Yeah until you burn a big ass hole in the rusty part and you spend 5 times as long filling it in lol!
i reworked the brace to fit the contour or the wheel opening better. I should have taken more pics but basically made a reference line parallel to the ground and traced the contour to a cardboard template the template was cut out in sheet metal and the reference line was transferred. This made it easy to get the position accurate. Can anyone tell me if the inner wheel opening lip gets folded over the inner fender lip like a door skin, spot welded or does it get held in with seam sealer or other goop? Thanks
I'd love to be able to tell you, but unfortunately mine were made out of sponges, newspapers, fiberglass screening, and that was all behind the wall of bondo. To be honest, before I read your posts, I didn't even realize there was a supposed to be a brace back there. Thanks for posting all of your work, I will be coming back to it when I get there with mine.
That's crazy. I can't really imagine someone actually trying to fix something like that but it happens all the time. The brace basically connects the front if the wheel well to the back and has a little flange on it to support the wheel opening that's about 1/2" wide. The actual wheel opening has a corresponding flange that Tia sits in plus an extension that is bent almost 45* up an into the wheel area. That's the part I'm not sure gets folded over. I am actually thinking it doesn't get folded but am trying to figure out how the factory attached the fender here.
Thanks for the info, I'll look into it as well and see what I can find out. If you think my wheel openings are bad, my rockers are truly next level. Pretty much the entire panel is filled with expanding foam then covered on bondo on each side. However, there are places where aluminum flashing was pop riveted to the bondo and fiberglassed over. I'm kind of like you on this one. I'm not too worried about messing it up, because anything I do to it will be an improvement.
On my 51 it rolls over and is spot welded through, I was lucky and mine are not that bad at all. I just took the inner removable wheel well covers off and removed mounts for fender skirts from them so they wouldn't cut the tire, shome how I manages to squeeze an 8 inch wheel and a 255/60 in the rear wheel wells with out having to even mess with the lip, and no rubbing either.
Jason, Thanks a lot for the info. Big help! I welded in the top part of the fender. So nice to actually work with clean, shiny metal!
Nice work man! If you every need pics or measurements. Hit me up. I can get it to you no prob. Im driving mine pretty much daily at this point
If you ever swap rears an 80 s monte carlo rear pulls the wheels in about an inch on each side. Works great for bigger tires or if its bagged for a little more clearance.
Sweet! Good to know about the rear. I have a '56 Chevy rear stashed away but it needs to be gone through so I only have $50 invested at this point. Have fun at TROG! It's definitely on my to do list.
Measure your rears. A 56 rear will bolt right in but I believe its an inch wider overall. Mine had some abortion looking set up in it with blocks to slam it and shot springs and i think an astro axle. I put a chassis engineering spring kit in it. Best thing I have done to it yet!
Thanks! I'm heading back out to the ship for a couple weeks. I hope to have some EMS sheet metal waiting for me when I get back.
Let me know if you need little bits and pieces for interior or weird little brackets. Im dragging home a complete 50 parts car tommorow. Rusted to hell but tons of good small parts.
Hey Jason, thank you! Not even sure where to start regarding the interior. I'll see what's missing and touch base when I get back. Thanks!
Just got back from a long business trip and noticed an ad for a 49 Chevy frame on Craigslist for free. Went and picked it up from a cool guy. The frame is cherry, the guy wire wheeled it and rattle can primed it to boot! The only issue is the passenger side body mounts were cut off for some reason. This chassis will be a great way to be a step ahead once I remove the body for dipping or blasting. The current chassis is very pitted and I'm sure there an element of rot to contend with.
Finally got back on it today. It's been a while! I started mocking up the frame, rear end and some retired NASCAR truck arms I scooped up to get a sense of space etc. I'm going to notch the frame for clearance. I'm not looking to lay frame or anything so I'll probably cut the notch downs some.
I was in SoCal for Christmas and picked up some doors that are in nice shape overall. One of the doors was cracked at the check strap mount. Welded that up today also.
started section on another deck lid, the other one I was working on was so rusty and pitted. I kept burning holes in the paper thin metal and trying to fix it was getting aggravating. This one is coming out much nicer. Instead of cutting out a section first like I did on the last one, I made reliefs in the inner frame to separate the bracing and then cut around the perimeter of the skin. I pushed the skin into the surrounding metal and relieved the stressed areas until it looked right. Once i felt it was dialed in I secured the skins together with Clovis and trimmed the excess. I got it tacked up tonight but it was too dark to photograph. More pics this weekend!
You're a brave man. I've toyed with the thought of this a few times, then I stand back and realize I have a million other things I have to do before that I time comes. I like how you used the pie cuts. Well done.
hit a few mor minutes into it today. The end result is OK, it's lim pier than Oprah's ass and will need some filler but I'm pretty happy with the overall shape and profile.
The Jalopy Journal
