Welded on my new fender!, The deer mobile is whole again! Options

[McMark]

I finally did the last repair to my green car which was brutalized by a wayward deer. A new fender. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) Here's a picture of what I had to start with. We had tried pulling out the damage, but decided it was too much work. We also decided to never drill holes in metal again. Next time I have damage like this I'll buy a stud puller.

(IMG:http://914world.com/members/markd/zambezi914/zambezi914-Images/1.jpg)

Here the fender has been removed. I left the back part because it's very very difficult to remove and would have quadrupled the work time for this repair. This technique worked out really really well.

(IMG:http://914world.com/members/markd/zambezi914/zambezi914-Images/4.jpg)

Here is the new fender during test fitting. Almost ready to weld.

(IMG:http://914world.com/members/markd/zambezi914/zambezi914-Images/9.jpg)

And it's all welded in. Pretty straight forward repair. It's an almost seamless weld and will only take a tiny amount of body filler to make smooth. I'm very happy with the result. You can see the replacement window frame in this picture as well.

(IMG:http://914world.com/members/markd/zambezi914/zambezi914-Images/13.jpg)

There are a few more pictures here.

[McMark]

So you didn't make a template?

Instead, you took the old fender and placed it 'inside' the new fender then started cutting, carefully?

(IMG:http://914world.com/members/markd/zambezi914/zambezi914-Images/6.jpg)

This is almost exactly how I did it. I laid the black fender over the top of the remaining green fender and then scribed a line on the inside of the fender. I then cut close to the line (not exactly on the line) and held it up again. Each time you cut material away you can get a more accurate line. Each time you can cut closer to your latest line with confidence. I probably did this 6-8 times. Once it gets really close I used an angle grinder with a grinding stone to finalize the line. Grinding a bit at a time. The line is a guideline always, never a cut line. The line shows you how close you are, not where to cut. Never cut exactly on the line. Go slow, do it slowly and painstakingly. The more time you spend here, the easier it is later and the better job you'll do over all.

One last tip, make sure things fit up 100% without having to force anything into place before you start welding. If you can hold the piece in place with two fingers and have it line up on its own, then you're going to do a great job. If you plan on welding a little and then bending or forcing or hammering things as you go you're going to make crap. It's all about the prep work, not the welding.