On Mon, 10 Aug 1998, Malcolm Walker wrote:
>
> I'm starting to feel a little suspicious about my rear fender.
>
> It requires much welding & repair work around the entire perimeter - which
> leads me to wonder, is it really a TR6 fender?
>
> And today I found evidence of dark brown paint under some undercoating.
> (Russet brown?) I didn't think this was a TR4 color.
It might be red oxide primer... Common to many body shops as a
rust preventative base coat.
I don't think there would be a way to put a TR6 fender on a `4
without a LOT of REALLY creative body work... Almost as much as
if the body man was to panel beat an entirely new TR4 fender.
To do it even passibly would take a deft hand in deed with a hammer,
and more than a quarter inch of bondo... I had to repair a front
fender on my `4 it had been smacked and repaired at least 2X
prior to it coming into my care. Once the metal had been hammered
roughly to shape it was about 1/2" too large at the nose. Metal
shrinking probably wouldn't help this very fatigued steel. After
Brazing the front piece back on the fender, I had to fill the area
in question with fiberglass batting and then brace it with fiberglass
sheet for strength then I filed the exterior to shape... actually
contouring the fender through the steel to the fiberglass. Bondo
would have been too delicate for this location.
I had the time to do this, but not the money to replace the fender.
Greg Petrolati
gpetrola@prairienet.org 1962 TR4 (CT4852L)
"That's not a leak... My car is just marking its territory!"
Greg Petrolati, Champaign, Illinois
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