If you read my Texas roadtrip story in last month's issue, you'll have seen my '46 Ford roadster pickup, though it hasn't been formally introduced to the Custom Classic Trucks readership yet. So consider this that introduction. Originally a Fordor sedan, it passed through a few of my friends' hands, getting rougher as the years passed, until I laid claim to what was left around 12 years ago. "What was left" consisted of the front sheetmetal, cowl, doors, and B-pillars. Using a '65 F-100 bed and fenders, and inverted rear corners of a VW camper van for the rear cab corners, it became a roadster pickup with Chevy mechanicals, and very definitely a budget beater.
Here's what I started with....
Here's what I started with. Though the huge wheel opening and its square lip don't suit the truck, the forward-leaning front edge of the fender ties in with the back edge of the front fender and the rear of the roof. This I wanted to retain.
My first plan of attack was...
My first plan of attack was to remove the fender lips using an air saw, in order to be able to lay the "new" sheetmetal up against the old.
Alongside the truck you can...
Alongside the truck you can see the difference in fender shapes and sizes. The F-1 fender is almost flat on the top edge, unlike the F-100, which slopes away to the sides of the truck. I used masking tape to mark the area I wanted to use, then cut it out. A tip I learned years ago was to never throw anything away until the job is done (and even then it may become useful at a later date) so I put the remainder to one side.
However, the mismatched front and rear fenders always bothered me, and the huge wheel openings in the rear made the front wheels look too small, plus the lips on the rear fenders just looked "wrong." What it needed was a pair of F-1 rear fenders, with swage lines to match the '46 passenger car front fenders, but I liked the way the front and back sections of the F-100 fenders leaned forward in the same way the back edge of the front fenders did, and wasn't madly excited about the big, boxy, and over-long F-1 fenders. So I decided to combine the swage line and rounded wheel opening of the F-1 fenders with my existing F-100 versions.
Your eyeball could be your...
Your eyeball could be your most useful tool here. It took a few attempts at clamping the new section in place and standing back to look, not to mention several minutes of beard rubbing, before I settled on this location. The lower front section aligns with the existing fender edge, the swage line tapers off ever so slightly to the rear, and the compound curves match up way better than I could have imagined. It also visually lowers the truck, and-here's a bonus-I can still remove the wheel and tire. Just.
Not having any fancy tools...
Not having any fancy tools like clecos, I used self-drilling metal screws to attach the new section to the fenders, and used a Sharpie to mark its perimeter. The vertical lines refer to a previous alignment when I'd clamped the panel in place and decided after staring at it for a while that it was too far forward.
With the panel removed (the...
With the panel removed (the screw holes serve as alignment marks) I trimmed the old fender to within 3/4-inch of the marked lines. I actually ran 3/4-inch masking tape along the lines but it's not necessary to be totally accurate.
Now, a word about the "new" sheetmetal I used. I was offered a pair of F-1 fenders for $50 and bought 'em sight unseen. The good news is they weren't rusted out. Well, maybe a little on the tops but I didn't plan on using that part anyway. However, they had seen the wrong side of some bondo magician's palette at some point, but that's nothing a little heat shrinking and body an' hammer work won't sort later. On the plus side, the wire-rolled edges were perfect.
Using a small air grinder...
Using a small air grinder with a soft pad, the paint was removed along the Sharpie lines. It's not necessary to trim to the edge, for reasons that will become apparent.
Here's the trick part to this...
Here's the trick part to this whole operation. It's a little difficult to see, but I cut the existing fender exactly along the edge of the new metal, but only about 5 inches at a time. This removes that 3/4-inch strip of old metal that the screws are biting into, but more importantly, it allows the new and old to join flush, in a butt joint rather than a lap joint.
A little hammer and dolly...
A little hammer and dolly work was required to perfectly align the two sections. Care here will save time and bodywork later.
The easiest method of adding the new fender lips would be to cut out the unwanted F-100 metal and weld the new opening on over the top, either with a swaged step in the steel or simply a lap joint, but I wanted to butt-weld the seam, not only to avoid rust issues later as moisture would be able to get between the layers of steel, but also so I would be able to work the join with a hammer and dolly to get the reshaped fender as straight as possible and use a minimum of body filler. There are various ways to hold the metal while butt-welding, and a number of specialist tools to help, but ever the cheapskate, I used nothing more extravagant than a couple of clamps, a C-clamp, and some self-drilling screws. Now, let's cut to the chase and fit those puppies. Or fit one side at least. Yeah, I'm currently driving around with only one side done.