He said they could be fixed ,BUT I would have way more in them than I could buy fiberglass. Since this is not going to be a resto, I guess I will go with glass.

 

How bad are your fenders? Could you post some pictures? If you don't want them maybe someone here could still use them. As you can see from the pictures I posted there are some of us who like to try to resurrect the dead if at all possible. If you don't have the skill, or desire, to do them yourself maybe someone on the board who lives near you does. Even rough fenders are better than no fenders. I just would hate to see vintage tin go to the scrapper.

 

Save them for patch panels, it's great steel.

 

I haven't thrown out any old metal, I still have the rotted bed to use as a go buy peice. 52 f-2 parts are to hard to come by. I do have some 53 fenders if anybody needs willing to swap for parts. thanks Casey

 

They are not terrible. Rot at the bottom where it was connected to the running boards and holes completely through where the upper and lower bolt together. Will try to get my gallery started and get some pics on it. I don't want to put a ton of money in this because my son has decided he wants it to "look stock". (with a few mods) He doesn't want it lowered or anything. I just don't want to drop a lot of cash on a stock look. I'll save the money for my project(whatever it might be).

 

I put my original repairable F-3 fenders in the FTE classifieds for six months trying to GIVE them away...no takers so they went to the scrap yard. I also went fiberglass. They are a lot better if you live in a rust prone area like I do.

 

GreatNorthWoods, Where did you get your fenders from(company)? What did you have to do to them before paint? Undercoat etc.?

 

just put ten hours each on my 55 front fenders and that was just taking out the wavyness, no welding, hammer and dolly, sanding and smoothing with skim coat. Can imagine how much time those took to get back to htat shape...

 

I have a silly question...my '56 has a fair amount of rust here and there...so I am thinking I'd like to try and hammer out some patch panels over the winter just to see what I can do.

What guage sheet metal do I want to use?

This is my first resto...

 

18 gage (.050 thick) works most everywhere. The fenders, front clip, cab, and running boards are that gage. The bed walls are 14 gage (.070).

 

I use as thick as possible, by time you weld, hammer and grind you remove a lot of metal. I just happen to have 14 and 12 ga sheetmetal laying around. I like to use the 14 ga for pieces that have a lot of bends and contours in and the 12ga for structural pieces like hidden braces and brackets. I would agree, 18ga is a good workable thickness. If you go to the local auto parts store that might have some sheet metal for making patches most times it's only 20ga, pretty light if you ask me.

 

The steel at Home Depot and Lowe's isn't the best; if you have a true steel shop around, ask for aluminum-killed steel. It is much more workable. Expect to pay $$$ but worth it. The alternative is to get some steel from older cars at the boneyard, the flatter the better (hoods, trunks, etc).

 

Definitely get cold rolled steel, not hot rolled for shaping. The two can usually be recognized by appearance if not covered in surface rust: Cold rolled with be silver in color, Hot rolled will be dark brown/black from the oxide coating imparted in the hot rolling process. Cold rolled is more expensive because it is made from "virgin" steel, whereas hot rolled is made from remelted scrap and can be inconsistant in hardness.
If you must use hot rolled (I get mine as inexpensive drops in 14 ga and thicker from a fab shop to use as brackets and reinforcements) you must grind off the dark coating before attempting to weld it. Some have said they remove the oxide layer by soaking the metal in vinegar overnight, I can never plan that far ahead or wait for it so I grind it with a 80 grit fiber disk or flap disk on my small angle grinder. Avoid galvanized metal completely you can grind or acid dip the zinc coating off but both the zinc dust and fumes from heating or welding are poisonous. Galvanized metal is usually a dull grey color, sometimes with a frost like pattern or white powder on it. If your torch flame or welding arc turns green you are burning zinc.
Aluminum killed steel is different than aluminized steel that is used for todays car bodies. Like galvanized steel stay away from aluminized steel. Don't try to use late model body panels from your local collision shop or junk yard as patch material.
Aluminum killed steel (AK steel) is more commonly call "deep drawing steel" by the industrial metal mongers, and will likely neeed to be special ordered. Unless you are making motorcycle gas tanks or bowls, cold rolled will work about as well.
I use 18ga CR for most of my repair panels.

 

The first thing you want to buy is is Ron Covell's DVD "Basic Techniques for Working with Steel" www.covell.biz
Altho he does show using an English wheel and bead roller for some of the forming, it's one of the best instructional videos out there, everyone here should own a copy.
Shaping or repairing metal is not beyond the capabilities of anyone with patience and decent eye for detail to learn to do. It's primarily learning what happens to metal when hammered on or off dolly, when to use each technique, and how to recognize and deal with stretched metal when doing body work. It does not require a lot of fancy expensive tools to start, and a number of effective tools can be made at home.

 

Just as an aside, Harbor Freight has their $400 English Wheel on sale right now for $249. Not out of the range of the homeowner, in my opinion.

R