Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion sheet metal repair on the 36B

i had planned for years to just bite the bullet & totally reskin the 36B when i got around to restoring it, but changed my mind last week when i finally tore into it. both side panels were rusted off with the lower 5" in pretty bad shape, but from there up are really solid. i took alot of measurements & made a couple 5" patches, keeping the taper in mind, & did the 'rough work" on one tonight. here are some pics:

old rusty panel


after cutting the damage out


welding the new panel in. i clamped both pieces to long pieces of square tubing to keep things straight.

before trimming off the excess on the sides


i'm going to weld a small piece of angle made up out of 18 ga. sheetmetal near the bottom to help flatten the edge that slightly distorted from forming the patch.


after rough grinding the welds. still have some light grinding to do then a light skimcoat of filler


after i transfer the holes for the door latches over, i'll do the other side. one door needs replaced, so will take some patches from it to repair the better one of the two.

Looks good, you do nice work and saved a couple of panels from the scrap yard! That looks like a first rate metal brake in the background! Nice shop!

Nice Job!!!!

I was thinking the same thing. "Hey that looks like a real shop":)

Very nice job.Amazing what one can do if they try two.

thanks guys! yes, it's actually a brand new shop with new equipment. i had a total loss fire that took the old shop & contents last nov. one thing i decided i wanted to upgrade was my metal cutting/shaping equipment. got a good deal on that brake from enco. had a 20% off coupon, plus a free shipping coupon that knocked the total down around $430. also picked up a pexto shear, although its "slightly" used (made in 1940). i'll tear it apart someday & restore it too, but it works too good now to mess with it. probably my greatest accomplishment in the old shop was this 37 ford i took on a few years back.
started with this:


two years later it left like this:


i'll post more on the 36B as progress continues....

i can't wait to get a pump project i get to weld on. is that stick welding on that panel? i always wondered what welding process you would use on pumps

it's MIG. i keep it on the lowest setting for light sheetmetal & don't run a solid bead, but just tack it in spots about an inch apart. i take my time & keep alternating spots until i get a continuous weld. take time to let it cool a little after hitting a few spots & you can keep the warpage down to almost zero.

i always heard you use mig on cars and stuff, i should have guessed this would be the same process. i havent gotten to mig yet, im taking stick and tig this semester at school. it is a blast.