It looks like the rear on the car must of been sticking out of the shed or barn while in 20 years of storage because thats where the rust is.I took off the rear top of the hatch for rust repair{i do body work} but i dont have a break to make the bend for the lower part of the hatch.I took it to a metal fabcator and he wanted $800.Way out of my buget! just to repair the bottom of the hatch .Any one have any ideas what do do on this repair? Thanks Bruce.
You might have better luck posting in the WTB section and on Fordbarn.com for a replacement posted via smoke signals made with a Mexican blanket
If I were you, I'd spend some time shopping around for a more reasonable fabricator. Thats way too much for a patch panel. ...................Jack
You don't have a brake, but do you have a welder? If so, scoot down to your local metal supply and grab some 18 gauge. Most metal supplys will be able to brake a quick fold into it for just a few more bucks. Leave the pinch weld on the hatch, but aggressively wire wheel the rust off/out of it. Cut the hatch leaving some metal to weld to (leaving factory bends and creases where possible) and slowly stitch weld the piece into place...
first thing I'd do is take the glass out and get the tailgate glass bead blasted inside and out. I have to wonder what the hourly rate is of the guy who wants $800.00 to do it?
I have made many bent and folded patch panels without a brake. All you need is a good work bench and a couple of pieces of angle iron. Old bed frames will do. Clamp the angle iron to the edge of the work bench, the bottom piece pointing down, the top piece pointing up. Clamp the sheet metal between them. Vice Grip body clamps are handy but you can do it with big C clamps if you have to. Now the secret part. You bend the metal down with a hammer but you don't use a steel hammer, use a hard rubber mallet. It will bend the metal down without creases or dimples. Secret # 2 don't try to bend it all at once. If you are going 90 degrees, do it in 3 or 4 stages. Start at one end, tap the end down a little, work your way to the other end bending the whole length down the same amount. Now start over at the beginning and bend it a little more. The second pass should have it about 45 degrees. Do a third pass and a 4th. You can finish by using a body hammer and dolly to make the flange perfectly straight. No doubt a brake is faster and better but you can do just as nice a bend if you take your time. Secret #3, make a test piece. Cut a scrap of metal about 6" long and the width of the piece you want to make, and try your bends. It may take a couple of tries to figure out exactly where to put the bends, how to do them, and even how much metal you need. You see every bend eats up some of the width of the metal, about the thickness of the metal for every bend. There is a knack to it, once you make a few dozen parts it will come natural to you.
Rusty O'Toole have the most things covered, but i just want to add that some pieces of wood and clamps can be easier for a first time metal shaper, if you don have clamps, you can screw the wood at both ends with the sheet between, then use even pressure with a board, and hammer on the board for a finishing touch, works with round watshmacallits too! Metalworking is an art, but bending it, is simple!
If it were mine the first thing I would do is take the glass out before it gets broke,then I would sandblast the hatch. If nothing else the big box stores sell pre-bent angle sheet metal and and you could take a zip wheel and cut the rusty metal out and weld in the sheet metal. HRP
Ok guys just to let you know i did take the glass out .Dang the glass is heavier than then reach hatch. lol.I am going to blast it.The metal guy said if i cut the metal out with the right measurments {i am going to leave a little extra on for welding}He would make me a piece for about $75 bucks that sound a lot better doesnt it? Thanks Bruce.
Sounds like you have it figured out, I was gonna suggest to go to the high school, one of them kids in metal shop love showing off their skills, prolly for a six pack of sodas. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Much of that can be fabricated on a bead roller. Here's the same repair on a 55 Chevy, start on post #53... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=788490&page=3
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