The next task on the project was shaping some new front fenders. As mentioned / shown slightly in a previous post someone had attempted to modify the fenders and wheel openings. I took this "problem" and decided to just correct the issues as well as change the wheel opening to a different shape / diameter to match the wheels better.
I created a fairly simple buck to help create the new opening that we wanted, and to help start the shape of the "S" profile created by the wheel opening / "flare" This flare actually tapers from wider in the front to narrower in the rear to account for the narrowing of the front fenders from the door to the headlights (the flare stays parallel to the wheel & tire basically"
I shaped each fender out of four main pieces. Here I've got each panel shaped pretty close and am doing some final fitting & aligning.
I took this opportunity to remove the bolt on front end panel seam and incorporated it into the fender.
Once the panels were all fitting properly I rolled the wheel lip and tacked all four panels together.
The picture from the rear view shows how I now attached the fender panel to the previously fabricated fender jamb.
After the main portion of the fender and wheel opening / flare were shaped I focused on shaping up the bottoms of the openings in order to blend and finish them off into the fender.
Close up view showing all the panel alignment after tacking them together
All sections of the fender have been fully welded and in the picture have about 85-90% of the welds planished and finished.
All sections of the fender have been fully welded and in the picture have about 85-90% of the welds planished and finished.
A close up showing the soft roll / radius on the wheel opening.
Duplicated all this work on the passenger side as well.