Bending Metal

Early on this day I got the rest of the lower rocker and wheel housing fabbed and welded in, and then I turned to the front of the rear fender. There are no available patch panels that I've found anywhere, so we had to fab up our own panel to use. Trouble is, the 90 degree edge of the panel is semi-circular, and transitions outward, away from the car, forming a lip, before bending into the 90 degrees. Oh, and it curves downward, under the body, similiar to what a rear quarter panel on any truck looks like....sort of. After cutting the panel, we used a piece of metal rod that was the correct diameter to make the bend, heated and shaped the metal around the rod. Jim worked the torch while I bent the metal. Then we put relief cuts in the side, and shaped the panel the opposite direction to make the transition down under the car using the edge of the vise. Surprisingly, it worked and fit perfect the first time. Not bad for our first time making a panel in this fashion - I'm used to buying patch panels pre-fabbed. -TH





Here the panel is welded into place...almost. My only mistake made is that I misjudged the size of the panel before the edge was made. This left a gap on the left side about 1/3 inch. I simply cut a sliver of metal and stiched in on this side to fill the gap. Next time, I'll leave this side long and cut it to fit after the bend is made, rather than trying to measure it exact before hand. -TH



Meanwhile, on the top end, I had to continue to fill in gaps between the rear fender and the body. In this case, I welded a bead on each side of a nail laying in the channel. When it's ground down, the transition between the two will be filled. Only trouble with this is that the gap has that gooey under-coating in it, and on the top side of the nail, it bubbles through and reeks havoc on the weld. Notice the black on top...that's from the undercoating burning. -TH

These rear fenders are a pain to grind smooth. The old nasty welds are so inconsistent, that some parts are super thick, and others are paper thin. Plus, who ever did the work in the first place totally didn't line anything up properly and everything is uneven , and just plain sloppy. And since its hollow underneath its also really, really loud - even with ear plugs. -SB



This rear piece of metal that sits right above the bumper was so flimsy, it had to go. There's a few rust spots in the rear above it that will need to be replaced, and then a smaller, thinner rear bumper will go into place here. The guy I bought the Buick off of has a 1936 with a neat rear bumper, and I'd like to go with something like that. That's the fun with Hot-rodding...you can make whatever you want. I just have to figure out how to get one free....I'm on a budget here! So far, the sheet metal ran me 30.00 at Lowe's...so we're up to about 230.00. -TH