Scratch built '52 Dodge B3b Rear Fender

[ggdad1951]

hey 48Dodger...maybe he could make you some panel truck fenders!

[HanksB3B]

Hank,

Thanks a lot, I appreciate the compliment. What do the parking light buckets look like? My truck didn't have them when I bought it.

-Chris

 

 

 

You need them (so do a lot of forum members) They are virtually impossible to find (unless you are someone like Tim)

 

P.S. Hopefully someone has an extra R.H. and someone else has an extra L.H. or you could possibly scan and 3d print them 

 

 

Photo Credit 3D Systems

 

Hank 

Edited October 31, 2014 by HanksB3B

[ggdad1951]

I'm still working on getting the buckets/grill bars remade.  Barring that, I have a set of grill bars that will eventually be for sale (at the vendor for the re manufacturing concept).

[1952B3b23]

You need them (so do a lot of forum members) They are virtually impossible to find (unless you are someone like Tim)

P.S. Hopefully someone has an extra R.H. and someone else has an extra L.H. or you could possibly scan and 3d print them

Photo Credit 3D Systems

Hank

From the picture it doesn't look like they'd be entirely to difficult to make. I've never seen one in person though so that could not be the case.

-Chris

[1952B3b23]

I'm still working on getting the buckets/grill bars remade. Barring that, I have a set of grill bars that will eventually be for sale (at the vendor for the re manufacturing concept).

Cool. Are you going to make a whole bunch and then sell them off?

-Chris

[ggdad1951]

Dodge Central is looking into making them. Tooling cost is high. So they are still looking at how they can make them and not lose money. I should know more in a few weeks. I'm pushing them to make stainless and that is spendy, they are thinking maybe making cast ends to save on cost.

[1952B3b23]

Dodge Central is looking into making them. Tooling cost is high. So they are still looking at how they can make them and not lose money. I should know more in a few weeks. I'm pushing them to make stainless and that is spendy, they are thinking maybe making cast ends to save on cost.

Yea I can imagine tooling cost is a killer. Hopefully they can start making those. Looks like there's certainly a market for them.

[1952B3b23]

Well back before Thanksgiving i was able to go back and do a little more work on the fender. I just hadn't gotten to post up my progress. My TIG welding is getting better and im learning the art of metal finishing to obtain a filler free surface. I've included a couple pics of about a 6" section that is damn near perfect at this point (Pic 1 and 2). The other shots show where i had to shrink a couple areas with a torch and gives an overall update on the status of the fender. I've still got a lot of work to do to call this thing done, slowly but surely it's happening though and im learning a ton. To me it doesn't matter how long it takes me to finish this. My goal is to learn as much as possible and to do as good a job as i can.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

-Chris 

[HanksB3B]

I don't know what you do for a living, but maybe you missed your calling in life. 

 

Unbelievable, what workmanship !

 

Hank 

[1952B3b23]

I don't know what you do for a living, but maybe you missed your calling in life.

Unbelievable, what workmanship !

Hank

Wow thanks a lot for the very nice compliment Hank! I'm a mechanical engineer with a desire to learn the art of metal shaping.

-Chris

[ggdad1951]

are you hammer welding it or straight up weld and grind?  I'm going to learn hammer welding to work on TODD this winter.

[1952B3b23]

are you hammer welding it or straight up weld and grind? I'm going to learn hammer welding to work on TODD this winter.

I weld a section all up then grind, say a 6" section at a time. I don't grind the weld completly off. I leave it proud on the front and back side of the fender. Then I run it through the planishing hammer. then you check and see how the surfaces are doing and correct and low or high spots. Do a little more grinding, being very careful to not grind away metal on either side of the weld. Only grind the weld.

It's really important to read the metal and listen to what it's telling you. Feeling it with your hand and looking at it under a good light will show the highs and lows. Correct those areas as needed.

Hammer welding isn't hard you just got to move real quick and planishing when the weld is still hot. I use to do this all the time when I MIG welded patches. It helped keep the warpage under control and allowed me to dress the welds as I went. Since with a MIG the welds are much harder and the excess heat put into the panel really messes with things.

Do you plan on using MIG or TIG? I highly recommend learning TIG as its so much better for doing sheetmetal work. It does take a good bit of practice to learn but very rewarding once you do. I find it relaxing doing TIG welding. There's no spatter, smoke, and a bunch of noise like during mig. It's quiet and clean and a very controlled process. I'm really glad I took time to learn and keep on practicing when ever I can.

Good luck with your work on TODD.

-Chris

[ggdad1951]

Cool. Sadly I only have MIG right now. I've done a little TIG experience at work, but no TIG at home. I've considered getting one though.

[DJ194950]

I weld a section all up then grind, say a 6" section at a time. I don't grind the weld completly off. I leave it proud on the front and back side of the fender. Then I run it through the planishing hammer. then you check and see how the surfaces are doing and correct and low or high spots. Do a little more grinding, being very careful to not grind away metal on either side of the weld. Only grind the weld.

 

Did you buy the FH planishing setup or something else? Is is as noisy as I've read? 

 

Love to learn that level of metal shaping-Great work!!! 

 

Thanks,

 

DJ

Edited December 31, 2014 by DJ194950

[48Dodger]

Cool. Sadly I only have MIG right now. I've done a little TIG experience at work, but no TIG at home. I've considered getting one though.

I'll get you some practice when you're here in April, Mark..

