3/25/12 Engine side panels *&$#@)

Time to guess what this is?



Another view.

 






A template is made from heavy paper, which is a much tighter fit than the steel panels I received from Rootleib. In all fairness to Rootleib, they said these panels would take 6-8 weeks to deliver and they arrived in one week. These are said to be actual 1933 Ford sizing.

I could have sent them a template similar to what I made and the fit would have been much closer, although trimming would still be necessary. And then it would have taken the 6-8 weeks, I'm sure.





Now the template is laid on the inside of the engine panel. You can easily see the area that needs to be trimmed from the panel





Another view of the inside of the lower edge of the panel area that will be trimmed. Take note of the bead along the edge of the panel that will have to be removed.

This is the area along the back of the engine panel that will be removed.

Now with the panel turned over you can see the area in the front of the panel that will have to be added. In this picture the right side has already been trimmed.  That was the area that had the bead I mentioned earlier.

A piece of sheet metal has been cut and clamped in place ready to be welded.

After a few tack welds the clamps are removed.



Now a few more tack welds and an initial trim to round the corner. Even though I tack weld there is some warping of this panel which will be taken care of later, although you want to be careful to keep warping to a minimum.



The installed panel with the back trimmed and the front completed.



Although this picture doesn't show the grill/panel fit very well it does show the added sheet metal and the welds along the bottom of the panel edge. This is from the bead that I added due to removing the original bead during the trimming process.





Here is a good picture of the engine panel to grill fit. You can easily see the added metal piece. You can also see the marks left from stress relieving the panel to remove warpage that was caused from welding. 

Not only are there welds holding the added sheet metal to the panel there is also an added bead going from the bottom to the top of the panel for added rigidity. Along with the bead I already mentioned along the bottom edge.