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Old 03-06-2017, 03:58 PM
mehal mehal is offline
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Default Newbie with a boobie

Hey guys, a brand spanking newbie here looking for some advice.

I am trying to make some fender flares for an early Bronco to allow for bigger tires. If you are not familiar with these trucks and the flares often seen on them, they are usually made out off some type of flexible urethane and riveted to the fenders/quarters. The truck has been heavily modified and I would prefer to make the flares in 20 gauge steel to match the fenders. I have made several attempts at them but keep running into road blocks. Most notably the metal seems to hit its limit for stretching or shrinking.

My questions are these:

1. With all the sharp bends and soft curves, is it even posible to make these flares out of a single piece of steel, or should I build them in two pieces? I am thinking that the face and inner lip of the flares wit all there sharp creases might have to be made separate from the outer edge of the flare that blends into the body.

2. Should I start from the outside (where it blends into the body) of the flare and then work my way into the inside of the fender lip? In my best attempt, I actually started from the inside with all the hard edges, but then could not get the outer bends to shrink enough to form a decent (80 degree) bend back towards the body.

I am fairly new to metal shaping, but took a class with Wray Schelin several years ago. I do have a lot of tools and experience in welding, fabricating, etc. The metal shaping stuff I have are:

1. A real nice Mittler Bros. Industrial Bead Roller with plenty of dies.
2. A real nice Mittler Bros. Hydraulic punch.
3. A decent Woodward Fab English Wheel (looks to be the same quality as some of the cheap HF or Grizzly stuff).
4. Eastwood deep throat Shrinker and Stretcher (I'm finding out how bad they are).
5. A bunch of hammers, slappers, plastic mallets, shot bag, etc.

I have attached several pictures here to present my dilemma.

Thanks in advance for any/all help and feel free to ask questions or tell me anything.

Pic 1 and 2 are shots of the urethane flares and in Pic 2 I highlight all the curves and bends that I am dealing with.

Pic_1.jpg

Pic_2.jpg

Pic 3 and 4 show some my best attempt.

Pic_3.jpg

Pic_4.jpg

Pic 5 show all my fails.

Pic_5.jpg

Pic 6 and 7 show the truck with the urethane flares

Pic_6.jpg

Pic_7.jpg
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Old 03-06-2017, 07:25 PM
Oldnek Oldnek is offline
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Mike,

If it were mine, I would start with the full curve flange, allowing plenty of metal excess to fold the flat outer flanges.
You mentioned you have a wheel, so I would block and rough out the shape, then wheel where necessary. So you have that full return flange.
Mark your line where the first flat is and tip that fold with your bead roller. Mark the second line, so you can get as close to trimming the excess off, On the curves this is where you will need the shrinker on the outer flange (outside flat one) and then block hammer or wheel more the return flange (where screws to fender) to stretch it.
Once you work this out, and key you shape to pretty close, then trim you inner most flange, you can tip it or just go around there with pliers or shifter and finish with hammer and dolly.
That return needs to be stretched.
Hope I made it simple enough to understand. You have done OK in the first couple of attempts.
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Old 03-06-2017, 09:50 PM
KAD KAD is offline
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Some times you can beat the heck out of yourself trying to bite off more metal shaping that you can accomplish.

If you can't make it in one piece then break it up into pieces you can make and weld them together.

Divide and conquer method......

Sure it's not "A purist" method but you walk before you run.
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Old 03-06-2017, 10:03 PM
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In my way of thinking, to get those corners (at yellow arrow) to lay flat against the fender, you need to stretch, not shrink...
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Old 03-07-2017, 05:43 AM
mehal mehal is offline
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Thanks for the helpful advice guys.

John - I will give it another try using your suggestion.

Kirk - You're so right about walking before running. I just thought this looked easy !!

Robert - You are right the very outer edge will need to be stretched to get it to lay flat against the fender. But moving in towards the corner, it needs to shrink in order to make that compound curve where its a 80 degree hard bend from the face.
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Old 03-07-2017, 06:01 AM
KAD KAD is offline
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Perhaps your issues are surrounding the size of the blank your starting with?

If your blank had more of the "fender" it would contain the shape better and allow you to form the edge your having problems with.

Once it's all done then just trim off the fender area and mount it to the fender on the Jeep.

In that case then the area would be stretched to shape it like Robert says. The idea changes when you add a "containment ring" of sorts around the object you wish much like you would have a border edge that you wouldn't touch on the edge of a panel that you were trying to make on the English Wheel.



If you continue with a small blank then I still maintain it's more of a fabrication job than it is a shaping job if you divide and conquer.
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Old 03-07-2017, 06:24 AM
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Trying to make the Z shape in one piece is a problem.

After you tip the flange, you can not shrink or stretch the middle part of the Z unless you flatten out the flange, tweak and the then re-tip it again.

I would weld several pieces together.
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Old 03-07-2017, 08:25 AM
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If all else fails and you have a skateboard wheel for the bead roller, you may be able to use a large radius upper to persuade the center area inward. Here's a piece of 14 ga steel used to patch a hole in a D5 Cat oil pan..





Or the thread to show how it was used....


http://www.allmetalshaping.com/showthread.php?t=8487


This may add the shape you need there..
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Last edited by MP&C; 03-07-2017 at 08:27 AM.
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Old 03-07-2017, 01:07 PM
mehal mehal is offline
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Thanks again for the advice guys.

Kirk - I was starting with roughly a 10 inch (cross section) of material shaped to match the fender face outline. This is almost twice the finished cross-section width of the flare, so I thought I had enough excess.

Again I started from the inside and it was all going fine until I had to make those 80 degree corners and couldn't get the material to shrink or bend over any further. I might try again starting from the outside with a bigger cross section of material (12-15 inches) and follow what you and Robert suggested. Though I already think I will hit a wall again when it comes time to shrinking the inside of the face as Pugsy pointed out.

Robert - I do have a skateboard wheel and I big round die. But that only helps with the soft outer curves. its the hard 80 degree bend coupled with the 50 degree bends going perpendicular that gives me fits. The only way to get the crisp lies is to tip them, but then I can't get the metal shrunk enough to get the shape I need. Basically the combination of Bend 2 where it meets Bends 4/5 in the (Pic_2) I included.

Again, thanks for all the advice. I will get them done somehow. Doing them in two pieces seems the easiest, but I wish I had the skills to get it done in one piece.
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Old 03-07-2017, 01:20 PM
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Try tuck shrinking to get more shrink.
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