Got a huge dent in my drivers side rear fender and it doesn't want to pull out very well. Got a perfect rear fender, drivers side, on my parts car. Do I just drill out spot welds or??? A little help if you please. I have excellent mechanical and welding ability and all the tools including a nice square-wave TIG. I however SUCK at body work (straightening, bondo etc.).

Yup, drill out the spot-welds. All eleventy-zillion of them. Or better, use a spot-weld cutter.

Or just sawzall the mother, but leave enough of the old one to weld onto. Means more filling and smoothing after it's attached, though.

--DD

See what a paintless repair shop would charge to fix it. It will take you at least half a day (minimum) to remove that rear 1/4. It won't be easy to replace it and have a undetected repair, regardless of your welding skills. There's lead filler in the rain gutter, over the factory spot welds. That won't be easy to replace.

Bump!

Got a pic of the dented fender?

No picture but you all will have to take my word for it...it would take a lot of time to repair if it is even repairable. The previous owner of the car tried to pull the dent out and drilled like 200 holes in it (not kidding!!). The dent is right under the sail and the indented portion for pulling the door handle is in part of the dent making it even harder than a normal dent. Keep in mind that I want to know about replacing the rear fender rather than repairing it.

Thanks, John

If the rest of the fender is good, you can cut the dented section out, and then use just that section of the spare fender and weld it in. then just grind the welds flat. If you need to use filler to get the panel to look straight, just go slow and becarefull sanding. Just about the toughest part about body work is shaping the filler in places that have different angles and shapes like the fender opening detail.

Yea, I first considered just takine the part of the fender that was bad and welding in the new piece but then I thought why?? Why not just replace the entire fender so I don't have to mess with the bondo? I realize cutting spot welds would pretty much suck badly but I have all the time in the world and would like it to look perfect when done. Am I missing something here? Is it that big of a deal to swap out the rear fender?

I didn't do this. Ask Eric Shea about it. He didn't do it himself but was close by.

more before

after

after after

I did this earlier this yr and its a bitch
the leadding at the jam is real fun

Jim, thats the wrong fender it has the narrow lip . start over

A rear fender is a pretty big job, but it sounds like you have most of the tools.

Definately cut the spot welds, don't try to cut off the old fender and weld to the lip. It's the long continuous welds that can easily warp the panel.

I think you are right to replace the whole fender and not patch it in. I've done two of the sail panel replacement parts that go down to below the door handle cut out and one whole rear fender. When you include all the welding, grinding, filling, and sanding work the whole fender is only a lot more work if you are starting with a completely assembled car.

Use a zinc rich primer on all the bare metal surfaces you need to weld.

Don't try to learn to weld on this project.

The alignment takes a lot of patience. You need to align the door, the window edge and trim, the trunk lid, the tail light, and keep the groove for the valence panel straight. A set of clicos and a bunch of #6 sheet metal screws is a lot of help. Screw the panel on first, put on all the trim, the tail light, and check everything. Then weld up the holes.

Good luck.

Kelly

Damn, Jeff, I thought you knew almost everything about these cars. Now I think you know EVERYTHING! Just went to the garage. Sure enough, the right side lip is at least a quarter inch narrower than the left! Guess you can put wider tires on a later car! When did the change occur?

Now I gotta do it all over again. Better pay attention to this thread so I can learn how. Or maybe I should just take the grinder to the left side! Gotta be "correct".

You could go that route but as echoed here... that's a lot of work. I should say, that's a lot of work by a guy who knew what he was doing. It would take me twice that long and not get the same results (the lines on Jim's car are perfect).

If it's not a heritage piece and you'd still like to do it right "and" you've got the excellent welding skills and materials then I would:

1) Cut a patch off the good fender larger than the dented area on your car. (I should mention it's hard to offer this advice without seeing it... it could be that a complete 1/4 panel replacement is the right thing to do.

2) Use body clamps to overlay that piece over the affected area and scribe a cut/weld line.

3) Cut the area off your car and prep it for a butt weld.

4) Butt weld the new piece in.

5) Take it to a guy that "is" good with the filler and finish it off.

This method is really no different than people butt welding flares on the car. If done properly then it should be a good permenant solution.