In April of 2005 I finally got to a job I had been wanting to get done for some time. Replacing the damaged passenger front inner fender. Buying a Miller MIG welder last November gave me the ability to finally perform this repair and several others in the future.

While there was almost no battery damage to this panel it was bent and creased from some long ago accident. I know from examining the car it's seen one or two accidents. Besides this panel I can tell that neither front fender is original to this car. The hood isn't original either. Same goes for the roof. The roof on this car came off a Highland Green '67-'68 coupe that had been repainted Calypso Coral before it was cut off the donor vehicle and welded on my car. Peeling back the headliner confirms this. You can see the orange paint near the edges before it changes to dark green. The donor car probably had a vinyl roof originally as the drip rails are rusted and filled with bondo. I looks like the vinyl roof was removed, the drip rails were bondo'd and the car was repainted Calypso Coral, a color not available in '67 or '68. This car was then junked and used to fix mine. The passenger door is dented and is covered with bondo in the center. The rear quarter panels are original and never have been patched. They still have the recess area on the bottom that repros and patch panels lack.

I'm not exactly sure what had happened to this car and when. I have two guesses though. Either it was rolled over or it hit a pole (or something similar) that came crashing down on it.

I was able to find and speak to all the previous owners going back to the second (I'm the fifth) and they mentioned that the car was never in an accident while they had it. So I know it happened sometime before 1993 when the original owner sold it. If I had to guess I'd say the early to mid 80s based on a few things. The headliner is somewhat brittle and is starting to rip on it's own. The headliner is glued to the window channels and would need to be replaced if the roof was cut. It wouldn't have been worth it to try to save it from either vehicle. For the headliner to start drying out like it is I'd say it's at least 15 years old. Then there's the fact the donor car had started to rust and was repainted. That means the Highland Green car was at least 9-10 years old (if not older) before the vinyl top was removed, drip rails bondo'd and it was repainted Calypso Coral. I'd then guess they got at least a few years out of this car before it was junked. This would then be the early 80s.

Like I mentioned, I have no hard evidence or information. This is the best I can come up with looking at physical clues on the car and taking guesses. If there's a remote chance that anyone actually reading this has any info on this particular car or the Highland Green/Calypso Coral '67 or '68 then I'd love to hear from you.

Well now that I've got that out of the way let's get on to the replacement of the panel. This is the easiest body fix to do on this car. I'm waiting to attack the drip rails when I get more confidence, plus that will be a much more involved and costly repair. The goal I'm aiming for is for the new panel to look factory installed. While I'm not trying to make this a concours car I do want the panel to look as if it's never been replaced. That means using spot welds and not continuous beads, the same way a car is originally built.

I began removing all the minor stuff first from the area of the repair.

Removal of the lights and pulling the harnesses back out of the way was first. This was to protect them from any possible damage. The chrome rocker molding was also removed by the time I took this photo.

I loosened but did not remove the bumper. It will be needed for alignment and a point of reference (you'll see why later). The antennae was unplugged from the radio, the wire grommet in the side cowl panel was pushed loose and the front grille assembly was removed. I had bought several plastic divided cases from the fishing aisle at Kmart and I kept all the fasteners in them as I took the car apart. Slips of paper were put in the different compartments telling where the bolts, nuts, washers, and screws came from so reassembly would be easier. The fender was the next thing to come off and would be done with the antennae and headlight bucket still attached. Crawling around under the car the bolt under the fender behind the wheel was removed along with all the bolts holding it to the front valance. Opening the passenger door and using a long extension I removed the rear bolt from the fender next. The bolt behind the bumper holding the headlight bucket to the valance and stone deflector was next to go. This is where the ratcheting box end wrenches come in handy. The corner of the front bumper was wrapped in a towel to protect the paint for when the fender is lifted off. The last bolts to go were the ones on top in the engine compartment and the fender was free from the car. It was lifted up slightly and the rear portion was pulled away from the car and towards the rear which enabled me to get it out from behind the bumper. The battery, battery tray, starter solenoid, and wiring clips were removed. The last thing I did was to buy a rim and tire from a salvage yard for $10 to temporarily take the place of the right front tire during this repair. With the welding, grinding and painting taking place I didn't want anything to happen to the good Cragar rim or Kelly tire.  I wanted to keep the car mobile so I could roll it in and out of the garage.

Here it is with all the parts removed and out of the way. The $10 salvage yard wheel is in place so the car stays mobile. It happens to be a correct style rim for what this car originally had and will be saved. It has "Fomoco" stamped in it and will be sandblasted and repainted when I get the chance. The tire is an old Sears studded snow tire that's cracked and dry rotted but capable of holding air and that's all that matters. It was mounted on the rim when I got it. In fact, despite it's condition, it never went flat or even low during the work on the car.

Here's a front view. The car looks weird now :p

Now for close ups of some of the damage and problems I'll be facing,

There's a gap behind the bumper on the passenger side but not on the driver's side. It's about a 1/2" and some of the proof the car took a hit pushing the front passenger sheet metal back some.

This is also where keeping the bumper in place is important. I need something for reference as I work to fix the damage.

The stone deflector also has bends in it and will be repaired. The mounting hardware is also wrong.

The rippled inner fender is visible. It's original to the car, it has the car's VIN "8R01C133047" stamped in it.

PAGE 2 (inner fender replacement)

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