The Ford Barn

Daves55Sedan · 11-11-2017, 08:47 PM

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There wasn't much left of the bottom of the left rear wheelwell at the front. I had to cut out the bad section using a drill with cutoff wheel and a Dremel tool. The water splashing thru the rusthole had also rusted thru a large portion of the bottom of the rear doorjamb and a little bit of the floor (under the back seat). That part of the repair will be covered in PART 8.
Lrust2.JPG Lwhltub1.JPG
Lwhltub2.JPG
It is important to note here that there were a total of five patch pieces required to complete the repairs on the wheelwell as shown in a photo at the very bottom. The outer two rear quarter patch pieces needed to be properly fitted (temporarily) on the car before the wheelwell patch pieces could be made because every wheelwell patch piece needed to connect to the cutout at the wheelwell and also had to be bent to mate with the outer rear quarter fenderwell outlet flange. So after the outer panels were temporarily installed, cardboard templates were fashioned to mimic the finished metal pieces for the wheelwell patches, then laid flat for marking off the new flat metal sheet to be cut out and bent like the cardboard templates. Thus, NO welding of any of the inner or outer pieces could be done until ALL of the inner and outer pieces were cut out, bent, fitted in place simultaneously and modified as needed for a proper fit. It was gruelling work. Once all of the pieces are simultaneously fitted in place properly and deemed acceptable, the outer two pieces can be removed and all the wheelwell patches can then be permanently welded, cleaned, primered and painted with enamel, then the outer pieces can be re-installed and welded on permanently.
That might be a little confusing so I will try to summarize. The outer fender panels must be fitted on the body first, but the outer panels are welded on last. This section covers only the wheelwell patches. The outer rear quarter pieces are covered in PART 7. However, the planning of the work in both PARTS 6 & 7 go together and are best reviewed by the reader as a single unit.
After cutting off the front bottom of the rusted wheelwell, I made a cardboard template and used it to cut out a patch from new metal. I added an extra 1/2 inch at the top so that I could step flange the top to slide in under the cut line at the wheelwell. This metal piece was fashioned and bent around to mate with the edge of the new front portion of the outer fenderwell as the original design was. To gain the curvature at the mating point, I needed to make "V"-cuts 3/4 inch in depth and bend those "tabs" over at about 90 degrees. The metal patch panel was fitted in place so that it would be flush with the existing surface of the wheelwell. Prior to final fitting, I painted the backside of the patch with self-etch primer and some cheap enamel. The patch was held in place by inserting the top under the cut line and simply clamping it with vice grips at the bottom where it lay against the back corner of the inner rocker. It was solidly welded in place across the top where the cut line was and at the bottom to the new 90 degree corner of the rear inner rocker.
LWhltub3.JPG Lwhltub4.JPG
A second patch would cover an area from the top of the first patch and up along the factory center wheelwell seam then turn 90 degrees and run straight across and around to the side of the wheelwell above the fenderwell outlet. Making cardboard templates as a guide for cutting the metal patch pieces is the way to go, and resulted in NO metal patches being cut too short and discarded throughout the whole project. The photo below shows the second patch piece.
Lwhltub5.JPG
Patch pieces for the wheelwell were cut from a flat sheet. At the top where the new piece meets with the cutline on the wheelwell, I used the flanging tool to step the metal outward on the outside so that when fitted together, the existing portion of the wheelwell will act as a roofing shingle (although, I also intend to seal the weld seam on the underside of the wheelwell with BlackJack roofing sealer). But if that seal ever fails, The water will just drip off the bottom of the seam and won't get between two metal panels. After the patch pieces were cut out, they were fitted with the outer panels still temporarily attached so I could use them for clamping the inner patches to. The photo below shows the inner patch pieces welded in place and the outer panels temporarily removed so that the weld seam can be sealed from the outside to prevent condensation from coming in contact with the weld spots. JB-Weld was used to seal the outer seams. Roofing caulk was applied to the wheelwell seams on the underside.
Lwhltub7b.JPG
After welding of all the wheelwell patches was done, I applied grey metal primer on the hidden (outer) side of the wheelwell patches (with outer pieces removed), then applied JB-Weld to the weld seams on the hidden side. I cleaned up the entire wheelwell underside and ground off little rustspots with a sanding disk, spot primered the bare metal and cleaned all the surfaces in preparation for the enamel overcoat. On the underside of the wheelwell, I first sprayed a coat of cheap enamel across all the weld seams, then applied "Black-Jack" roofing cement at the weld seams and primered over that again to be later painted over with the metallic blue base enamel.

