The mutilation of my '91 thus far. :-D

[Corrupt_Reverend]

Anti-update

Just wanted to stop in and apologize for no update. Ran out of gas for my welder again and I'm having a hard time with the fender flares. It seems my design for the flares was a sound one, but really more suited to being pressed rather than bent. Hopefully my friend can get them formed tonight as he has much more experience with this sort of thing.

Below is a picture of the offending flare design.

The top and side tabs have to be bent down so that they lay flat against the side of the car and the bottom tabs need to be bend inwards so that they are vertical.

The only idea I've got is to flatten it back out and "hang and bang" the top and side tabs, then to the main angle bends and lastly, the bottom edge bit. It's just difficult because once one bend is made, it interferes with making the others.

 

[Corrupt_Reverend]

Picture update 2.10.11

Got some more gas for the welder and had a friend come over to help me out today.

Started with a little work on the fender/bezel.

I ran a bead around the edge, inside and out. Then I took my grinder and got rid of the excess material. In the above picture, you can see the cut I have to make to pull in the bottom edge so that the bezel sits against the light.

After I made that cut and was working on shaping, my friend came by to help out with the fender flare. We started with the main bends which you can see in my previous post. Then he made a couple slits in the other bend lines to make bending easier with the tight angles.

After that it was just a matter of making the bends.

I still need to fill some of the bend slots with the welder, and make a filler piece to match the front quarter contour. Also need to attend to some of the edges and bends to get them nice and straight.

Provided I don't get too distracted, I should be able to finish up the right flare and hopefully the left turn signal bezel and mounting tabs. If I can't sleep,I may go out and finish the hood tonight.

Oh so very close...

~Rev

 

[BigRondo]

Looking good. Thanks for the updates. Looking forward to seeing the Ex cruising down the road.

 

[Corrupt_Reverend]

Mini-picture update

Got a little work done on Friday. Managed to straighten out the right side edge of the hood, finish the right fender flare, weld the fender mounting nuts on the inside of the quarter block out, and been working on the left fender/bezel.

I'm thinking about extending the fender flare down at the rear to make a sort of built in mud flap. Tonight I'll make a template and tape it on to see if I like it.

The left turn signal bezel is taking longer than I expected since it's 16ga rather than 18ga like the left side (eventually, I'll re-do the right fender in 16ga, but the 18 will do for now). But hey, slow and steady wins the race, right?

~Rev

 

[BigRondo]

Slow and steady...........don't want to rush it.

 

[Keeper0311]

Looking pretty cool. It's been interesting watching this from the beginning.

 

[Corrupt_Reverend]

Delayed Update

Dang, nearly a month since my last update and I've got nothing to show...

I got the driver's side turn signal bezel formed and finish welded to the fender. However, after a couple of hours trying to get the signal bracket made, I realised that I should have made and installed them before I welded the bezel to the fender... Things were thrown and an impressive rant of swearing and undecipherable anger followed. I decided to set the project aside for a bit.

Tonight I'm locking myself in the garage and not emerging until I finish the darn thing. Hopefully I'll be posting pictures later tonight rather than be sleeping in the garage, haha.

 

[BigRondo]

Standing by...............................

 

[bcbid]

"Waiting with bated breath"

 

[Corrupt_Reverend]

Mini Picture Update

My isolation tank worked!

Finally have both fenders finished. Still gotta make the second fender flare, but that's not a biggie. I have run into a problem though.

The left fender that I got from the u-pull place has a different contour! This is driving me nuts. It's about a half inch thinner (as in from the outside skin inwards) than the other one. I thought all 1st gens were the same but I guess not.

This is monumentally frustrating because if it weren't for that problem, I would have it all finished tonight.

~Rev

 

[BigRondo]

Looking good!

 

[bcbid]

That is wickedly unique. Suspence builds while waitng on paint job!!!! You sir, are a true "Craftmans" in my book. As I've mentioned before. You just might qualify for "Hanger and Banger" of the year. LOL

 

[bcbid]

Waiting....

 

[bcbid]

Good Morning Corrupt Reverend, One of those nights I can't. I see your up late. how's the project coming along?

 

[Corrupt_Reverend]

Good Morning Corrupt Reverend, One of those nights I can't. I see your up late. how's the project coming along?

I get a lot of nights like that, haha. It's coming along. Went to u-strip-it and picked up a fender from a '91 eddie. and the guy threw in an engine cover for free. Also found a 3" body lift they'll let me have for "10-15 bucks" that I think I'll go and grab to afford me some more rubber-room until I can save enough cash for a lift system.

That '91 eddie bauer was funky. Some sort of critter had made quite a home under the hood.

The fender fits much better than the last one I grabbed, but it's still not quite right. I'm hoping I can square it up with some shims and whatnot.

Also, while checking the contour of the fender, I realized how far I've changed the front end.

Sorry the updates are getting far and few between, just been chuggin along with little odds and ends that need addressing and struggling to find a job.

I've got my fingers and toes crossed for getting this new fender cut down, blocked and mounted by Monday which will allow me to finish mounting the left fender and get into paint prep.

~Rev

 

[bcbid]

Wow! That critter was moved right in. lol Now that you hold the fender there you sure can the see the change. Finishing always seems to take longer. Getting everything just perfect. If you like me. If somethings not right I always notice it. It's like I go out and look for it. Then beat myself up. Your doing a super job.

I wish you all luck in the world finding a job!!! Here in Michigan they talking about 3500 people loosing their unemployment if they don't sign the extensions. Just a bad situations all over.

 

[Corrupt_Reverend]

Mini Picture Update

Job hunting has taken priority as of late, so I've been taking baby steps toward completion. Sill moving forward though!


So the last thing I really need to do before getting her back on the road is finish up the left front quarter. I decided against hacking up a new fender because, well, I'm lazy.

That's about all my reasoning. I really didn't want to have to figure out my cut angles and whatnot again, so I opted to modify the one I already had.

The problem, was that the contour was different than that on my '91. This created a gap when lined up with the door.

If I allowed the gap, the door lined up perfectly, so I had to figure out a way to fill the gap. I started by bending a few tabs and tacking then to the edge of the gap.

With the tabs in place, I measured the gap at the front and back. This gave me the dimensions for the filler plate.

For the filler, I banged a lip along the edge of my sheet metal blank and rolled it over to make a closed bead.

The purpose for this is to sandwich the tabs in the filler plate which allows me to have a rolled edge rather than it just being a raw cut edge.

After grinding the tabs down a bit, I was able to get the fit just right. I then hammered the channel closed onto the tabs and welded the back and front. The result being an extended fender.

I still need to go back and fill the rear gap, but it got a bit late for banging and grinding so I'll finish that up tomorrow.

Oh, a couple other things, I got the left fender bolted on and the hood flattened out. Once I finish with this front quarter, all that will be left is paint.

 

[bcbid]

looking good.

 

[Corrupt_Reverend]

so close

Took her out for a spin tonight. Fist time I've driven her without fear of anything falling off. The fact that I need to replace my TO bearing is painfully obvious though.

I also learned that my phone will stay put on the fender for at least a mile of bumpy driving. haha

The only "must-do" left is registration. Other than that: paint, DOT headlights, and fender flares. Goin' down to the paint shop to price all my paint supplies to get an idea of what the damage will be.

 

[NICE59FORDF100]

Do you think the warrenty is void now?

:

Great job man, always glad to see folks thinking outside the box...or building one