I have a 1946 chev panel del. in for repairs and first off it needs both quarters made as the old ones had damage to the bead area where the fenders bolt on as well as poorly per formed repairs on the rest of the panel Shop Dog was down and we discussed methods of aproach for this and we decided after doing some layout that the panels were realy low crown panels running in both dirrections with a profile for the fender area to bolt to . I have had good results in the past using plywood for guiding tooling be it Pulmax or bead rollers so I got out some 3/8 ply . I first got 6ft of butcher paper and stuck it on the side for laying out my cut and profile lines .We found that using a carpenters pencil used at the correct angle ,will nicely follow along without digging and tearing the paper . This also gave us info as to any areas that needed extra attention as far as shrinking and stretching . This also verified how much crown we needed to introduce into the panel . At this point I cut out the bead area around the wheel house as we already recieved the info of the cut so we no longer needed this area on the panel , yet I wanted to retain some of the original panel for fitup . Now we needed to decide on what tool was best for installing the profile . I have had good luck using a very simple pulmax tool that I have shared with others, for getting the results I was looking for . Terry Stolarski first came up with this for doing other functions , but I seem to find a multitude of uses for it . So we took a sample piece and figured out the offset for our plywood patern . I normally use a small piece that would guide the tooling, but the Dog suggested to just use a piece large enogh to support the whole panel (very perceptive) as it will get real weak in the area around the upper wheel opening after we cut out the waste . While figuring out the offset on the tooling to achieve the correct profile . I remembered showing the tools during a meatalshaping event to someone and challenging them to how much they could draw the metal . From memmory I remembered they were able to go quite aways before getting any noticable distortion in the panel . So I thought why not instead of ussing a tipping wheel to do the return for the wheel lip use this tool instead .So on the sample piece I guided the tool to make the width of the profile as well as started my bend to make the lip .After getting enough definition, we removed the guide and figured out our cut line for the lip and removal of the waste . I now adjusted the Pulmax tooling for extra clearance to allow for additional bending of the lip . At this point I could have kept decreasing the clearance to tighten the bend but then what are hammers and dolleys for . The Dog prepared the 2 plywood panels and I set up the Ewheel with my 6x6 low crown roller (thanks Cass) so as to wheel a low crown into the panel . The rear or the truck had a slight radius that was just a matter of pulling down lightly on the rear of the panel .That 6 foot long panel was sure floppy until we got just the right amount of crown in (we loked like Fred Astair and Gene Kelly) Now that we had all the pieces layed out we needed to make sure there was no obstructions through our full travel of the panels in the machine . Now I needed to set up my table to help support the panel as we guided it through .Bingo , no problem its show time so we screwed the panel to the ply guide and get going .Our first pass was just deep enough to get definiton and also I like to give myself a little wiggle room if I miscalculated a little . Very nice , so added more and was able to get the correct amount on the second pass . That was fun lets get the new profile and move along . This is the profile I talked about earlier that would define the width of the profile as well as bend the lip inward . It worked as planed and we cut the waste as stated previously and reinstalled back in the machine with added clearance for the material to bend in . Now time to fit it up to the vehicle for my cut lines .I have used this method a few times now with great results and havnt seen anyone talk about it. Steve Hamilton and I were discussing the importance of correct panel fittment on one of our travels and I suggested why not cut tabs every 10" and joggle them so as to get exact fitment and after tack welding cut and remove tabs and continue tacking .And with the aid of these wonderfull magnets from the CRAZY SWEDE woohoo. So that is what I did and everything is fitting nicely . But now Christmas just got in the way so I will continue after as I weld and finish . MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY METALHEAD FREINDS
Beautiful! Late 40's GM stuff ALWAYS rots out where the fenders bolt on, it's a tough fix for hacks like me. You make it look easy. Brian
Hey, That's a great looking metalshaped panel Don't ya love how the design and building of the tooling always takes longer than running the part? " Humpty Dumpty was pushed "
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