MGB & GT Forum

The last remaining metalwork chore as I start prepping to paint is to replace the fender panels below the chrome strip. I ordered parts a while back, and being a noob, thought they'd be Heritage. Nope. But I never give up, right? I'd make 'em work. So I corrected the top-to-bottom curve, which was pretty far out. Then I corrected the front-to-back curve, also not really close. Then I cut the old fender, cleaned it up, and screwed the repair panel on for a test fit. So close. So painfully close. But the back of the panel doesn't match the front of the door at all. And that's the one curve I would have a hard time correcting. I could slide the whole panel forward a small amount and use filler in the gap I created.

Or I could chalk it up to experience and order Heritage parts. I'm putting too much effort into this car to have it come out not looking right. But is there a way to really correct this problem? I don't see how.

Lesson learned: Buy Heritage, or buy twice.

Thanks in advance,
Tim

Edit: Forgot picture

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Tim Walter
1973 MGB - "Peggy"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-04-24 07:28 PM by mtndriver.

I can see what you're talking about, but it's a little tough given the shadows in the picture. It's possible you might get more of a response with something that shows the edge better-maybe run a piece of masking tape right on the back edge of the fender.
Anyway, As far as making the fit better: I would move the patch forward as you mentioned , but would probably even it up with a bead of weld on the edge instead of plastic filler.

Great point, Henry. I already took the fender off the car, so the next best thing is to enhance the image. This does a little better job of showing the curves coming together at the bottom of the door.

Your thought on running a weld down and grinding it to match is by far the best one I've heard yet. I ordered Heritage parts today out of frustration, but if I can make this work WELL, then I'll cancel that order. I'm almost afraid to look at the other side.

Thanks for your help!

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Tim Walter
1973 MGB - "Peggy"

Been there done this.

I am going to guess that the original fender can slide back far enough to give a nice gap on the top?

So, slide the fender back on the top. Of course this will make the lower half overlap.

Draw a nice line with tape where you want the lower half to fit.

Now grind away the folded over section that wants to overlap the door.

Of course you will be grinding through the folded over part;no big deal, just Mig weld the edge back together. Do this in sections so that it never falls apart.

This does all require a final tune with a file and or grinder to get the perfect fit.

Be glad you are not paying a bodyshop the going rate cause you long ago would have used up the savings from the non heritage panel.

I think I like Peter's idea better than mine now that I can see the tighter gap at the bottom..I was looking at the wonky part near the top before.
Even better than both ideas might be the Heritage panel that you have on the way. We put a couple of them on a GT at work a couple of years ago, and it they fit like a glove. No tweaking or filler at all.

Thanks, guys. I ended up doing a combination of both methods. The rear "fold over" part of the repair panel was still at a 90-degree angle as it was when new. I flattened it so it no longer dictated placement or angle along the top part of the fender. Then I welded a line of tacks a little larger than the back edge and ground that down to fit. (See photo) The placement of the replacement panel is now slightly forward of where it was. It's far from perfect, but it's getting closer.

The only remaining quandaries are: 1) BMH panels will be here in 2 to 4 weeks. I was hoping to be WAY down field by then with prepping and painting. 2) I don't know if the other (right) side will be this bad, though given my experience with Steelcraft so far, I'd guess so. But now that I know where the problems are and know how to fix them, the time consumption should be far, far less. All the metal on the car could be done this weekend, and it's onward to leveling / long-block sanding.

No joke about shop rates. Holy cow. The frustrating thing is how LITTLE I saved! I thought I was getting BMH (long story), but decided to give these a whirl. Expensive education.

Thanks for the help!

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Tim Walter
1973 MGB - "Peggy"

Good save- that is looking great.

There ya go! Good save. You just have to be smarter than tin!

Pete

I found myself faced with the same dilemma, several weeks ago. That Steelcraft panel was just never going to make me happy. The crown radius was just way off, as were the leading and trailing edges. It would have required WAY more work (i.e. time) to make it fit correctly than I was willing to give it.

So, I just hung the mostly completed RF fender on the car, turned the car around & started on the left side, while I pondered the best approach to the problem. On a whim, I called Scott Harper (Team Triumph British Automotive, in Warren, OH.) and asked him if he had any RF B fenders with solid lower quarters. He said "yeah, I've had one sitting up in the rafters for YEARS, which has collision damage to the front end." A few days later, I delivered a bunch of shock absorber and front spindle assembly cores to Scott and stuffed that lovely, rust-free fender into my Golf, for the trip home. Fortunately, for me, the left front fender is much better than the right side. Funny, but the left sill assembly is in much worse shape than the right side was.............. Of course, it makes no difference to me, because both sides have to be replaced, anyway.

The RF fender really should have been junked, but I'm such a cheap bastard and I had a good, donor fender from a '78 B, which had been totaled in '80, which I had parted-out. I've attached some photos of that operation (RF fender rebuild).

Haha! Barely, and only with help.

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Tim Walter
1973 MGB - "Peggy"

When the Heritage parts get there, it would be interesting to hear a comparison, and whether you think there is enough (any) difference to matter. I have some crumpled fenders with excellent lower sections that I want to use on rotted fenders, but that may be another false economy compared to patch panels.

Chris,
I can tell you that the Heritage panels will be vastly better than the aftermarket stuff. There are some major differences between the Steelcraft panels and the "real deal" Heritage or OE panels. It would have taken a LOT of "beatin' & bangin' ", plus some "make-up"/"mud"/Bondo to make those crappy Steelcraft repair panels look acceptable. It just isn't work the grief and wasted time to try to use that crap, when I can get Heritage or OE panels (as in good, used) for not much more money.

Bottom line...if yu are responsible for the final results, do yourself and the client a favour and refuse to use Steelcraft. You will be doing both of you a favour.

Tim,

Great job on the lower fender.

How do you feel about the gap at the top? There are ways to address that, if it looks a bit wide from there - all assuming that the fender and door are in the right spots.

Steve

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Documenting my project in my journal at https://www.mgexp.com/home#journal

Steve,

Good eye. I'm holding up the panel with one hand and trying to operate the camera with the other... not doing either very well. The gap is much closer than it appears in the photo. The fender fits more tightly against the door, and the new panel fits against the top part okay (much better than the photo shows), though I'll probably tweak it a bit. The bottom is also sticking out a little bit, making it look like it's closer to the door than at the top. Shoulda just bolted everything down to take the photo, but it was late and I was cranky.

Still torn on whether to just finish it all up this weekend and cancel the BMH order or wait weeks while my good painting weather disappears. Decisions, decisions.

Tim

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Tim Walter
1973 MGB - "Peggy"