11-11-2017, 08:47 PM	#1
Daves55Sedan Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Granite City, Illinois Posts: 3,008	'55 car rust repair Part 6: Left side rear wheelwell Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) There wasn't much left of the bottom of the left rear wheelwell at the front. I had to cut out the bad section using a drill with cutoff wheel and a Dremel tool. The water splashing thru the rusthole had also rusted thru a large portion of the bottom of the rear doorjamb and a little bit of the floor (under the back seat). That part of the repair will be covered in PART 8. Lrust2.JPG Lwhltub1.JPG Lwhltub2.JPG It is important to note here that there were a total of five patch pieces required to complete the repairs on the wheelwell as shown in a photo at the very bottom. The outer two rear quarter patch pieces needed to be properly fitted (temporarily) on the car before the wheelwell patch pieces could be made because every wheelwell patch piece needed to connect to the cutout at the wheelwell and also had to be bent to mate with the outer rear quarter fenderwell outlet flange. So after the outer panels were temporarily installed, cardboard templates were fashioned to mimic the finished metal pieces for the wheelwell patches, then laid flat for marking off the new flat metal sheet to be cut out and bent like the cardboard templates. Thus, NO welding of any of the inner or outer pieces could be done until ALL of the inner and outer pieces were cut out, bent, fitted in place simultaneously and modified as needed for a proper fit. It was gruelling work. Once all of the pieces are simultaneously fitted in place properly and deemed acceptable, the outer two pieces can be removed and all the wheelwell patches can then be permanently welded, cleaned, primered and painted with enamel, then the outer pieces can be re-installed and welded on permanently. That might be a little confusing so I will try to summarize. The outer fender panels must be fitted on the body first, but the outer panels are welded on last. This section covers only the wheelwell patches. The outer rear quarter pieces are covered in PART 7. However, the planning of the work in both PARTS 6 & 7 go together and are best reviewed by the reader as a single unit. After cutting off the front bottom of the rusted wheelwell, I made a cardboard template and used it to cut out a patch from new metal. I added an extra 1/2 inch at the top so that I could step flange the top to slide in under the cut line at the wheelwell. This metal piece was fashioned and bent around to mate with the edge of the new front portion of the outer fenderwell as the original design was. To gain the curvature at the mating point, I needed to make "V"-cuts 3/4 inch in depth and bend those "tabs" over at about 90 degrees. The metal patch panel was fitted in place so that it would be flush with the existing surface of the wheelwell. Prior to final fitting, I painted the backside of the patch with self-etch primer and some cheap enamel. The patch was held in place by inserting the top under the cut line and simply clamping it with vice grips at the bottom where it lay against the back corner of the inner rocker. It was solidly welded in place across the top where the cut line was and at the bottom to the new 90 degree corner of the rear inner rocker. LWhltub3.JPG Lwhltub4.JPG A second patch would cover an area from the top of the first patch and up along the factory center wheelwell seam then turn 90 degrees and run straight across and around to the side of the wheelwell above the fenderwell outlet. Making cardboard templates as a guide for cutting the metal patch pieces is the way to go, and resulted in NO metal patches being cut too short and discarded throughout the whole project. The photo below shows the second patch piece. Lwhltub5.JPG Patch pieces for the wheelwell were cut from a flat sheet. At the top where the new piece meets with the cutline on the wheelwell, I used the flanging tool to step the metal outward on the outside so that when fitted together, the existing portion of the wheelwell will act as a roofing shingle (although, I also intend to seal the weld seam on the underside of the wheelwell with BlackJack roofing sealer). But if that seal ever fails, The water will just drip off the bottom of the seam and won't get between two metal panels. After the patch pieces were cut out, they were fitted with the outer panels still temporarily attached so I could use them for clamping the inner patches to. The photo below shows the inner patch pieces welded in place and the outer panels temporarily removed so that the weld seam can be sealed from the outside to prevent condensation from coming in contact with the weld spots. JB-Weld was used to seal the outer seams. Roofing caulk was applied to the wheelwell seams on the underside. Lwhltub7b.JPG After welding of all the wheelwell patches was done, I applied grey metal primer on the hidden (outer) side of the wheelwell patches (with outer pieces removed), then applied JB-Weld to the weld seams on the hidden side. I cleaned up the entire wheelwell underside and ground off little rustspots with a sanding disk, spot primered the bare metal and cleaned all the surfaces in preparation for the enamel overcoat. On the underside of the wheelwell, I first sprayed a coat of cheap enamel across all the weld seams, then applied "Black-Jack" roofing cement at the weld seams and primered over that again to be later painted over with the metallic blue base enamel.