The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop How to handle those big floppy 41 front fenders

My front fenders are pretty rough to say the least! I am looking for a good way to hold and support them to work on them. It seems that the best way would be installed, but that is not an option. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Scott

I laid mine down on a 1/2" OSB and made a template.
Traced the holes and cut it out then mounted that to an engine stand
I can bolt both fenders back to back and move them up or down.

I put mine on the work table and pounded them out.

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How did you deal with the grille area, that is where there is the most flex and no support. I like the stand idea. Scott

Here's a link to a pic my rear fenders mounted
Inside I bolted the support brackets together.
Having the two fenders fully bolted up makes for a strong piece to work with. Grind, Filler, Paint, sand, what ever. And they rolled where I needed them to go to boot.

The rear's will be cake, it's the front fenders that are the challenge, as there is nothing flat to bolt them to especially at the front of the fender where it needs the most attention. You can't just set these on the bench either because they want to bend under at the bottom. Scott

Hey CASO, that is pretty cool. I tried that yesterday. My crappy engine stand isn't balanced that well and wanted to tip over no matter which direction I had the rear fender attached. I was able to cinch it up in my WorkMate table though. I think I'll do that when I color coat them too.

What I have been doing, and it works OK, is to screw them to the plywood table I have. I can get at most of the fender this way. Then I lay the fender on its side. I screw a wooden 1x2 from the side of the fender to the edge of the table. Keeps it from flopping.

Dennis

If you look close in the photo you can see the plywood and with my rears mounted they 'split' the upright and balanced things some.... wait a minute. I remember adding 30lb weights to the legs on the stand now that I write this...

point is I found having the template just recessed I could sand and paint the edges better.
I cut a gusset for support that ran behind the headlights I think.
It worked good for paint and sanding but the sawhorse table was where the bodywork happened.

I actually had it sitting on plywood behind the cab so it was chest high for sanding the bottom and I stood on the 'bed' to get the tops. (I don't know what I'll do without that table in the middle of my garage ;))