Advice on a sleeve for inside the longitudinal

[Doug_B_928]

I'm repairing the passenger long on my 914. I've removed the rust and welded in two patches that comprise the bottom 2/3 of the long. To strengthen the long due to the welding I've made a sleeve out of 18 gauge cold rolled (same material as the patches) that is 36" long as pictured below.



The problem is that the 90 degree bend in the sleeve has made it tough to bend to the exact shape of the long for a tight fit. I put clamps on it and then with a hammer and punch beat it at the back (as shown by all of the pock marks). I think if I start welding it at the front and them do the hammer and punch thing as I go along it will probably conform to the long. But, I'm not 100% sure and would hate to have it half welded in and realize that the last 1/3 will not fit tightly. I could also make an 18" relief cut along the bend, bend it to conform, and then weld the sleeve to that shape prior to welding it to the long.

I was going to run a bead on the black lines to make it more stiff, but figured that would make it even harder to make conform to the shape of the long when welding it in. So, I guess another advantage to the relief cut method might be that I could put a couple of beads in the sleeve (though perhaps that might also throw the fitment out of whack and put me back to square one with welding it in being more difficult).

So, my question is, which is the best way to proceed. Take a chance on being able to bend it as I weld, or make the relief cut to fit it prior to welding it in?

[laire]

have u tried using a piece of the correct size pipe to try to get the right bend or the shape you need and maybe a good vice as for when u decide its close enough to weld just dont jump from one end to the other welding and you should only spot weld so your panel does'nt warp move from one end to the other clamping it down ahead of the heat so it can't move the panel your adding

[Doug_B_928]

The bend is actually quite sharp. I was able to get it to fit by making a small relief cut on the horizontal plane. Welded it in yesterday over the course of the whole day. It still raised the horizontal plane a bit. I'll put the door on to check the gaps but my measurements suggest the door opening is unchanged.

[laire]

with that piece added it has to be as strong as ever ,