Body help/advice needed

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Went back out today and completed the drivers side. I went back and forth from one area to the next. Things went better today compared to the last attempt. I know its not perfect but I'm pretty sure it will hold up well. I plan on taking seam sealer and going over all the welds yet then I'll paint the inner fenders. Now I will be going to the Passenger side next. Its not near as bad as the drivers side was. I would guess another 10 or so hours. At least I wont be paying the body guy to do this now! Heres what I ended up with:
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Thanks again for everyones suggestions and advise.
Rod
 
Looking good, I was under the impression you started with lapped panels, butt welding is much cleaner when done like said by others.
 
my 2 cents here: pretty hard to learn to weld on: butt welds. rusty metal, thin sheet metal.. like he said, the mig likes CLEAN metal, no rust or oils.... the usual problem that lap welds will maybe eventually create is where the lapped metal is TOO wide, causing rust to form between the 2 panels. a weldable spray primer here helps. look at maybe Eastwood to see what i'm eferring to. the fit for the butt weld is obvious critical. you might try lap welds, with the lapped material 1/2 in wide. on this thin old metal, I can't see using anything but .023.

experiment with heat and wire speed to get the weld you want. nothin wrong with just short spot welds if you doing it right. then come back and fill in. it all takes practice and FEEL. you will also learn to hear the right sound when getting a good weld.

like he said, you can worp a panel real quick grinding welds down smooth!! be careful on those long outside panels. I like a "flap disc" , remember hit the clean metal with anything les than 80 grit and you will leave sand scratches that will come back to bit ya in the butt. I use 40 grit to smotth off welds, and no coarser than 80 grit cleaning up surface rust on panels, and then smotth it off even more before any primers.

trying to fab your patches for the outer wheel house with compound curves is not easy! you are doing fine IMHO. clean those welds best you can, spray it with a rust cleaning metal product or acid prod, prime it good, paint there, and a good undercoating or even product like Body Schult primer, and it will be great! keep up the good work!!
 
Looking much better. With practice the learning curve will come. Just like anything you can't learn much by sitting on the side line. Keep at it.
 
I havent posted on this thread for almost a year now. With everyones suggestions I did complete the inner fender rebuild process. I do know now I couldnt do that for a living! Now, since its been almost a year Im sad to say my body man didnt show up at all this year so the rear quarters sit just as they did back then. I still get the "Im going to finish it for you and I have moved on to other things while I waited but at this time the body has to get done so I can move forward with my build. I plan on completing my exhaust in the next week and then I will start to tackle the quarters on my own. Just a quick review of where the quarters are at. We cut the old metal off the car using the original body line and cut 1" below that line. Then cut the replacement panels on the body line and glued them together.
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Now as you can see the new panel is just flush with the original body line. My question is how do I blend this in now? Do i take a grinder and try to blend it to the body line by angling the grinder pad then use filler to build the line back? Will grinding at the bonded area make the glue weak or soft from heat? I can take some better and closer pics if that would help. I am not building a show car so perfection isnt a must but I would like it to be done right and not wavey. I dont have tons of body tools, my collection is a DA, 3" air grinder with those screw in pads that I can get different grits, and small blocks. I think my longest block is a 12". I can borrow an air file thats probably about 12". I have primed the car including the rear panels. Again thanks for any help, hopefully those that offered help last year will still be willing to offer advice once again.
Thanks Rod
 
Hoping that I can get some additional guidance moving forward. Its been almost 1 1/2 since I thought I should jump in and start doing my body work . Well nothing has changed so its time to get moving. As I said back when I first posted I am not a body person and have no experience doing any visible panels but Im going to learn! Instead of starting on the quarters I am starting on the fenders and doors that are removed. My reason is that if I can get them back on the car I will have more room in m garage to work. Very limited space. OK, now I have stripped the front drivers fender down to bare metal and I found some rust in the lower area behind the tire. I took a wire brush to it and found one pin hole after the wire brushing. Here is the pic:
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You cant see the pin hole in this pic but you can see the pitting. Its a spot that is probably about 8" tall and 5" wide. Here is my question. Can I just cut out the area of the pinhole and weld in a small piece or does the whole thing need replaced and I know what the right answer is. I was thinking, since this is only going to be driven 1000 miles max a year and garage kept that maybe if I did the small area then sprayed mar-hyde one step to neutralize the rust that I could use a fiberglass resin to smooth out and it wouldnt rust farther. I Havent looked at the other fender yet as I got depressed when i saw this! So if its the whole area how do I form the metal to have that slightly rounded contour of the fender?
I can take more pics if you need to see more.
Well thanks for any help you can give me. I guess I'll put this one to the side until I get some advice and start on the other fender a while.
Thanks Rod
 
Hey thanks for the bump. Im havent gotten any advice from here yet but i did talk to the body shop here local. They suggested I sand blast that area and see what is left once thats done. Im sure that was a nice way of saying I should cut it out and do it the right way. But I am going to do a sandblast of the area on both fenders and see whats left. Ive been derailed again as I bought a truck to pull the car and trailer that needs some work.
Rod
 
sandblasting will no doubt get rid of bad metal. I use "Ospho" to clean pitted metal that is SOUND ( NO pinholes) . it is a phosphoric acid product, great stuff. then epoxy primer that is acid compatable. seal and pant. good luck!
 
barbee6043, I have that here and do plan on using that after whatever fix I end up doing.
Thanks for the advice
Rod
 
Well I finally got to hitting the front lower part of the fenders with the sandblaster to see how bad they really are. Looks like I need to cut out these sections and make patch panels and weld in place. As I've said many times on this forum I am by no means a body person so I am going to need some help getting this done. Below are some pics of both fenders, with inside and outside pics. How much do I cut out and when making the insert to be welded in should it fit inside the cut tightly or need to leave some space for weld to fill in. What is the procedure to do something like this. I'm counting on this group to get me through this!
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Thanks Rod
 
Its been almost 3 days and I'm surprised I've gotten no advice. I am going to start on it this weekend. I guess we will see what happens. I'm sure I will have many hours of frustration but its time to tackle this.
We will see how it goes.
Rod
 
I would cut out and replace all of the pitted steel on the outer skin. On the bracing coat it with por15.
 
