Topic: random shop metal work

[Cornfield Customs]

the past couple days i have been back on the 57 retractable. lots of fun metal shaping lol

this is what the tail light surround mounting area looked like before, i forgot to snap a pic before i started



after cutting out all the bad areas to make room to work, i cut out some rings on the plasma table to match the back of the tail light housing, and tacked them to the body using the bezel as a guide

after the ring was tacked in, reinstalled the bezel and made a paper template to aid in layout of shrinks and stretchs and give me the basic size and shape of the material needed



after a good long while of shrinking, stretching, wheeling and hammering i have a pretty good looking patch. doesnt look like much but there is a ton going on in this little area, a tapered reverse compound curve





marked, and cut out for new patch to be butt welded in



after all the welding and grinding this is what i had, still needs some attention. but at this point there has been no hammer and dollie work done just welding and grinding





then moved on to the lower area



and the finished product









now onto more damage

[hotwheels]

wow mike, that looks like it came from the factory..........nice job

[miraclepieco]

Now THAT'S impressive! 

If I ever have a high-dollar car that I want restored to concours quality (yeah, like that will happen    ) I'd want Mike to do it.

[Cornfield Customs]

more work on the retractable. the rear pan area around the license plate had been frenched...... well kind of. so all the needed to be replaced back to the stock look





started shaping the panel on the e wheel. the rear panel looks pretty flat but there is a little bit of a compound curve in the center. with the straight edge you can see the crown





then added the roll and two breaks to the bottom end of the panel



then stripped the paint and filler stripped around the area and prayed some dykem



cleco'd the panel to the car to scribe the cut line.



all ready to cut out first thing in the morning

[miraclepieco]

OMG, that is horrible!

[hotwheels]

Hell yea mike, can't wait to see the repair. That uh, frenching didn't turn out so well, was it covered in bondo?

[Cornfield Customs]

more progress on the 57

the rear patch all welded in and ground down



had to cut the bracing out behind the panel to get at the back of the welds for some hammer dollie work



after the hammer and dollie it was time to break out the shrinking disc to smooth her out



rear bracing welded back in



all ground down and some primer added



rear panel finished up



found some more rust, out with the bad



in with the new

[Cornfield Customs]

so now it was time to tackle the inner wheel well so i could move onto the quarter panel repairs

trimmed out more of the damaged area that needed replaced, which also helped make room to repair all the damage on the inner wheel well itself



clamped the quarter patches on to make a cardboard template of the wheel well opening



then transferred the cardboard pattern to 3/4 inch plywood to make a hammer form



wheel lip hammered out and fulled from the form



after some shaping, bead rolling and trimming it is test fit into the car



then edges cut and tacked in



fully welded then ground smooth





quarter patches clamped back on to make sure nothing moved, and to get a game plan on the next steps to repair the quarter panels where the new stampings dont reach

[hotwheels]

Mike, you get more talented by the day......damn.

[NitroMidgets]

That is some damn nice metal work. I'd say you are an inspiration to me, but I pinched a nerve in my back and I am in no way inspired enough to attempt working on anything right now.

[obama]

coming along nice, you'v got some time into that one, (and talent).

[hotwheels]

damn that sucks nitromidgets...........and yup, mike is very talented.

[oldskool49]

Good to see that someone has the desire to save something like this 57 and bring it back to it's glory. And that someone with the talent like Mike to get the challenge and get it done right.