Thread: 1947 Biederman Truck Fender Repairs

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That is so awesome. You do such fast great work. Do you know if this will be at Carlise in August?

Originally Posted by falconvan

Just read your thread, that is some beautiful work! Love the big industrial stuff; that's what built this country. What size flathead is that and how does it do pulling that big beast around?

AFAIK it is a Hercules flat head 6, not sure on size. It has plenty of pull until it gets to about 50-55 mph

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

That is so awesome. You do such fast great work. Do you know if this will be at Carlise in August?

It will be at our local show this coming Sunday and will be at the ATHS National Show in Lexington KY at the end of May. Not sure on that date but I'm told it will be inside the building.

More progress on Biederman hood, the butterfly hinge parts were removed from the old hood, and the piano hinge that attaches the hood sides was removed.







Piano hinge is actually part of original hood, hemmed at the lower edge. Sanding through the hemmed edge releases the hinge..







....and any spot welds were removed by grinding through the hood side to save the hinge..







This tool was designed and given to me by Clint Button (Carolina Sculpture Studio) at the recent metalshaping workshop I attended in Rock Hill. Worked well to mark the rear edge...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnRl2RsreNA



Clamping and plug welding the butterfly hinges to the hood.














Hood trimmed and gapped.....



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNXVuMiyhPw



....and our next task will be to TIG weld the piano hinges to the trimmed lower edge of the hood, these hinges attach the hood side panels..

Progress through today, TIG welding up the hinges onto the new hoods..











Some SPI epoxy is mixed and brushed on, allowing it to seep between the welded parts and seal things up..











As the dominoes continued falling, the hood sides did not fit either. It was our initial plan to cut off the hinge from the top, wire edge from the bottom, and add a new center section, all parts cut to fit properly and welded back together. When we stripped paint off the lower wire edged part, we saw a bit too much pitting, rust, etc. that we opted to change to a full new lower section under the hinge. Nothing to wire edging 16 gauge, right?







So we whipped up a set of dies to add the joggle needed for the external wiring, using 3/16 solid rod for the wiring..







Practice sample:











With that complete, we tipped the lower edge to run through the joggle die..



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POa_yIyH3JU



The wiring and inside of the joggle were both degreased, scuffed, and SPI epoxy added prior to folding the remainder..







Vise grips modified so they wouldn't slip off the wiring..







Wiring locked in place with some hammer action...







Hood side is tacked to the hinge, mocked to the hood, and trimmed for gaps



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH2H3nR4AOc




It's not done, but that's all for today, we're packing it up for the car show in Leonardtown tomorrow.



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Tonight we did the wired edge on the Biederman truck's drivers hood side, so we did a couple videos of the process. We did a practice sample to make sure our adjustment on the folded flange length gave us a good wrap with a slight gap for paint..




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b6TiuiUQQQ




This shows the basic process of closing the wrap, wasn't as pretty as it should have been, but hey, this is practice.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNc9WJ3SmYA




For the hood side, we used the tipping wheel in the Fasti swaging machine (bead roller) to add the flange. After running through the Lennox for adding the joggle, the panel was scrubbed with a warm dish soap and water mix using scotchbrite, then scuffed with 220 paper, then SPI epoxy added in the channel. After our 3/16 wire was laid in place, any remaining bare spots on the wire were also brushed with epoxy. The entire length was then closed as per the practice sample. We'll let that set a day or so and get the recycled hinge welded to the top.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiNrkZ7pslg

Finishing up on the Biederman hood fabrications today.. That's what I told myself anyhow...



Getting the OEM hood hinge welded to the new hood side..







Factory version had spot welded angles on the inside to bolt side emblems to, we'll see if we can improve by eliminating a rust trap...







This should do..... Vise mounted jigsaw with optional pony clamp cruise control Don't try this at home..























Beltline trim added.....Hey! it lines up with the cab!







Hood sides added.. and Robert is done with the hood..











Video Version:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTXzEPYzPxE



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Amazing piece of work Robert.
Thanks for sharing it all with us.

Originally Posted by 34_40

Amazing piece of work Robert.
Thanks for sharing it all with us.

X2. Really like learning your methods!

Originally Posted by 34_40

Amazing piece of work Robert.
Thanks for sharing it all with us.

X 3. What they said.
You make complicated appear simple.

When ability, equipment, tools, rusty steel and adequate funding come together it's a lovely thing.

That turned out better than new IMO! Very nice work. Now that you're done with that, do you want to build me a hood for a needle nose Pete?

Thanks for all the kind words fellas, Ryan, not sure you'd want to drive the Pete all the way to MD.


The 16 gauge was definitely a challenge, good to see my portion complete. If anyone local to Lexington KY would like to see it in person, this truck will be at the ATHS 2018 Convention in Lexington Ky, May 31 to June 2nd. I'm told it will be inside the building..

Perfect as always, thanks for taking the time to share your work.

John sent me a picture today, he picked up the front fenders from his painter and got them installed. He hopes to get the hood parts tomorrow.

Amazing piece. Congrats on all the hard work.