Nice work Tinbender, Your work is amazing.I really like how you blend old school tools and new tools. What size is your arbor press? Thanks George
What a challenging project.......definitely not for the faint of heart. Thanks for taking us along while you work your magic. Frank
I'm in Love those early birds!!! May I suggest a Done Spenser or Battle Bird clone Just a thought Good luck
Thanks guys! This thing's been the challenge of my life! Got three more days off this week. Going to try to finish up the fender and a couple of other small patches. Still have some areas that need a little more hammer work, but I'm not too far from lead. Then it's someone else's project.......I have my own things to do!! George, the press has a 11 inch throat. Really useful shaping tool. I'm surprised I don't see many people use them.
I've been busy as hell lately, but managed to put in a few hours on the bird. I need to fit the grille and related pieces to finish off the fenders. Its all the little parts like these fillers that go on the ends of the grille that eat up time.
I somehow missed this thread Tinbender, nice work as usual ! I hope the chassis is in better shape than the body shell
Thanks! Actually the chassis is pretty nice. I sent it to someone else for rebuilding and paint. I'm down to metal work only. No more filler or paint work from me! (except for my own cars) I don't think I could do another turn key. I'm getting closer to retirement with each piece I make!
Can you please hire an apprentice to film all this work from start to finish? Thanks you for each and every photo. Please keep it coming.
Thank you Beau! I'm nursing a sore rib from a minor fall, so I haven't worked in the shop for a couple days. I looked thru some older pictures, and though you guys might like to see more of the fender repairs. I didn't get a lot of pictures of some of this. Humm.. maybe I do need a photographer The vent openings were rusted to the point I thought it would be easier to make new ones. I made a hammerform, two pieces the shape of the hole. The thickness of the bottom was the same as the depth of the lip around the vent opening. Then put 18 ga between them. Held them together with screws, and clamps. It took two tries on this part, but in the end, my air chisel with a flat bit worked the best to stretch the metal down. I heated the corners and put them in with a ball peen hammer. The opening has a "trough" that holds the seal the vent sits against. So I needed to push the metal down into the hammer form at 90*, then flat for 3/8" then up 90* for 1/4". So after I hammered it down in the form, I put a piece or steel 3/8" thick in the vise,(a stake) and turned the piece over (still in the hammer form) and broke the 90* bend by hammering it over the edge of the stake. Are you still with me? I didn't get a photo of that part The part also needed some curve to it, so I took it out of the form and used heat and some very light tapping to make the part "pull"
After fit and tack, time for the lower. Owner had this piece, but it was crap. Pretty simple to make. I made a paper pattern of the door opening, then clamped on the new panel, and transferred the shape to the new panel. Trimmed and then bent over the edge with my high tech tipping tool! Trim and fit, weld, file, hammer......weld file hammer. Hammer some more!
This one needed a curve and a feature line. I used the old piece to shape a steel plate for the line. Then put a curve in the piece before clamping it to the table, over the plate I had shaped. A few light passes with a hammer revealed the line. Then I used a T dolly to tap in the recess under the line. Then fit trim & tack. Then weld, hammer ,file........weld, file hammer................. And then of course, build a patch for the top of the Fu&!%& fender.....:
Looks like you're miles ahead of me but for what it's worth - Home Depot has a pair of Crimping pliers made for heating ducts that work pretty good for deep flanges like you show in your early pics. Very nice work - Thank you for taking the time to post. I find threads like this very inspirational.
Thanks Dexter! I "re-purpose" all kinds of tools. I have to go to Depot tomorrow to get some vent stuff. Gotta put in a bathroom fan and vent. I'll take a look at the tools.
Speechless! Such excellent skills and your plan of attack phenomenal. You break it down so even a dummy like me can understand what you're doing and why. Thanks for taking the time to capture and post your work.
Thanks guys! Not much progress this weekend, not sure if I should blame the injury, or the pain meds! Healed up enough to finish the other filler today. Didn't take pictures. It's just like the last one, only backwards.
This area was already stretched pretty good. Hammered mostly on dolly, then worked id over with a shrinking file over a heavy dolly. I gas welded the holes and a crack/thin spot, then stretched the welds. Filed and picked up some lows. Ended up with the area high but more or less smooth. Followed with shrinking disk and ground with 36 grit. It will take a little lead to finish off the repair, but not so much as before.
The Jalopy Journal
