Here is some more give back to the HAMB tech that I hope will help others: STEEL SKIRTS Background: My car is a 51' and usually this model has extended rear fenders compared to the 49-50 models. When I purchased it the previous owners had cut off the rear fenders and installed 80's style Cadillac tail lights. I did not like these tail lights and set upon a journey to re extend the fenders with something different. I located a set of rear fenders with the bumper and tail lights off of a 1955 Desoto and went to work grafting them on. After the graft, I had a guy French in the rear bumper and rework the original wheel well openings back to stock as they were tore up too. Stepping back, I noticed that the rear of the car looks extra long and I found a set of the longest Bubble skirts I could get. I briefly installed them and took another look and was not liking how they were shaped ( a little too bubbly) and they seemed too short. From there, I decided to do some more research on the HAMB and lo and behold, I found a thread on how to make some pretty cool full length steel removable skirts from a guy named Roger who built a killer 55' Cadillac Kustom. Using his techniques, I began last weekend to try to see if I could pull this off and following is what I ended up with. The goal was to make the skirts as long as I could, be completely removable, have a nice angular shape front and rear and take the bubble out of them so they are a little more flush. Last, I will add 3, 54' Merc Rear Fender teeth to them once I get them where I want them. First step: I got some 1/2" round steel tubing, .060 wall from my local steel supplier. I made a simple foam board template to fool around with the angles front and rear as I want the front to match the angle of the downslope of the 55' Pontiac Safari Trim I am installing on the door. I measured and sharpie marked the body 4" down from the side lip in the fender all the way down the side of the car to have a reference point to keep to. Step 2: Once I got the shape I wanted, I measured the overall length and started with the back bend. I determined that I liked a 60 degree bend and then the fun started. I setup a piece of 1 3/4" steel tubing in my vise and began to work the tube around it (a trick I learned from taking Gene Winfields Metal Fabricating Class) until I got it to 60 degrees using my bubble protractor. From there, I worked the now bent back part to match the curvature of the body from top to bottom. I was surprised how easy it was to hand bend this tubing into shape (this might be easier than I thought!) From there, I measured and determined where to make the front bend and this proved to be a lot more challenging. Step 3: The front bend you see will probably be changed and I plan on using a tube bender to get a better and more radiused bend up front for asthetics and for sheet metal fab there. For now, I did this in order to get the rest of the "skeleton" made. I bent the front piece to match the curvature of the body top to bottom and could see what was shaping up. Step 4: I made a mount tab out of 1/8" flat bar, drilled a 1/4" hole in it. I set the tube skeleton back up on the car and taped it in place and determined where the tab should be welded to. I welded the tab in place, marked and drilled the body just above the top of the center of the wheel well opening and mounted the skeleton there. Step 5: I ran a straight piece of tube all the way across the bottom of the car, cut and fit it to the ends of the upper skeleton and welded it together. Next, I setup 2 more mount tabs that mount through the bottom flange of the fenders and bolted it to the body. I now have the perimeter of the skeleton bolted and solid, which is easily removable for when I need to change a tire in the future. Step 6: I then measured out equal spaces in the skeleton, cut and hand bent tubes to match the outside curvature of the car and welded each of them to the outer perimeter skeleton. (See Pic 1) (Fun with the pics again-SORRY Step 7: Once the skeleton was removed and welded up completely, I got some 18 gauge sheet metal to form a "Skin" over the skeleton. I measured and marked the shape of the "skin" leaving a lot of extra around the perimeter so I could trim it as necessary-more on this later. I plasma cut the shape and put it on the ground next to the skeleton to ponder this next. (See Pic 2) Step 8: The moment of truth. I do not have a slip roller available so I went old school Gene Winfield fabrication style on this. I clamped the top edge of the sheet metal shape with several sets of vise grips to the tube skeleton, got down on the ground and made this "skin" my bitch as I rolled the sheet metal onto the skeleton a few times. It wasn't that hard just a little akward but I was able to get it to form to the skeleton and tack weld it in place at a few selected spots to keep it where it needed to be kept. Once I got it tacked in several spots, I noticed that it formed perfectly to the skeleton and is very smooth even though it has compound curves front to rear and top to bottom. I then hammered the edges around the tube skeleton and rough trimmed the excess to match the body lines-still more trimming to do though. (See Pic 3) At this point, I am going rework the front end and try to get a better bigger radius in it so it looks better in the future but at least you can get the idea of how to build these for yourself if you like. The end result will be a skirt that is approximately 1/2" step away from the body much like the 52-54 Ford and Mercury rear fender bulges that were stock on those cars. I still will need to form and weld the sheet metal piece to the front once I get it how I want it. Hope this help others and thanks again HAMBers for ideas!
The Jalopy Journal
