Texas Cuda!

[RUSTY Cuda]

This mourning I put the fender on, my God all went well, not even a finger print, tonight a friggen tree branch will probably fall on it![smilie=f:
I really killing all the fun on this car! Rich.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

This baby's gonna keep me busy awhile !

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

More work to do!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

My new fender came today, I think they forgot a step or two!:wtf:

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Cut out some of the bad spots & got one outer patch on the fender done, gotta do some work on that front drop off before I can por 15 the back & guts , then the lower brace will go on!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Cut out a couple on the header panel too, screw holes were gone on the end piece & the spot where the grille clips go gone on the second piece.
Fun Fun Fun! Rich.

 

[dodgechargerfan]

If it were done, you'd have no fun... [smilie=g:

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Made a couple a patches for the header panel & drilled out one of the mounting bolts stuck in the fender.
Welded up where the front of the fender split open & hit a few holes & weak(split) spots.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

This baby's next, gonna try& roll a piece a metal over the edge of the bench & make the arc, will try & save all the edges, bottom 's gonna be hard to save, or fab for that matter! this will be interesting! Rich.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Why are you now posting pics from 7+ years ago?

 

[mr340]

Why are you now posting pics from 7+ years ago?

His internet is SLOW!:huh:

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Just trying to out do my first resto thread, 8,459 posts on the fenders!
Da Ja vous all over again, got that patch formed & started the welding but my sons 2nd game was not cancelled, he had a good day , hit the ball well (had been in a slump) 5 rbi's , 3 or 4 put outs in the field & we still lost big, he's on the bad news bears this year, they are their own worst enemies!
Anyway, I bore yas with some more pics of the fender tomorrow! Can't wait, can yas ! :shifty: Rich.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Ok, started out ok, thought it was going well, on the 3rd set of spots things started going downhill, kept either burning through or grinding thru, ended up welding way too much to try & build up the back so I could get the front nicer. got it too hot & warped it pretty good, hammered most of that out , ready to sledge-a-matic the sucker at this point.........................

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Cooler head prevailed & I got out the epoxy putty for the last couple of holes in the weld & 1 major grind thru, so 10 demerits for the rusty one, it was that or cut the whole bottom off & start from scratch, & I have no patience for that!
It's gonna take some putty to get that baby smooth anyway! Rich.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Lower brace spotted in, test fitted on car, bottom's a little off but I can make it work, so finished welding & flooded the brace with por15, will get the rest of the back tomorrow!
part of the fold over edge split Had to weld that up too! :doh:Rich

 

[restoman]

Rusty, have you ever used a copper backer for the thin spots, when the welder burns thru, no matter what?
You can buy them here and there, but they're pretty easy to make up your own, in any shape you desire.
Just take some some copper pipe fittings or pipe, flatten them out and you now have a backer that will keep the welds from falling thru the thin spots. Doesn't keep the steel from burning away if its too thin, but it does make it easier to build up the welds. For some cooler fingers, solder a length of pipe in the fitting before you flatten it.
I've got several made up, in different shapes and bends for getting at those hard to reach areas. They have saved my ass a few times, and it impresses the Hell out of someone whos never seen them in use.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Yes I am using backup(home made) It's all in the operator,[smilie=f: I grind too much, trying to make it look like one piece of metal, those dark lines around the welds annoy me, so I hit em again & grind away, I got the surounding metal too thin , then I tried to build up the back to support the front welds, got it too hot & warped the shit out of it, hammered most of that out, by now I've lost all patience & start running beads, the deeper I go the worse it gets, so the last grind off left 1 big hole, & a few of those dark voids in the weld, that's about when i had had it, got out the epoxy putty & locked the sledge hammer in the basement, far from reach! :helpme:
If I would have quit at the first sign of trouble & went at it again the next day the results Might, just might have been better! :shifty: Rich.

 

[restoman]

Don't ya just love body work?

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Even when it goes well it's pretty nasty, but when you finally hang a decent panel, well you know what I mean! :giggedy:
Luckily for me (and any would be customers) I don't do this for a living & can walk away antime(which I should do more often) so most of the time I do enjoy the work! Rich.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Where do I start, well with the good stuff first, got those braces back in the header panel & the headlight bucket back on the fender. Now I'm trying to straighten these pieces as I go, bucket & it's flanges were bent pretty good, so I decide it's time to hang em on the car & see where we are at.
I pulled the a/c condenser & straightened rad & hood supports as best I could, there close but till the rad is out I can't tell for sure;
So there going on pretty good, actually found enough hardware between what was there & what was left from the 73(bought a lot of new for it) so plenty of "extra" hardware.
then I start to tighten everything, well the front of the fender ripped open..............