front fender rust repair...

[speedo]

The rear most 6 inches of the drivers fender, top section that borders the bonnet right below the windshield and forward of the door...is rusted. Do I need to remove the fender to repair this? Or can I carefully remove and graft a clean section on while the fender is still connected. My metal fab and welding skills are good, but I'm used to 911 fender repairs...which are removeable, not welded on. Thatarea on a 911 is doubled...two layers of steel, actually, the top (surface) layer is pinched over the underside forming a sandwich. Is the 914 fender manufactured the same? Does anyone have a trashed drivers fender...with that section still in useable shape? Let me know what you have. Thanks for the help in advance.

Speedo

[wndsnd]

Well, this isn't the easiest of repairs. I think I have some pictures here but the fender is double layered up there, welded, and filled with inches of rock solid seam sealer and dirt, mud, etc.


This is what I stared with, not a pretty site. I looked around but found other donor cars were just as bad, but the time to take a piece from another is just as bad as fabricating.


I cleaned thing up and cut out the rust back as far as I needed to get to strong metal.



I tried making templates out of cardboard and plastic but It didn't have the properties I needed. I ended up getting the thinnest sheet steel I could find, I believe it is 24 Guage, and I was able to work that and modify it to my satisfaction. Once I had a templace I thought was acceptable, I duplicated in 18 guage.

Now I have a rough fix. I still need to work from under the fender to seal things up and also to adjust the door gap, but there were a lot of little parts that needed to be welded to make the whole.







Good luck, take you time, it can be done, but it will take time...

[speedo]

Thanks a bunch. That is exactly where the problem is. Any chance Restoration Design makes a replacement part. Anybody else want to weigh in? The pics really help...thank you.

Speedo

[r_towle]

Wndsnd, that is some talented work...

Rich

[wndsnd]

Thank you. I do not think you can buy this as a reproduction piece, the best you could do is have someone with a 914 junk yard find a solid one and cut it out for you, however, that want be easy as there a lot of spot welds up there as well. Good Luck in you project.