whatever was handy, mostly on my engine stand, a little at a time, and kept working with it until it fit right. I tacked in the first patch, then cut out another rusty chunk and repeated the process. To make it easier to reproduce the curves I needed, I used two patches. By the way, on the second patch, I cut the hole where the fender attaches to the body after the patch was shaped, but before tacking it in.
Since I didn't have an English wheel, (and wouldn't have known what to do with it if I did) the trailing end of the fender was a little more daunting. I started by marking off the area where I wanted to start cutting, and made the patch in two pieces: a flat piece that would lie against and be attached to the body, and a curved edge that I made by cutting reliefs and just slowly bending into the compound curve I needed. Then tacked the two pieces together. You can see the cardboard pattern for the flat piece that I attached first. The pictures kind of speak for themselves. If they don't, ask and I'll do my best to explain it.
When I got the flat piece tacked in place, I was not happy with how it looked. I wondered if it was a waste of time and welding wire. But i just kept fooling with it, and when the small compound curved piece was fit up, it made a big difference. So, I just kept making patches and tacking them in place.
Here's the compound curve strip. I'm sure the guys who have been shaping tin for years who see this as amateurish. I know there are tools and techniques that would make for a much more artful finished product. And you wouldn't have to weld up and grind all those relief cuts. But it was gratifying to me, nonetheless to be able to do something I'd never done before.
ive seen worse and saved worse, depends on your will and skill, how do you learn unless you try, looks good, alot of my stuff has been hammered out on an 100 year old anvil keep it up!!
Very well done. I am in the same boat as you, doing all my bodywork myself. I´m using the same "technique" as you, buttwelded , handformed patches, because I hardly can form sheetmetal in 3 dimensions without a shrinker/ strecher and an english wheel. For more complicated forms I used to build a wooden buck. Maybe iot´s more time intensive than if a pro would do it, but you´ve done it yourself and you´ve done it well quality wise. keep us posted! Chris
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