Body prep continues

[Joe Flanagan]

Today I took advantage of a break in the weather to see what kind of shape my front fenders are in. I took one out of the garage up the street where some parts of the car are stored and brought it down to my house for disassembly:

After I got the inner fender separated from the outer and removed the trim, lights, etc., I took a sanding disc to it. This one's rough. It's covered with pitted rust, plus it's got a long gash in the sheet metal. I can weld the gash, I think, but the blasting is going to be a major effort. I can only assume the other one looks like this too. It's up in the loft of the garage up the street and I didn't take a look at it. But here is the one I sanded today:

There's already been quite a bit of filler work here. It's fairly straight, though, and I don't think there's anything there that can't be fixed. Expecting thunderstorms in about an hour. More tomorrow.

[Don Coatney]

Joe;

Sorry but my memory is not what

it used to be. Several years back

the split in the fender was cussed

or discussed. The fenders

in my car have the split but

I am not sure of the reason.

I think it is posta be there. Forget

the red paint in my picture as it is history.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I would think that the fender was three peices due to the complexity of the bends/shapes and a single die would have been impossible to make and extract as one piece...

[steveplym]

If you pull off the trim Don that is where the fender is pieced together. I just filled mine in with body filler. One side was filled in already so went ahead and filled them both in.

I can't remember if the fender is bolted together there or welded. I'm thinking welded, but not sure.

[Joe Flanagan]

My fender is in three pieces but there is also a gash in the sheet metal that is definitely not supposed to be there. I'll post a picture.

[dezeldoc]

If you pull off the trim Don that is where the fender is pieced together. I just filled mine in with body filler. One side was filled in already so went ahead and filled them both in.

I can't remember if the fender is bolted together there or welded. I'm thinking welded, but not sure.

Ya might want to go back and weld the seam as it will crack the bondo.

[Allan Faust]

Yep, its three pieces spot welded together... I'm going to be welding mine... supposedly only the 51 or 52 had the single piece fender....

Allan

[Plymouthy Adams]

while the 51/52 may be a one piece fender, the middle of the upper arch in the wheel opening is notched for access to the trim clip nut..this does weaken the structure and I have yet to see one that does not require a tad of welding I highly suggest that you weld a strap across the notch..while you may not be able to use a nutdriver to access the nut...it is still very accessable with an end wrench..the lower cowl mount hole is about the only other point on the fender that will require a bit of "freshing up" with a new metal and welding..

[55 Fargo]

Joe;

Sorry but my memory is not what

it used to be. Several years back

the split in the fender was cussed

or discussed. The fenders

in my car have the split but

I am not sure of the reason.

I think it is posta be there. Forget

the red paint in my picture as it is history.

Don, any idea what type of blue you have on your car. If so, what type paint,brand,color name/code?.

I always though you have one of the nicer blues I have seen, any Furry Dice inside....LOL

[55 Fargo]

Lots of work hey Joe, the bodies on these old beasts are a big challenge, but once there done there done.

Have you done much filler and body work in the past Joe, seems you have knack for it. My skills are pretty Junior, but the price is right....

[BobT-47P15]

You can see the seam in this pic borrowed from ebay.

[Joe Flanagan]

Rockwood,

When I took this thing out this afternoon, I kind of felt overwhelmed for a minute. They are a lot of work, these cars. Especially when you get them in the condition mine was in. I'm going to be blasting this particular fender tomorrow, which should take some time. I haven't done any body work, really. I've done a lot of plastering, which I think helps when you're working with filler. The welding I've done on this project was the first welding I've ever done. I bought a second hand welder from a forum member that looked like it was on its last legs. I read and watched videos and asked questions and commenced welding. I got better with time. It took a lot of mistakes to figure out what I was supposed to do. I'll be learning some hammer and dolly work on this phase of the project. Haven't tried heat shrinking yet but that's planned soon. I'm glad I have this forum to come to where there are experienced guys to help out.

[steveplym]

Ya might want to go back and weld the seam as it will crack the bondo.

