In my never ending quest to find decent or any front fenders for my 51 F-1 truck. I have a chance to pick this truck up, but really all I want is the front fenders and the Flatty. I can part or sell the remainder. Maybe I should get fiberglass but still holding out on that Idea.
This dent looks pretty bad, I am not a body guy although I have seen my stepdad work some pretty tough ones when I was younger. thoughts please on the feasability to repair this by a vintage auto body guy who knows old steel and maybe estimated cost.
I wouldn't attempt to fix this one myself, maybe the small ones I could manage, but this one will require some good tools and experience if its even possible!


thanks
Josh

 

I'm not going to say it can't be fixed but I would look for another fender if it was mine. That looks to be twisted pretty good to. As for the rest of the fender I would keep it to use on another fender if it needed some patch work done. What are you going to sell the rest of the truck for.

Scott B.

 

Ouch! Looks like a dent in the 1st view , and a hole in the second. I know that getting into that area can be tricky even with the fender off, the area at the leading edge where the flare meets the headlamp is really tight and would take some time..might be easier to cut that part out and replace...is the metal heavily rusted in that area?
I'm no expert, but I would recommend one for that job...

 

thanks guys,
I was also thinking about the accesability to even get back in that tight area to attempt straightening. probably would be easier to cut it out and replace the front portion? or keep looking. I have not seen this truck in person yet. its for sale locally and hopefully I can go take a look at it tommorrow. They are all either dented to heII or rusted through! I Also found another 52 f1 for less money and less dents (no engine) but its 275 miles from me so unless I am going that way not sure I want to spend the money to bring it back. Hmmmm
from the pictures it doesnt look to rusty but I guess I will see.

Thanks
again
Josh

 

A good bodyman can fix that but they are far and few, we have parts changers in todays world.
Good luck

 

As an experienced body/paint man...first, my disclaimer: things always look diffferent in pictures, on a laptop, at midnight....

The dent is actually not that bad, but will require some special tools and a little know-how, seeing as how it's on a corner and the 51 has some metal to work with.
It would be easiest with a port-a-power tool (hand ram that you choose the right ends and insert, then pump up to extend) and an oxy-acetylene torch. You would just set the porta-a-power on something like the upper A arm and the dent, heat it up a bit starting from the outside and slowly pressing it out, moving all around and hammering the stress points and high spots as you go. I say easy on a corner cause it'll come out rounded and may stretch a bit, but a corner's easier to finish like that than a flat part. After getting most of it pushed out you could then remove the fender - or just the wheel - and get at it with a hammer and dollie. I'd say 4 hours tops with a little filler. Too much at todays shop rates for trucks not worth that much (yet!), but not bad if you can "do it to yourself". While you're at it you could finsih the dent behind the wheel too - dollie and hammer. The thing looks solid - if it's running I'd take it if the price was right!

 

Josh - go for it!! The worst you can do is make it so you need a new fender! Judging from what I can see in the picture, I would say it's do-able, not necessarily easily, but could be done. e-tek has the correct procedure, with the torch and pushing, at least on the dent in front. In my opinion, the side dent is easy, once you get the front close. Lacking a way to push, you can also pull, make a backing plate close to the shape, threaded, drill a couple holes, double it up with an eye-hook, and pull it with a tree or something, with careful use of the torch. I've done many a front fender that way, and works rather well, also. But then, I've always been a little crazy!

R

 

Easily repairable ...Take it off and work on it on a bench or table ...Plenty of steel to work with,,,May not even need much filler if you take your time ...I'd rather fix 10 dent's than one rust spot ...

 

If you can remove the fender and place it on a few soft sandbags it would be a good thing ... They help hold the piece in a good place for ya to work on ... Also makes for deadening the blows a bit ... A friend used to use an old rotted stump to work on ...

 

Only problem with doing it off the truck, especially with this gauge metal, is how it'd move around as you try to bang it out...if you don't have a port-a-power you can bang it out with a rounded hand dolly - like a trailer ball! Like I said, it should come easy with a little heat!

 

No disrespect intended ,, heat it too much & you may stretch or distort the steel ..

Heavy guage steel is a dream to work with ,,compared to what we have today...

 

No disrespect taken - after all, it's pretty well stretched and distorted now! The key word in e-tek's (and mine should have said it, but it DID mention "careful") is LITTLE heat. A little heat goes a long way towards persuasion...



R

 

I was just digging in the attic and found a passenger front fender I knew I had it but am looking for something better, its straight but has lots of rust in the usual places, plus it just felt very thin like it would puncture if I stuck it with a pen! The front part is not bad though so maybe I could always cut and weld if I had to?
thanks again
Josh

 

Cut and weld...or heat and pound....I guess the question you gotta ask yourself is....do you feel lucky punk....well, do you? (Clint Eastwood!)

 

Well, maybe the best way is heat and pound...and you can use cut and weld as a back up??

R