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View Full Version : Shaving the 55 fender seams



MP&C
01-29-2014, 07:45 PM
Here's the seam on the lower fender of a 55. Always thought this would look cleaner without, and so did the owner, so here's the process:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture038-1.jpg

The bolting plates are cut out of the way, and the folded flange is trimmed, leaving a bit of extra to allow for fine tuning the weld joint.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture039-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture040-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture044-1.jpg

Bottom of the fender is cut loose from the bolting plate using the cutoff wheel. Then sanding the face of the fender leaves a contrast at the bend of the flange for a good guide for trimming with snips....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture045-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture046-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture049-1.jpg

Planishing out the fold to fill the gap....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture050-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture051-1.jpg

Clamps used to test fit. ONLY... Will be removed during welding for a tight fit. Still needs a bit more fine tuning for zero gaps....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture052-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture053-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture054-1.jpg


Got to trimming, little to no gaps....


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture055-1.jpg

Used the new ER70S-7 wire. Looks to me like it lays out a bit flatter than the ER70S-6 that I replaced...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture057-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture058-1.jpg

Used the crowned hammer to planish the welds. This stuff planishes out a bit easier as well, the weld is noticeably softer.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture059-1.jpg

After planishing, 1/16" wide cutoff wheel used perpendicular to the weld for grinding the welds with minimal contact patch and less heat buildup. Ground welds just proud of the metal surface, front and back, to make room for planishing the next set of weld dots. Then rather than weld the next dots in the middle, I overlapped each of the previous welds to help eliminate missed spots and pinholes. Weld, planish, grind, repeat.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture061-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture062-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture063-1.jpg

Then I got on a roll and missed some in process pics, but here is the result after dressing out all the welds...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture064-1.jpg

Back side....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture066-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture067-1.jpg

Yeah, I like this much better....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture068-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture069-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture070-1.jpg

MP&C
01-29-2014, 07:50 PM
I hung the fender on the car to have a better look-see...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture073-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture075-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture076-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture077-1.jpg

One more piece to finish up the shave, the inner flange for the grille opening needed connecting together after trimming the bolting flanges.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture081-1.jpg

Trimmed and holes drilled for plug welds....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture083-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture084-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture085-1.jpg

All welded and dressed out....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture087-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture088-1.jpg



Here's the factory seam to compare to the shaved version...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture090-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture091-1.jpg

Bumper filler panel had been tweaked at some point in the past 50 years, so let's see what we can do to straighten it out some....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture092-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture094-1.jpg

Used a combination of the flat and crowned body hammers, the donut dolly, the 5" dia shot bag, and a round hunk of steel.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture097-1.jpg

Much better...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture096-1.jpg

Next on the list before the next shave, a bit more rust to attend to...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture098-1.jpg

Used a wide sweeping radius on the cut to minimize any extra shrinking that occurs inside tight corners.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture099-1.jpg

To get a good, consistent profile on the patch, I used the go kart wheel...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture100-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture101-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture102-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture103-1.jpg

Laying out the pattern..

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture104-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture105-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture106-1.jpg

One last test fit before tipping the flange...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture108-1.jpg

Dumb mistake number one....don't cut the patch so small you can't get leverage to force the flange to tip...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture110-1.jpg

Well, we do have a good crease to work from now. Some hammering on the 2" round anvil will work

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture114-1.jpg

Trimmed to fit...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture115-1.jpg

Welded and dressed...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture116-1.jpg

Hey...the light even fits

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture117-1.jpg

MP&C
01-29-2014, 07:58 PM
Starting the prep for shaving fender number two.....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture119-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture120-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture121-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture122-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture123-1.jpg


the top of the seam was trimmed....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture124-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture125-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture126-1.jpg

When trimming along through the center, I noticed a weak spot....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture127-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture128-1.jpg

This is where some dirt had been trapped behind the bolting plate on top of the flange, and looks like it wouldn't have been long in coming through paint. To be able to trim the pitted area out, the lower section was trimmed with about 3/16 extra... see the scribe mark...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture132-1.jpg

Planished flat..

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture133-1.jpg

Clamped over fender and scribed....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture136-1.jpg

Trimmed for tight fit. Note that butt weld clamps are used to hold for fitment only, joint will be butted tight when welding...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture139-1.jpg

MP&C
01-29-2014, 08:02 PM
The two pieces have been trimmed for a tight butt joint, shown here clamped together...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture141-1.jpg

It was then I noticed the crease just above the seam..

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture143-1.jpg

Ahhh, the dreaded fender bump. I believe this is caused by someone bumping into something with the corner of the bumper, which in turn forces the lower portion of the fender backward, thus forming the inward crease (red line) and outward crease (yellow line). Always better to fix the body damage before attempting to weld panels together.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture144a.jpg

Another view of the outward crease....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture146-1.jpg

A 3" roloc disc scuffed across the lower crease on the inside of the panel quickly shows the area that needs to be bumped outward...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture145-1.jpg

The tools used will be the donut dolly, a small shot bag, and body hammer.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture097-1.jpg

The area was worked using the hammer and dolly, with progress checked by scuffing with the roloc disc.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture148-1.jpg

Needs just a bit more bumping, but shows a much more respectable crown, as shown by the #32 sweep

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture149-1.jpg


Back to welding... All clamped up, again...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture150-1.jpg

First set of tacks...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture151-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture152-1.jpg

Weld penetration, the back side....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture153-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture154-1.jpg

I had someone asking about the process I used with the mig, so I took the close ups to show it a little better... Weld, planish, grind, overlap, repeat...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture156-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture160-1.jpg

Planishing as you go helps to keep the panel's shape in check...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture162-1.jpg

Still needs a bit of bumping but not too bad overall..

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture163-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture164-1.jpg


the inner seam to finish up...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture165-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture166-1.jpg

Bridging the gap where the flanges were cut out...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture167-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture168-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture169-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture170-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture171-1.jpg

Installed....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture174-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture173-1.jpg

A look from the front...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/1955%20Chevy%20Wagon%20Restoration%20Album%203/Picture175-1.jpg

JT56
01-30-2014, 05:11 AM
Robert I sure hope you have some apprentice working with you. This craftsmanship needs to continue. Great Post. Joey

carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)
01-30-2014, 05:42 AM
nice!!!!!!!!! thanks for sharing Robert.