Don's 1969 Charger Restoration

[mopar4don]

glad to see your still at it! I'm in limbo waiting to get mine back from the painter, should be soon, probably next couple weeks. your new helper looks pretty ambitious, you'll have to teach him how to block sand. keep up the good work.

Hi Don, at the rate I am going he will be old enough. And if not, he will learn

 

[68GTXNH]

Thanks Steve,
Please tell me more. You had to hammer dolly some areas to get the gaps right?
What areas? Any pics?

Don. I think what steve is referring to is metals tendency to have a boatload of internal stresses in it. From casting forging stamping etc the metal molecules are in no way relaxed. Thats how a hammer and dolly are so effective at shaping metal. One adds a little force while the other gives the metal something to whack into, dispersing that force in turn to relieve the internal stresses. So the result is gently forming the metal. At work i tig weld vacuum tight fixtures, and clamping something straight usually ends up crooked as heck. When you heat up metal or cut it, you do the same thing a hammer does and gives those internal stresses an easy path to relax. Thats why metal warps when you weld it or sand blast it, grind it etc. We're so often and easy to zip screw it all down, and start at one corner, by the time we get to the other end of the panel we need screw drivers pulling the flange in or out to get it inplace. If you massage a panel so that one simple zip screw in the top center of the metal will hold the whole panel in place with minimal pushing and pulling, and all the flanges lay naturally where the factory wouldve spot welded them, when you heat it up to weld you have alot less warpage and fighting/finishing to do. Thats why full quarters are better. When you patch with a skin you have two pieces of different metal with different internal stresses both relaxing in different directions so you have a ton of body work to make the weld flat and look nice under a shiny paint job. On a full quarter you have the same warpage but on flanges and lips that were designed to be hidden anyways at the factory. But massing the panel so those flanges are flat and snug without clamps, theres no artifcial internal stresses somewhere out in the middle of the panel because you clamped the end to pull it in. Causing a buldge or dip you have to fix later. Like holding two edges of a sheet of paper then taking one hand and moving it a tiny bit closer to the other hand or twisting one hand just a hair. Youll see that a tiny movement creates a ton of "extra paper" between your hands. Thats what the clamps do

 

[mopar4don]

Update-
I want to get all the panels installed and gapped, then I will go back and start welding everything up. So I will start with the fenders. I have 4 sets (I know I am a hoarder)
actually I knew some of them were junk so that's why I have so many!
This is one that previously was blasted and primed. It is the best pass side that I have, BUT it needs work as shown with the tape marking those areas.

So here we go...

 

[mopar4don]

First here is the inside showing some rot on the inner door edge structure

I found a door support that we will use

Here you can see after I blasted the donor structure there was some damage. Easily fixed.

I originally planed on splicing the inner structure, but when I saw the heavy pitting that was behind it I changed my mind and decided to replace the entire structure. This allowed me to be sure the metal behind the structure was good, and that the entire structure that I was putting in was good front and back!

 

[mopar4don]

So I patched the extra brace that I have

 

[mopar4don]

Ok now for the really fun stuff.
My fender needs some patches made for the front and rear dog legs (front and rear of the wheel)

So I looked at my junk fender collection (I have a few) for a patch, and took the best I had.
Unfortunately the patch is going to need a patch (IT NEVER ENDS!)

So here we go again.

So I found some metal from a junk quarter panel that had the basic shape AND it had a 90 bend!

Here you can see how close it is

A little welding

And her it is

SO next I need to get the profile a bit closer so I made up some templates and worked in in

 

[Car Nut]

Thanks Don, this is good stuff!

 

[mopar4don]

Working it in involved a shrinker...

I also used the inner fender support bracket to help get it into position.

More to come.......

 

[CHARGERSTEVEN]

Don. I think what steve is referring to is metals tendency to have a boatload of internal stresses in it. From casting forging stamping etc the metal molecules are in no way relaxed. Thats how a hammer and dolly are so effective at shaping metal. One adds a little force while the other gives the metal something to whack into, dispersing that force in turn to relieve the internal stresses. So the result is gently forming the metal. At work i tig weld vacuum tight fixtures, and clamping something straight usually ends up crooked as heck. When you heat up metal or cut it, you do the same thing a hammer does and gives those internal stresses an easy path to relax. Thats why metal warps when you weld it or sand blast it, grind it etc. We're so often and easy to zip screw it all down, and start at one corner, by the time we get to the other end of the panel we need screw drivers pulling the flange in or out to get it inplace. If you massage a panel so that one simple zip screw in the top center of the metal will hold the whole panel in place with minimal pushing and pulling, and all the flanges lay naturally where the factory wouldve spot welded them, when you heat it up to weld you have alot less warpage and fighting/finishing to do. Thats why full quarters are better. When you patch with a skin you have two pieces of different metal with different internal stresses both relaxing in different directions so you have a ton of body work to make the weld flat and look nice under a shiny paint job. On a full quarter you have the same warpage but on flanges and lips that were designed to be hidden anyways at the factory. But massing the panel so those flanges are flat and snug without clamps, theres no artifcial internal stresses somewhere out in the middle of the panel because you clamped the end to pull it in. Causing a buldge or dip you have to fix later. Like holding two edges of a sheet of paper then taking one hand and moving it a tiny bit closer to the other hand or twisting one hand just a hair. Youll see that a tiny movement creates a ton of "extra paper" between your hands. Thats what the clamps do

Very well put,n as far as pics where I dolled etc ,every panel will fit different of same from one charger to the next n massaging the areas to make that stress less fit with minimal pressure clamping,

 

[conv67bdere]

Looks to me like you've been watching "Sarge" a little too much - with all the clamps ! ! ! LMAO . . .

Great work - even the patch in the patch ( yes, it never does stop ) . . . but the good thing is that you don't give up either ! ! ! Nice updates and great progress . . . Thanks !

 

[cdr]

Great stuff Don !!!!!

 

[daytona kid]

Nice looking work!

 

[mopar4don]

Thanks fellas!

 

[1967coronet440]

Nice work

 

[mopar4don]

Cut off the old rusted through area

Here I got the new patch positioned

Here I used the inner brace to help with positioning

Then began the process of welding

checking to be sure I get good penetration of my welds

Here is a pic showing the seam welded and ground On the front and back side. Not real proud of my work as I am still getting sink marks around the weld. Even though I am planishing every weld dot. Oh well needs a little bumping and filing.

 

[Glenwood]

Looks good Don! I kinda miss welding lol

 

[threewood]

Don, that is some great fabrication and I like your template! I love seeing old metal saved with a little bit of ingenuity and extra sheetmetal.

 

[69 GTX]

Those shrinker/stretchers are sure handy!

 

[1962polara]

Ever try gas welding (oxy/acy)
It is softer than mig and close to our cars metal, so responds well to planishing (relaxing)the weld

 

[mopar4don]

Looks good Don! I kinda miss welding lol

I usually start missing it when after my burns heal up!

Don, that is some great fabrication and I like your template! I love seeing old metal saved with a little bit of ingenuity and extra sheetmetal.

Believe me, I would love to just place an order to AMD for new fenders, BUT with 4 sets I can at least try to save a set or two and save at least $1200

Those shrinker/stretchers are sure handy!

A HUGE time saver

Ever try gas welding (oxy/acy)
It is softer than mig and close to our cars metal, so responds well to planishing (relaxing)the weld

I would like to give it a try... but at this point I really don't need another learning curve!