I thought it would too, but the one fender has been holding with filler for 25 years. Hasn't cracked yet. I filled it with fiberglass, but it still may crack.

[Joe Flanagan]

Here's a picture of the gash in the sheet metal of my fender that I was talking about:

I'm going to try to weld it up but the sheet metal looks pretty thin there. If it doesn't work, I'll cut and patch in a piece.

[Joe Flanagan]

Just wanted to show a picture of the sandblasting in progress. Not as bad as I'd originally thought. It's going quickly enough. The Craftsman amateur special is holding up well and supplies plenty of air. Just gotta give it plenty of rest between sessions.

[dezeldoc]

I thought it would too, but the one fender has been holding with filler for 25 years. Hasn't cracked yet. I filled it with fiberglass, but it still may crack.

Back then thay had better bondo that had some flex to it, now a days the stuff is brittle as all get out. Did you dig out the bondo on the other fender, maybe it is welded under it.

[Joe Flanagan]

And done:

[steveplym]

Back then thay had better bondo that had some flex to it, now a days the stuff is brittle as all get out. Did you dig out the bondo on the other fender, maybe it is welded under it.

No I left it as it was intact. I thought about this last night after I posted a reply and I may have welded that seam. Seems I was thinking at the time about it possibly cracking as I've learned my lessons about that before.

Who knows, but right now it's holding. I do agree with you that it is best to weld it up.

[Don Coatney]

Joe;

Will your final paint job continue with the taxi cab schema started by the prior owner of your car? You should tell the story of your car to forum members if you have not already done so. I have seen a 38 Caddilac lemo twice this week setting outside of South station. It would be a very plesent relief to find an old Plymouth taxi. The Boston cabs (I ride them twice daily) have all installed some goofy security device between the driver and the back seat. All this does is eliminate leg (and knee) room as well as making entry and exit a real headache espically for my girth.

[greg g]

Don, why not leave your girth in the hotel room. No need to drag it around the city with you.......

[Don Coatney]

Don, why not leave your girth in the hotel room. No need to drag it around the city with you.......

I tried that but I am rather attached to it as it took years to build.

[RobertKB]

Joe, that fender looks ten times better already. It is amazing what some work will do to the old stuff. Get the gash fixed, do some prep and it will look amazing.

[Plymouthy Adams]

sandblast, etch with acid till there is no more rust color in the acid..then blow it dry..I would then recommend POR15 just for the very crack of the two pieces..I would try and leave the seam as is if all possible..these fenders are going to do some flexing and I would not weld and fill unless the seam itself is rusted through in quite a few places...

[Joe Flanagan]

Don,

You've been in Boston for a long time now, it seems. I hope you don't come back home with an accent. The story of the taxicab thing is that the guy who owned this car before me had it in San Francisco sometime in the 70s. The cab drivers were on strike and he was unemployed at the time so he decided to try being a gypsy cab driver. He started painting a checkerboard pattern on one of the doors and got tired of it and quit. He was a strange guy. He was mentally ill, as it turned out. Seven years ago when I first got this car, he had cancer and was raving about all kinds of crazy stuff. Calling the FBI on the phone and things like that. And he was barely 50 at the time. He died in pretty short order. The wife gave me the car. I think it reminds her of happier times with her husband when he was well.

Anyway, Tim, I plan to leave that seam as is. I figured the engineers knew what they were doing. I shot sand at the crack to get as much rust as I could. I'm going to shoot Picklex 20 in there and then take a brush and paint in some Zero Rust. I do have a question though. That small seam just above the wheel well, why did you say to weld a bar in behind it? I do think mine moved a little at that seam while I was working on it.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Joe.inspect this joint well...I was referencing the later one piece is the addition of metal as they are under cut at the stiffening curve for trim bolt access and will crack..and crack they do...if you have any signs of rust that would challenge the strength of the joint. or even a hairline crack..weld the front metal to ensure that future paint will not show this stress fracture and stiffen it from behind with an additional layer of metal..also anywhere your fender has a tab for a fender brace back to the body..pay close attention to it for stress cracks and consider reinforcing these also..