We’ve put a pretty big photo dump below showing how we repaired the flange that mounts the right rear fender. It’s three layers of metal–the outer layer that is seen, the inner wheel well, and then a curious strip about 1.5″ wide that joins the two The joining strip has cage nuts approximately every 12″ to mount the fender. While some of the metal looked good on the surface, the back sides were very pitted and rusty. So we replaced about 1.5-2″ of the outer layer, the inner layer, and the whole joining strip. We generally worked 6-12″ at a time and staggered the layers as our skills and equipment cannot do the whole repair in long pieces.

We built this simple buck to use as a gauge to ensure our repairs had the correct shape for the fender. Of course, we checked the fit of the fender from time to time as well.

This shows the outer layer cut away and joining strip and cage nut that will be replaced. There is also a brace that could be cleaned up and kept in place (a fourth layer!).

This shows a 12″ piece we fabricated for the outer layer and another for the fender well. Not shown is the joining piece, which is just a simple 1.5″ strip with cage nuts in appropriate places.

We MIG welded the fender well repair into place. It’s hard to see, but the joining piece from the previous repair is staggered in by the vice grip.

The MIG welds clean up nicely.

We carefully fit the outer repair piece to prepare for butt welding.

We TIG welded it into place.

And finished it. We don’t completely metal finish these areas. They generally have .010-.020″ of variance that is easily (and more cost effectively) handled at the body shop since they skim coat most surfaces anyway.