57 chevy metal work

this is my neighbors 57, and it need some attention. he started putting floors in and patching some stuff, but i think he got in over his head in a few spots so he brought it to me. pretty much i am doing is fixing all the remaining rust, some metal work, and re working some of the things he does not like the way they turned out.

i did some work to his fenders a while back when i didnt have room for the whole car yet

to start on the rear lower area of the fenders, to make the patches i first made a cardboard template and transfered it to some sheet metal.



then cut it out



the bottom edge has a curved break on it, so to get that is used the bead roller with a tipping die.







then i had to put a regular break on the back edge. then run it through the shrinker to get the curve to match the original fender





here is the new (extra) panel





here are some of the patches tacked in







all the panels fully welded, ground, and hammered and dollied out smooth

 

and some pics of the backside, still need to put the support brace back in









then he dropped the car off and the real work began



started on this rust hole in the lower rear quarter. i am just tacking everything in right now, the welder is low on gas and cant get my bottle re filled till monday so tacks for now lol. i will try to stick to pics and keep the typing down









a patch that someone else tried to put in, had a bunch of holes, no shape just a flat piece.











the old butchered wheel well, formed a new section for that

 

more to come over the next few days

 

That is some nice fabricating, I wish my hands were capable of doing that and having it look that good.

 

^^^ What he said. I'm jealous... ^^^

Actually, I need to do the same for the fenders on my '57. Thanks for the tips!!

 

You make it look easy and I know it's not. Very talented.

 

Very nice work.Keep us updated.

 

Nice work, I like the use of the skateboard wheel on the bead roller. Are you using the clecos to hold that panel in place while you scribe the body for trimming?

 

thanks guys, yes i cleco'd the panel in place to scribe the cut line

 

Very nice work, thanks for posting.

 

Very nice work

 

Very nice work !!!! Keep posting.

 

really nice work man!

 

Nice work. I like the truck too

 

Thanks guys. Working on it at the shop now so I should have some more progress pics tonight

 

After seeing the work done by a bunch on here I am thinking I should not have scraped the original front fenders from my 55 Ford and tried to save them,since I had a pair of NOS fenders I figured they were not worth saving but ended up buying a pair of western fenders since I decided to keep the NOS fenders in case it got wrecked. The used fenders do not fit well and if I had repaired the originals I would not had to worry about them fitting right so live and learn.

 

So refreshing to see good work being done! Even something as boring as rust repair can be motivating when done correctly. Good to see it.

 

you do some really nice work there, young man

 

I love posts like these.Very informative to an aspiring metal man,i need to get a shrinker stretcher.Your very talented!

 

Great work! Got plenty of tha to do on my '55 Chevy pickup this winter.

 

Great work Mike looks good!

 

wow...nice work!

 

made some more proogress on this one today,not much, but sundays are my short days at the shop.

had some rust to address at the passenger toe board and floor area





looking a little better, still needs welded solid



driver rear wheel well needed the same treatment as the passenger side









driver toe board needed the same as passenger



these are a few more of the areas i will be taking care of on the car. then the owner is coming over to see what else he wants me to repair and we will go from there. the main problems left are the welding and in some spots the lack there of as you can see in the pics













i keep getting messages asking about my age and my skill set. when i tell them i am 26 they never believe me. so here is a pic of me ( doing the cheesy thumbs up) at the shop today.

 

Nice work...looks great. Wish I had you around when I did the metal work on my '57!

 

very nice metal work! you are a craftsman

 

all the patches finished up, also did a ton of welding and grinding on the floor, didnt take any pics but its a floor

















its ready for the owner to come pick it up and get the rest of the body work done

 

Very nice work. It's great to the use of some small patches as opposed to the wholesale full quarter panel change.

 

Wow! You're a true artist! Excellent work!

 

work looks great... thanks for taking the time to share...

 

Quote;i keep getting messages asking about my age and my skill set. when i tell them i am 26 they never believe me. so here is a pic of me ( doing the cheesy thumbs up) at the shop today.

I think that's a trumpet hanging up behind you,can you play us a tune....