 

48D

[ggdad1951]

I weld a section all up then grind, say a 6" section at a time. I don't grind the weld completly off. I leave it proud on the front and back side of the fender. Then I run it through the planishing hammer. then you check and see how the surfaces are doing and correct and low or high spots. Do a little more grinding, being very careful to not grind away metal on either side of the weld. Only grind the weld.

It's really important to read the metal and listen to what it's telling you. Feeling it with your hand and looking at it under a good light will show the highs and lows. Correct those areas as needed.

Hammer welding isn't hard you just got to move real quick and planishing when the weld is still hot. I use to do this all the time when I MIG welded patches. It helped keep the warpage under control and allowed me to dress the welds as I went. Since with a MIG the welds are much harder and the excess heat put into the panel really messes with things.

Do you plan on using MIG or TIG? I highly recommend learning TIG as its so much better for doing sheetmetal work. It does take a good bit of practice to learn but very rewarding once you do. I find it relaxing doing TIG welding. There's no spatter, smoke, and a bunch of noise like during mig. It's quiet and clean and a very controlled process. I'm really glad I took time to learn and keep on practicing when ever I can.

Good luck with your work on TODD.

-Chris

oddly, I talked to the welders here at work and also a nationally known hot rod guy and none of them recommended TIG for sheetmetal....

[1952B3b23]

I weld a section all up then grind, say a 6" section at a time. I don't grind the weld completly off. I leave it proud on the front and back side of the fender. Then I run it through the planishing hammer. then you check and see how the surfaces are doing and correct and low or high spots. Do a little more grinding, being very careful to not grind away metal on either side of the weld. Only grind the weld.

Did you buy the FH planishing setup or something else? Is is as noisy as I've read?

Love to learn that level of metal shaping-Great work!!!

Thanks,

DJ

I don't have a planishing hammer yet but I get to use the one at the sheet metal shop where I took the class. Wray is nice enough to let me go back and work on the fender when ever I have the time. So I use his planishing hammer that he built and designed himself. They are pretty noisy but work well. I've consider getting a HF unit since they're cheap and with some upgrades can be made into a decent unit, so I've heard.

Thank you for the nice compliment.

-Chris

[Dave72dt]

I've thought about getting one of those palm nailers to use as a hand held planisher but haven't tired it yet.  Not sure how they are set up.

[1952B3b23]

That's nice of you Tim to allow mark to use your TIG. It's so much easier to learn when you have some one experienced telling you what's going wrong and how to correct.

Mark:

I'd like to know the reasoning that those guys say TIG isn't good for sheet metal? I could not disagree with them more. It gives you the ability to precisely control heat input and filler material. All of those contribute to how the panels get affected by the welding ie. Shrinkage and warping. The more you can minimize those affects the less work you have to do to metal finish a panel to filler (bondo or lead) free standards.

I'm intrigued to hear there side.

-Chris

[Dave72dt]

I agree, Chris.  That is an odd statement about TIG.  The only ones I can think of who realistically might make such a claim would be those that still do OXY welding and metal finish 100 %.  MIG is fast, can do nice welds and can be metal finished but any true metal finish is time comsuming.  It may be more the economics of it than anything else, metal finishing TIG versus MIG and some filler.

[Frank Elder]

oddly, I talked to the welders here at work and also a nationally known hot rod guy and none of them recommended TIG for sheetmetal....

Then they have never hammered a nice soft tig weld into submission...so much easier than working a rock hard mig lump.......lol.

I only wish I had the skills/patience to master oxy welding...it is by far the most controlled/time consuming weld there is but is better than mig or tig for joining panels and metal finishing

[ggdad1951]

basically it was stated as you can end up blowing thru the metal pretty quick with TIG.  Also was told that hammer welding MIG welds can crack the welds as they are so hard and lumpy.  A code welder buddy (welds for the local refinery) said the same thing.  MIG would be easier/faster and less prone to blow thru.

 

I was starting to research a TIG set up and was asking around about it.

[Dave72dt]

OXY and TIG require very good panel fitment for the best weld success. MIG is a bit more lenient, but believe me, I can blow through in a heartbeat with it. Most weld too cold with a MIG on sheet metal. Planishing the weld while still warm helps and the cracks are usually not in the weld but along side it.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Dave72dt

[48Dodger]

Sheet metal work and Automotive sheet metal might mean different things to different welders.....the best fabricators use TIG. But lord knows I respect your research Mark, so I'm interested in what you've found.

 

Ron Covell might be one of the better known fabbers.

Skip to 2:47 on video three to hear his thoughts on TIG welding.

 

48D

 

building a fender part one

building a fender part two

building a fender part three

[1952B3b23]

When doing previous patch panel work where I only had my Mig welder to use I would use the hammer weld technique. I never had any of my welds crack. I found that it was the best way to get a good panel finish at the end.

As Dave stated you can still blow thru with a mig or TIG for that matter. The panel fitment needs to be really good before you weld up the joint with a TIG. If you take your time and make sure things are tight and line up well then the final product will turn out that much better. Mig might be faster and easier but tig gives you the precise control needed for really good results. Some certified welders may disagree but just because you're certified in a certain class doesn't mean you know the ins and outs of sheet metal welding.

Gas welding is another alternative but I can't really comment on that as I have no experience with it. One thing that I always wondered is if the larger heat affected zone (HAZ) of the gas torch really screws with the panel? It seems like it's HAZ would be much larger than with a TIG. Any experienced guys can comment on this and help me understand?

Thanks for creating a great discussion on this guys. I always like to hear different sides and opinions... Might learn something that way lol.

Happy new year!

-Chris