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My advice would be the same, lower fender patch panels and blast and coat the support. Unless you clean it up in between the skin and support the rust will keep coming.
 
Thanks guys. I will cut the skin off and clean/sandblast the bracing. Then I will coat with Mar-Hyde then cover with Por 15. When I make my patch should it be a tight fit inside the cut out? I also got some brass to put behind the seems as I spot weld to help suck up some of the welding heat. I will go slow while welding and use more of a taching method so I dont put to much heat into the panels. Hope to start at it this weekend. Looks like this will be a very slow project.
Will post pics if I dont forget to take them as I go!
Thanks Rod
 
prrc said:
Rod. But welding panels is the way to go. A bit of advice when welding tack weld around the panel moving your next weld to the opposite side of the panel. Keep and air line and blow gun close. Weld a spot and blow it til cool to touch. This will eleminate warping the panel. Most people will tell you grind the weld with a disc. You can do it that way. But you can warp the panel just as bad if your not careful. I would suggest buying a burr and cleaning up the weld with the burr until you are close to level on the panel. Then switch to a 50 grit disc for final clean up. When finished grinding hammer and dolly as much of the weld as s possible to fix any high or low spots on the panel. Pull a tight coat of duraglass over the weld as a base. Then you can start your filler work .
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-----WHOA! now is an excellent time and easy to stretch ur fender wells. u can make a template of the stock shape to make it look near factory. only the most knowlegable, or mopar car guys would notice it. u might be kickin urself later for not doing it. "taller slicks"!
 
I did mostly overlapping metal. Used a air flange tool. Worked nice. The few places I did butt weld, I think it worked nicer with a small gap (maybe 1/16) as long as you back it up while welding. I was able to do a few spots without backer, but frequently shot the wire through the gap and had to cut it off the back. Plus the main reason I did but weld was if I needed the back clean, but then had to use sand disk both sides to get it right. I also have some panel clamps for butt weld setup if you want to try them. They force you to leave more gap than I wanted though so did not use them. Strong magnets work nice for small patches till you get a few tack welds. Then just stitch around till its closed.
You have it at the house now? I could stop by... Going away Sat afternoon. What time you think you will get at it Sat?
FYI - Duster is road legal now (aligned and inspected yesterday), but having issues. I think trans. Maybe kickdown? Doesn't want to go more than 25mph...
 
I suggest try Ospho on that cleaned and pitted meta. good stuff. yep cut all al thin or wormy metal. practice make perfect. yu ill learn many skills her Pronto!!
 
Thanks guys, famousbob, not sure what you mean by stretching it but i think your referring to the rear and this is the front fender on each side.
I will probably not get out to shed ( yes its back home) at house until sat night or sunday morning as i have already been given a few chores to take care of first!
Ill post pics as i go so you can sre what im dealing with. Also yes i will be practicing the welding before i do any real welding.
Rod
 
rod7515 said:
I will probably not get out to shed ( yes its back home) at house until sat night or sunday morning as i have already been given a few chores to take care of first!
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sounds like a honeydo list...lol
I probably won't be back till later this evening. Tomorrow's pretty open. Any idea what time you will get at it tomorrow? Maybe shoot me a text then and I will swing by and see if I can confuse you more than you are now. lol
 
Got started on the first fender. Cut out the worst and started making the patch. Here are some pics.
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Hope to fit the panel today and try welding a little. I got a piece of brass to put behind the welds to help remove heat. Also will only do small spots at a time allowing for cooling before hitting it again. Should I tap fender edges in at all before welding or just clean up as it is and then match and weld the panel. First time doing something like this.
Thanks Rod
 
rod7515 said:
Got started on the first fender. Cut out the worst and started making the patch. Here are some pics.
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Hope to fit the panel today and try welding a little. I got a piece of brass to put behind the welds to help remove heat. Also will only do small spots at a time allowing for cooling before hitting it again. Should I tap fender edges in at all before welding or just clean up as it is and then match and weld the panel. First time doing something like this.
Thanks Rod
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Not sure what you mean about tapping in. looks pretty close.Just want to lay it in and tack it till its seated as level as possible. If you end up with any high spots after cleaning up welds you will need to tap them down. and fill. I'm no bodyman either....my goal was no more than 1/8" depth of filler Hopefully the thickness difference is not enough to cause trouble. Should be fine, especially if you keep the backup piece tight. If the patch wants to burn, just start each tack slightly more to the thicker metal. How are you holding it to start welding?
 
Going to use magnets. Heading out now to put in an hour or 2 before lunch.
Rod
 
I say you will do well gasshopper. I like just a very slight gap between the 2 pieces when butt welding. I like a flap disc to grind down the welds. nothing more abrasive than 80 grit. it is ll work, but so rewarding, fun... and beats paying a darn bodyshop!!!!!!!! which I cannot afford anyway!
 
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