During my journey to try to get Sandy's car ready for the WCR I discovered another huge dent in the left front fender. I worked hard to try to get the damage out but there was no way I could be happy with the end result. So I have a Ravenna 73 parts car. It's a MN rusted hulk with a brazed patch on the bottom. I cut the best parts off the salvage fender and saved what I needed to repair the damaged fender. I sand blasted it inside and out so it's nice and clean. You will see the lower section looks a little rough but I'm not done working it. It was hammered to death so all in all it's a very good repair. I will only use primer on the welded seam over the wheel.

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Notice my body file in the photo. I didn't use a grinder. I just filed the welds to finish.

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Wow. Nice work.

very nice work.
I am guessing you are using your tig for the welds?
I really need to brush up the skills on my tig skills and this is great motivation.
Cheers
Edwin

Beautiful.

I assume that you didn't bring it all the way to the hood seal area and the lower rear because the donor fender was rusted in those areas? It's a great solution for us Midwest guys.

BTW - I need one of those body files.

Yep I used my Tig. Love this thing!

Here is the fender That I cut off. The damage was deep with no room to swing at it. I tried to heat it with a torch and push it out while it was hot. This worked to the point where I ended up with a reasonable amount of damage to fill but when I was shrinking it flat I ended up shortening the fender leaving a door gap 8mm wide. The wrinkles you see I couldn't hammer. no room. Not every repair technic is going to work in every situation.

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Here is the MN donor fender. The bottom had a brazed patch that had rusted out again. After cutting off the lower section I ended up with a good piece or so I thought.
Once I started cleaning up the rest of it, I discovered that the side marker light hole had a huge rust ring around it. The rust ring around it with pin holes through it and as John suspected the weather stripping channel was not much better. The section I ended up using was very nice and I am satisfied I put the car back in a condition that will not devalue it. It really is a solid car and were happy to be the lucky owners.

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rick, how much time do you have in on the fender?

Very nice! Wish I could weld like that.
Want to weld the fenders and nose on my 356?

I would love to do it. But I have a job that doesn't allow me enough time to pursue my real interest. I thought I may be getting cut off because of low claims volume but just received some new work.

I've had several contacts lately asking me to do some work but again my job is sucking the life out of me. Who knows, Eventually Area51Werks may take priority over everthing else.

By the way, I didn't really keep track of my time but I spent all day Saturday and Sunday sandblasting, trimming, fitting, tacking and welding. I spent about 2 hours Monday night filing and finishing one seam. I spent about 2 hours last night finishing the lower seam. The lower seam was actually harder as the original piece of the car was still had some damage. So really 24 hours at shop rate is probably crazy money for a fender section job but I probably didn't need to bring it to this level for the average car either.

Oh, and I have a shrinking disc now. That really helped with the lower section.

very nice work, Rick. now I know what a $3000.00 fender looks like.

Bummer. Seeing how straight your black car is I keep thinking of towing mine up to your place to get the body work done. I doubt I could afford it but the thought does keep coming to mind.

Actually, I have to correct myself. My son came over Saturday night to help me start masking the car for primer when we hung the door we discovered the gap issue. So actually I started on the car Sunday not Saturday. Sandy helped me keep the fender gap aligned Sunday night. So really it's like 14 hrs not 24.... Who keeps track. So primer should be on this weekend.

Very nice Rick

Nice work Rick. I think you missed your calling, but if you had to do this every day, I doubt it wouldn't be as much fun.

Hey, Rick. Beautiful work as always.

You helped me with some advice on a rear fender I sectioned a few weeks back. Panel shrinkage had pulled my rear trunk gap in a bad way.

Last weekend, i welded in the patch and the gap is now good, I'm happy to report. however, I have not ground my welds yet.

Any advice on that so that the grinding heat and cooling doesn't hurt the gap i just fixed?

I'm wondering if this is why you specified that you filed your welds on the repair above.

Great to hear your on the mend. I doubt that grinding will set you back. I just filed my weld because it was small and easy. It's really easy to over grind a body panel making them thin. For that much it's easy to over file a panel... Just take the time you need to get it as right as you can and you'll be fine.

Nay, How can working with metal ever not be fun. My worry is I wouldn't get enough work to pay me bills. That is the number one reason I haven't quit my adjusting gig. I owned a collision shop for 18 years and got tired of chasing the carrot and having to crack a big nut every month. With six full time children with every bad habit you can think of to pay every week. That was no fun!

If I just did all the work myself or with one guy that could work but it's expensive to have a shop.