The Ford Barn

signsup · 03-05-2025, 09:09 AM

The original is there, but brumbling away, not goning to be show car and I'm picking and choosing my battles on how much to restore and how much is not that important to the end result.
If I were to take on replacing fender welting, I've read where just loosen the bolt enough to allow the old welting to come out and new welting to be place in. I'd remove the old, paint car and then replace new.
But, is it just loosen a few bolts? Or is it fender to running boards and fenders to cowl, bumper, radiator, inner fender, etc, etc, etc, and the first bolt I snap off I'll be kicking myself for messing with any of them.

How big a job is this? I'll hang up and listen. Thanks in advance.

nelsb01 · 03-05-2025, 11:04 AM

1942 is a few years past my 1936 pickup, but when I removed the front fenders I found the remains of the fender welting looking like it was stapled in place. There were small reminants of metal like staples in the remaining welting and small holes in the fender lip.
It would make sense as if the welting was being stapled on, it would speed up assembly and you know that was a process that Ford was known for. Speeding up assembly lines.

In assembling my 1936 pickup, I will be using rubber cement to hold the welting in place. Rubber cement is an easy product to work with and will allow for 're-setting' the welting as you attach the fender.

My thoughts. Others may share how they have done it.

Drbrown · 03-05-2025, 11:55 AM

You mention "paint" car ? As you may know, best not to paint the welting. I don't think you can get a good paint job done on the car without completely removing the fenders. Aside from whether or not you paint the car, yes you could just replace the welting but there is often hidden rust in the joint. Painting's not cheap and any hidden rust should be removed beforehand. My '47 was done that way, including removal and replacement of the running boards. 12 years later still looks like new.

signsup · 03-05-2025, 11:58 AM

I am not planning on removing the fenders for any reason. If I touch them at all, I was hoping to just loosen bolts and drop them enough to remove old welting and slip in new. I have read posts about the process and some will attach welting to fender or body if the two are completely seperated with some drilling oversize holes and some cutting V notches in the welting. But, if there is any chance that the old welting is stapled onto the fender, that would negate this process. This is the first post where I have read that this might be a possibility. Current welting appears to be original, so it was installed how Henry did it.

tubman · 03-05-2025, 12:18 PM

Unless you live where it is dry and your car is completely rust free, I predict that you will have problems loosening the bolts. The cage nuts on the inside of the body can be a problem.

Bruce_MO · 03-05-2025, 03:42 PM

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Having just done all the welting on my ‘46, I can say you have the potential for challenges. I don’t recall staples holding the original welting on mine, and if there were staples, I think that would not be a big obstacle. Just use a screwdriver or small chisel to clean up any welt or staple pieces. You should be able to see the curled “feet” of any staples from the underside if they were used, and if they were stapled, you’d find them near the sharp bends. But like I said, I don’t think I had any on front or rear fenders or rear splash apron.

My concern, as mentioned earlier, is rust and rusted fasteners. I believe that some cars had bolts and cage nuts on the rears and some used essentially large sheet metal screws or lag bolts for the majority of the rear fasteners. On mine, the lag bolt holes were rusty so that I could not get a good tight clamping force. And some had 1-2” square areas of rusted out “Swiss cheese”. So I had to make patches with cage nuts welded to them and install them from the inside of the body with a mig welder. And you should expect that the bolts at running boards will have to be broken off due to rust. My car had cage nuts at the cowl for the front fenders and they were like new. But down low at the dog leg by the running board, there was a fair amount of rust and twisted off cage nuts.

I think that nice looking welting is important for sure, but there’s a good chance that you’ll stumble in to a big job. Last point is that Thirdgen Ford Parts has the original style welting and it’s paintable and not all that much more than the cheap vinyl stuff.

Good luck with whatever approach you select.

