Repair or replace

[Graham]

Now I’m along way of starting this, and I am still talking to a body shop about them doing the whole body for me( will just need to be sitting down with large, strong, drink when I get the estimate) but what is the forums opinion on the wheel arch below. The ‘repair’ isn’t a single strip that the outside edge has been cut to allow it to follow the arch tub contour, it’s a series of 2”x2” patches welded next to each other

I have a 3ft sheet bender and a sheet stretcher, so was thinking possibly I could make 2 repair sections for the wheel arch and then repair the inner wing as required or should I just bite the bullet and  do inner wings and a full arch tub ? Bottoms of the inner arch on the b post will also require a repair but still feel full arch and inner wing is a bit of a nuclear option, but that is what body shop is proposing, possibly for them that will be cheaper in the long run, but for me my time is free.

[stuart]

If youve got a folder and a stretcher then it would be relatively easy to make that as one piece. Whats the rest of the inner wing like? As Ive stated before the new inner wings arent right and need cutting into several pieces and slivers inserting to make them fit properly.

Stuart.

Edited June 22, 2022 by stuart

[Graham]

20 minutes ago, stuart said:

If youve got a folder and a stretcher then it would be relatively easy to make that as one piece. Whats the rest of the inner wing like? As Ive stated before the new inner wings arent right and need cutting into several pieces and slivers inserting to make them fit properly.

Stuart.

Apart from the wheel are flange and the bit round the seat belt mount not bad, even the reinforcing plate for the mount is ok, it just the inner wing covering it that has gone 

[stuart]

6 minutes ago, Graham said:

Apart from the wheel are flange and the bit round the seat belt mount not bad, even the reinforcing plate for the mount is ok, it just the inner wing covering it that has gone 

Then just local repair it as its not easy to sort that whole inner wing.

Stuart.

[PodOne]

Hi Graham

If you have the tools what's to loose if you have the time? I'd personally give it a go and keep as much of the original metal as possible its likely to take less time than a whole panel replacement unless the panel is totally rotten over large areas. In my limited knowledge and experience of buying panels for various projects over the years they never seem to fit that well and often need extensive surgery to get them to fit.

Just for completeness I ended up repairing the same area and the outer flanges of the deck/inner wing/arch to all the edges to get rid of rot/rust. Approached it a section at a time after finding that a complete front inner wing was a very poor fit which in the end was cut up for patch repairs to the original. A costly situation I wasn't keen to repeat! 

Go for it.

Andy

[gloide69]

Are new rear arches available? I had to do a similar repair on mine, but I did not have a shrinker (or a brake for that matter). Not too difficult....

Paul