Fender damage.

[ccain529]

Originally Posted by MikeVW

You did a very good job. May I ask how you did it? Did you use an english wheel?
Mike

Thanks Mike!
I cut out the old metal and stretched the fender lip out to the angle I thought was close. Then taped up some poster board and traced off a template. I cut the metal for the flare and bent it slightly then tacked it all in place. It was sort of a compound curve and I had to shrink the metal in places to get it to weld properly.

Originally Posted by oasis

Y'know, ccain529, until beetle1303 posted this, I had forgotten you did the work yourself. I am very impressed. :agree:

Thanks Oasis!


Tonight I took the measurements from the drivers fender and prepped and cut the passenger fender. I reused the template for the drivers fender. flipped it over and used it to cut the metal for the passenger side fender. After all the metal was tacked in place it remeasured and found that the fender was out less than a 16th of an inch. after some gentle nudging from the body hammer it's now dead on!

[ccain529]

OK guys....here's the latest:
Last night I finished flaring the last of the fenders. I am real glad that I can walk away from the welder for a while. I etched the bare metal and I am now getting ready to lay down a coat of sand-able high build primer and start fine tuning the bodywork. Please pardon the my shop.....I do all the rough bodywork in what my girlfriend calls "The Dog House"

All 4 welded up....

Rear fender after metal etching....

Ditto....

[wrenchnride247]

Looking Good:agree: . You sure you havn't done this before. Looks Pro.

[MikeVW]

Originally Posted by ccain529

Thanks Mike!
I cut out the old metal and stretched the fender lip out to the angle I thought was close. Then taped up some poster board and traced off a template. I cut the metal for the flare and bent it slightly then tacked it all in place. It was sort of a compound curve and I had to shrink the metal in places to get it to weld properly.

What did you use to shrink the metal? I am looking to get wider fenders and I like the way yours turned out and it is different and cheaper than fiberglass.

Mike

[ccain529]

Originally Posted by MikeVW

What did you use to shrink the metal? I am looking to get wider fenders and I like the way yours turned out and it is different and cheaper than fiberglass.

Mike

Hey Mike,
The technique I used to shrink the metal was to take a torch and heat the metal where I felt it needed to be shrunk. Then (while the metal is still very hot) use a garden hose to cool the metal rapidly. This will shrink it quite a bit. I've used the same technique to remove dents in larger panels.
Lets say you have a long, relatively narrow piece of metal and you need it to bend slightly, but the tensile strength of the metal prevents it. It you heat it on the inside of where you imagine the bend to be and then cool it rapidly it will bend. This can be tedious and time consuming. Be careful because it can cause a bit of warping. I would suggest running a few test panels just to get the feel of it. But whatever warpage you get can be addressed later with a hammer and dolly.

Thanks

[MikeVW]

Thanks ccain529 for the info. At this point in my build I am far from working on my fenders but I think I am going to give it a shot as your fenders look much better than hugh fiberglass fenders. I will post some pictures when I get there.

Mike

[ccain529]

Originally Posted by MikeVW

Thanks ccain529 for the info. At this point in my build I am far from working on my fenders but I think I am going to give it a shot as your fenders look much better than hugh fiberglass fenders. I will post some pictures when I get there.

Mike

Thank you!! Good luck with your build! Keep us posted!

[Mikey]

Your fenders look great. I like the fact that you're making something yourself. :righton:

That's a good technique of shrinking metal. You can also use what is called a 'shrinking disk'. I'm gonna have to get one for my fenders.

[ccain529]

Originally Posted by Mikey

Your fenders look great. I like the fact that you're making something yourself.

After all is said and done...I shoulda bought 'em already made! These things kicked my butt!

Well here they are folks....primed, wetsanded, painted and cleared! All that is left is to mount the tail lights and wire up the front bumper turn signals.






The paint isn't an exact match but I plan on painting the entire car next year.

Cheers

Chris

[MikeVW]

Wow, those look great. You did a fantasic job. I wish they came from the factory like that!

Mike

[beetle1303]

Amazing fab skills as well as prep and painting skills. Well done. I wish i had space, time and these skills...

Congrats again

Chris

[oasis]

:agree: :agree: I'd give more than two thumbs up if I could ... wait a second ... never mind, that's not a thumb. Really well done!

[chug_A_bug]

sweet job dude thanks for that Idea I'm putting my 69 in the body shop this work I may try that as well cheaper then Remmele CF (i wish) but this then this will be just fine great job though

[ccain529]

Originally Posted by MikeVW

Wow, those look great. You did a fantasic job. I wish they came from the factory like that!
Mike

Me too!!

Originally Posted by beetle1303

Amazing fab skills as well as prep and painting skills. Well done. I wish i had space, time and these skills...
Congrats again
Chris

Thank you!!

Originally Posted by oasis

I'd give more than two thumbs up if I could ... wait a second ... never mind, that's not a thumb. Really well done!

OMG!! I peeing my pants!

Originally Posted by chug_A_bug

sweet job dude thanks for that Idea I'm putting my 69 in the body shop this work I may try that as well cheaper then Remmele CF (i wish) but this then this will be just fine great job though

Thanks! And keep us posted!

Thanks sooo much guys! It's your encouragement that keeps me going.

Say, have you ever noticed how one small thing mushrooms into a major undertaking?! In the direct mid-day sunshine yesterday the car looked pretty good. The paint wasn't a perfect match but then again I didn't expect it too. Well, this evening after work, I went down to the shop to see how well the paint had cured and to start work on the wiring and bumpers...BIG MISTAKE!!! I pulled the car out and in the evening sun those fenders aren't even close to matching! Looks like an old black and white police car! Well, never one to be satisfied, I've decided to respray the whole car. I was planing to do this next year but....I just can't live with the fenders being so far from matching the rest of the car! And not that there is anything wrong with that style (note the disclaimer) If my fenders don't match, I may as well make a "Rust Rod" out of it!
Damn OCD! And yes, all the labels on the oil cans in my shop are facing out! So stay tuned I'll probably start yet another thread on the progress of the respray.
Gotta run, I'm going down to the shop and start striping the car down.

Cheers

Chris

[kitchenware]

Hey man, first off.... Great job on the fenders! Second, thanks for posting that up and opening my eyes on my own project. I initially wanted 'kafer cup' style glass fenders for my ride, but $ and international shipping were a huge turn off. That and it goes against every fiber of my DIY being to simply buy something. Then came your post... duh, why was I trying so hard to widen from the inside with all of the complex angles/shaping/excessive welding and hammering. Especially since I am in the process of widening some jetta fenders using a similar method to your fenders. I'm scrapping my first beetle fender mid stream and trying your method.

here are some pics of my short lived fender project (2hrs)

if these pics begin to clutter your thread, let me know and I'll pull em.


Inside edge trimmed off.



here the rest of the fender is with like 3" of extra metal, but 2.5" was what was going to be final.

I'll post up my own thread on my fender job once I get my project moved over to my new garage.

Thanks again for posting that up.