03-05-2025, 09:09 AM	#1
signsup Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Posts: 201	How involved to replace fender welting on 42 Mercury? The original is there, but brumbling away, not goning to be show car and I'm picking and choosing my battles on how much to restore and how much is not that important to the end result. If I were to take on replacing fender welting, I've read where just loosen the bolt enough to allow the old welting to come out and new welting to be place in. I'd remove the old, paint car and then replace new. But, is it just loosen a few bolts? Or is it fender to running boards and fenders to cowl, bumper, radiator, inner fender, etc, etc, etc, and the first bolt I snap off I'll be kicking myself for messing with any of them. How big a job is this? I'll hang up and listen. Thanks in advance.

03-05-2025, 11:04 AM	#2
nelsb01 Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Up North Posts: 777	Re: How involved to replace fender welting on 42 Mercury? 1942 is a few years past my 1936 pickup, but when I removed the front fenders I found the remains of the fender welting looking like it was stapled in place. There were small reminants of metal like staples in the remaining welting and small holes in the fender lip. It would make sense as if the welting was being stapled on, it would speed up assembly and you know that was a process that Ford was known for. Speeding up assembly lines. In assembling my 1936 pickup, I will be using rubber cement to hold the welting in place. Rubber cement is an easy product to work with and will allow for 're-setting' the welting as you attach the fender. My thoughts. Others may share how they have done it.

03-05-2025, 11:55 AM	#3
Drbrown Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Glens Falls NY Posts: 1,355	Re: How involved to replace fender welting on 42 Mercury? You mention "paint" car ? As you may know, best not to paint the welting. I don't think you can get a good paint job done on the car without completely removing the fenders. Aside from whether or not you paint the car, yes you could just replace the welting but there is often hidden rust in the joint. Painting's not cheap and any hidden rust should be removed beforehand. My '47 was done that way, including removal and replacement of the running boards. 12 years later still looks like new.

03-05-2025, 11:58 AM	#4
signsup Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Posts: 201	Re: How involved to replace fender welting on 42 Mercury? I am not planning on removing the fenders for any reason. If I touch them at all, I was hoping to just loosen bolts and drop them enough to remove old welting and slip in new. I have read posts about the process and some will attach welting to fender or body if the two are completely seperated with some drilling oversize holes and some cutting V notches in the welting. But, if there is any chance that the old welting is stapled onto the fender, that would negate this process. This is the first post where I have read that this might be a possibility. Current welting appears to be original, so it was installed how Henry did it.

03-05-2025, 12:18 PM	#5
tubman Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys Posts: 11,639	Re: How involved to replace fender welting on 42 Mercury? Unless you live where it is dry and your car is completely rust free, I predict that you will have problems loosening the bolts. The cage nuts on the inside of the body can be a problem.

03-05-2025, 03:42 PM	#6
Bruce_MO Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 532	Re: How involved to replace fender welting on 42 Mercury? Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) Having just done all the welting on my ‘46, I can say you have the potential for challenges. I don’t recall staples holding the original welting on mine, and if there were staples, I think that would not be a big obstacle. Just use a screwdriver or small chisel to clean up any welt or staple pieces. You should be able to see the curled “feet” of any staples from the underside if they were used, and if they were stapled, you’d find them near the sharp bends. But like I said, I don’t think I had any on front or rear fenders or rear splash apron. My concern, as mentioned earlier, is rust and rusted fasteners. I believe that some cars had bolts and cage nuts on the rears and some used essentially large sheet metal screws or lag bolts for the majority of the rear fasteners. On mine, the lag bolt holes were rusty so that I could not get a good tight clamping force. And some had 1-2” square areas of rusted out “Swiss cheese”. So I had to make patches with cage nuts welded to them and install them from the inside of the body with a mig welder. And you should expect that the bolts at running boards will have to be broken off due to rust. My car had cage nuts at the cowl for the front fenders and they were like new. But down low at the dog leg by the running board, there was a fair amount of rust and twisted off cage nuts. I think that nice looking welting is important for sure, but there’s a good chance that you’ll stumble in to a big job. Last point is that Thirdgen Ford Parts has the original style welting and it’s paintable and not all that much more than the cheap vinyl stuff. Good luck with whatever approach you select.