[dataway]

About to do the same job on my front fenders, although I think my braces are decent enough to use.
Do you have any bending equipment? I have a couple of brakes and a roller, they come in real handy for making patches.

I think the thicker stuff is easier to patch ... below is a control arm I repaired .. TIG welded a patch in. If you ever need a bit of thicker material and don't want to buy a whole sheet I usually have some 16 or 18 ga. lying around that I could send out in patch size pieces, for free. I usually buy it in 4 x 8 foot sheets.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by dataway

About to do the same job on my front fenders, although I think my braces are decent enough to use.
Do you have any bending equipment? I have a couple of brakes and a roller, they come in real handy for making patches.

I think the thicker stuff is easier to patch ... below is a control arm I repaired .. TIG welded a patch in. If you ever need a bit of thicker material and don't want to buy a whole sheet I usually have some 16 or 18 ga. lying around that I could send out in patch size pieces, for free. I usually buy it in 4 x 8 foot sheets.

Nice job on those control arms.
Thanks for the offer. I'll check what I have and what I may have needs for but I think good. Not too much patching left to do at this point.

So are you going to buy the patch panels for your fenders? Here's a photo of the insides of what I bought:



The brackets are the same gauge as the patch panels which I think are 20ga.
I didn't measure the original brackets but I think they may be 16ga as they seem pretty stout. So I won't use them and I'll just graft in new pieces.

And btw, I just did some trial fitting with the repro outer wheelhouses I bought and they are garbage and I wasted my money on them. They don't fit worth a darn.
I'm going to have to fabricate what I need to repair the rusted out areas in my outers. That is going to take me a pretty good amount of time but it's the only way I'm going to get everything to fit the way it should.

No I don't have any metal bending equipment and haven't used any before either. Also, this may be my last project car of this magnitude so not likely I'll make investments on them. Always thought it would be cool to have though.

[iceman411]

When I did my ‘69 I used the outer wheelhouses and they worked fine... way better fit than the panels that are offered for the ‘70-‘72 body style...

What part of the panel not fit right?
When I did my ‘71 convertible I had to graft the new metal, from the reproduction panels, in like this, since no outer wheelhouse is offered in convertible...

[roger1]

Originally Posted by iceman411

When I did my ‘69 I used the outer wheelhouses and they worked fine... way better fit than the panels that are offered for the ‘70-‘72 body style...

What part of the panel not fit right?
When I did my ‘71 convertible I had to graft the new metal, from the reproduction panels, in like this, since no outer wheelhouse is offered in convertible...

It's in the lower rear part that they don't fit. Yours do not look like mine do there. I'm guessing there must be different manufacturers for these. I got mine from OPGI and they are black e-coated.

[iceman411]

Originally Posted by roger1

It's in the lower rear part that they don't fit. Yours do not look like mine do there. I'm guessing there must be different manufacturers for these. I got mine from OPGI and they are black e-coated.

Here’s some pics on my actual ‘69 that I redid and then sold... one place makes the panels and all the companies select from the pile...Mike

[roger1]

Originally Posted by iceman411

Here’s some pics on my actual ‘69 that I redid and then sold... one place makes the panels and all the companies select from the pile...Mike

Maybe. But the photos of the ones on the OPGI site looked different and were not e-coated. The ones I received look more like the ones that Ames carries. Ames states this on them:
*QUALITY: FAIR OUTER LIP NEEDS RE-CONTOURING FOR TIGHT FIT.*

That is true but they fit even worse in the lower rear sections.
It will be easier for me to make my own grafts to repair what rusted away on mine than it would be to modify these off-shore made repros.

[n20ta2]

I replaced both my outer wheel wheelhouse and they were garbage, I had to do a lot of work to make them right. I would have fixed mine if they weren't completely toast, can't remember where I got them now but they were ecoated as well. I think the drivers side was worse then the passenger, not even close to good